with 14 events and a total of 28 concerts!
World Music Festival Offers a Global Showcase March 12-16
Jazz Festival Heats up the House March 20-23
York U Symphony Orchestra Soars with Soloists March 29
Gospel Choir Sings to the Heavens March 30
York Concert & Chamber Choirs Crown the Fest with Handel April 1
AND MORE!
TORONTO, March 05, 2007 -- TORONTO, March 5, 2007…York University’s Faculty of Fine Arts celebrates its resident talent and the next wave of outstanding visual artists and performers with the York Fine Arts Festival, featuring more than 40 public events packed into a three-week period running March 9 – April 1, 2007. All the fine arts are represented: dance, design, film, music, theatre, visual arts and interdisciplinary fine arts cultural studies.
The Department of Music delivers a musical voyage that travels through eight centuries and five continents, ranging from classical to contemporary, jazz and world music. Altogether, the concert roster comprises 14 events featuring 28 different performances. They include the World Music Festival, a global showcase of nine concerts running March 12-16; Jazz Festival, with seven hot concerts March 20-23; York U Symphony Orchestra’s concert of soloists spotlighting exceptional young artists March 29; York U Gospel Choir, channeling heavenly music March 30; and the joyous finale of the whole York Fine Arts Festival: York U Concert and Chamber Choirs with Handel’s celebratory Coronation Anthems on April 1.
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March 12-16: World Music Festival Offers a Global Showcase!
York University pioneered university studies in world music in Canada, and continues to be a national leader in the field. Musical traditions from around the globe will be showcased during York’s World Music Festival. Ranging from West African drums, Chinese orchestra and steel pan to flamenco, Celtic and Klezmer music and more, the young performers in York's trailblazing world music program present a cross-cultural musical kaleidoscope in nine different programs. Produced by York ethnomusicologist and multi-instrumentalist Rob Simms, the lineup of midday and evening concerts highlights some of the 20+ international cultures represented in York’s world music program.
The World Music Fest kicks off March 12 with the steel pan rhythms of the Islands, courtesy of Lindy Burgess’ Caribbean Ensemble, and ends four nights later with a spirited World Drum & Dance celebration featuring the hot sounds of Cuban Ensembles directed by Ruben Esguerra, Rick Shadrach Lazar and Paul Ormandy; West African Drums led by Kwasi Dunyo, Larry Graves and Anna Melnikoff; Korean Drums directed by Charles Hong; and the pulsating rhythms of Lazar’s Escola de Samba.
In between, we travel the globe with the Celtic Canadian Folk Ensemble directed by Sherry Johnson, the Japanese Ensemble led by “koto queen” Linda Kako Caplan, Irene Markoff’s Balkan Ensemble, the Middle Eastern Ensemble directed by Bassam Shahouk, Flamenco Guitars led by Roger Scannura, the Chinese Orchestra directed by Kim Chow Morris, and the Klezmer Ensemble directed by Brian Katz.
All World Music Festival events are held in the Tribute Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East Building except World Drum & Dance on March 16 that takes place in the CIBC Lobby in Accolade East. Performances are free and take place nightly at 7:30pm, with midday shows 12:30-1:30pm Tuesday through Thursday.
Mar. 20-23: York U Jazz Festival Turns Up the Heat!
The York University Jazz Festival melts away the winter blues with performances featuring the York U Jazz Orchestra led by Al Henderson, four jazz choirs directed by Bob Hamper and Mim Adams, and 15 small ensembles directed by the likes of Mike Murley, Lorne Lofsky, Kelly Jefferson and Mark Eisenman.
The performances showcase the talented young artists in Canada's oldest and largest university jazz program, currently helmed by renowned jazz drummer Barry Elmes (newly appointed Chair of the Music Department), with faculty comprising some of the country’s top jazz musicians.
All Jazz Fest performances are free and take place in the Accolade East Building, with evening performances running nightly at 7:30pm plus one-hour shows at 12:30pm on March 21 and 22.
Mar 29: York U Symphony Orchestra Spotlights Soloists
The York University Symphony Orchestra directed by Mark Chambers presents a concert of soloists featuring some of the Music Department’s top young talent. Concerto competition winners offer arias from Offenbach, Verdi and Gounod, and selections from clarinet and piano concertos by Weber, Beethoven and Mozart, in full orchestral setting. Beethoven’s Egmont Overture rounds out the program.
The concert takes place at 7:30pm in the Tribute Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East Building. Admission is $12, students $5.
Mar 30: York U Gospel Choir Sings to the Heavens
Just one year old, but already a force to be reckoned with! Led by its founding director, Karen Burke, and backed by a live rhythm and horn section, the 85-voice York U Gospel Choir offers a spirited concert of contemporary Gospel favourites. On the program are works by Israel Houghton, Richard Smallwood, Joe Pace, John P. Kee, Kurt Carr and Andre Crouch, plus one of Burke’s own compositions, How Sweet the Name, featuring York student soloists. Special guest artist: Amoy Levy.
An authority on the history and performance practices of Gospel music, Burke is a prolific composer and arranger and the principal conductor of the Juno Award-winning Toronto Mass Choir. She is professor of Gospel music and jazz vocals at York.
The Gospel Choir performs at 7:30pm in the Tribute Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East Building. Admission: $12, students $5.
April 1: Handel’s Coronation Anthems – a Royal Festival Finale!
The York U Concert and Chamber Choirs join forces under the baton of Lisette Canton in a joyous Festival finale: George Frideric Handel’s celebratory masterwork, the Coronation Anthems. With guest artist, organist Matthew Larkin, the 100-voice combined choirs take centre stage for Let Thy Hand be Strengthened, The King Shall Rejoice, My Heart is Inditing and the majestic Zadok the Priest (sung at the coronation ceremony of every British monarch since George II in 1727).
A celebrated Canadian choral and orchestral conductor, Canton is the founding artistic director of the internationally acclaimed Ottawa Bach Choir. She directs four choral ensembles (Concert, Chamber, Women’s and Men’s Choirs) and heads the graduate program in choral conducting at York University.
The April 1 performance of Handel’s Coronation Anthems in York University’s Tribute Communities Recital Hall is the crowning and concluding event of the York Fine Arts Festival. The concert will also be presented the previous evening, Sat. March 30, at Metropolitan United Church, 56 Church St. in downtown Toronto. Both performances take place 7:30pm. Admission is $12, students $5.
The Department of Music rounds out its Fine Arts Festival programming with evening concerts by the YU Chamber Choir with Under the Gypsy Influence (Mar 19) and Women’s and Men’s Chorus singing Italian Baroque music (Mar 27), plus a series of afternoon performances by the Brass Ensembles, Medieval & Renaissance Ensembles, York U Chamber Strings, Wind Symphony, Percussion Ensemble and others.
The Faculty of Fine Arts, York University presents the
York Fine Arts Festival
March 9 - April 1, 2007
Events take place at York’s Keele campus, 4700 Keele St. Toronto
MUSIC Tickets: free - $I2
Fine Arts Festival Box Office: 416-736-5888
For a detailed schedule, visit www.yorku.ca/finearts/festival
York Fine Arts Festival: Meet the arts in the heart of the GTA
The Faculty of Fine Arts at York University is spotlighting its resident talent in a three-week festival packed with more than 40 exciting and entertaining events. Running March 9 to April 1, the York Fine Arts Festival features exhibitions, theatre and dance productions, film screenings, multimedia shows, and a wide variety of classical, jazz and world music concerts. Events take place in state-of-the-art facilities at York University’s Keele campus. Join us for this showcase celebrating the next wave of outstanding young talent in the visual and performing arts.
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The Faculty of Fine Arts at York University is one of North America’s leading and largest centres for fine arts education. A vibrant community of some 3,200 students and 280 faculty working at the leading edge of fine arts practice and scholarship, it offers academic studies and professional training in dance, design, film, music, theatre and visual arts as well as interdisciplinary cultural studies in the fine arts. For more than 35 years, York Fine Arts has been a premier launching pad for outstanding young talent and a major contributor to the arts and cultural scene in Toronto, Canada and beyond.
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York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 190,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 23 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
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Media Refer: Dianne Weinrib/Amy Stewart, DW Communications, 416-703-5479 dw@dwcommunications.net
