Art of Time Ensemble Announces 2012-2013 Season

Bringing together artists from the music, theatre, and film worlds in a variety of entertainment experiences performed to the highest standards.

Andrew Burashko, founder and Artistic Director of the acclaimed Art of Time Ensemble, proudly announces the company's groundbreaking 2012-2013 season, sponsored by Invesco Trimark. 

 

In announcing the season, Burashko states, "Our 2012/2013 season is an expression of the inexhaustible possibilities of music; there are so many musical genres and marriages with other art forms that a lifetime of curiosity wouldn't be enough to explore them all, but we try to do exactly that, one song, one concert, one season at a time." 

 

The best artists in Canada from the fields of music, theatre and film are showcased in the season, including comic giant Sean Cullen (The Producers), renowned stage, film and theatre actor Nicholas Campbell (Da Vinci's Inquest, Cinderella Man), Canadian music legend Carole Pope (Rough Trade), singer Martin Tielli (Rheostatics), clarinetist James Campbell (Juno Award, Order of Canada and Queen's Jubilee Medal winner), British composer and DJ Gabriel Prokofiev, jazz saxophonist Phil Dwyer (Juno Award winner) and violinist Benjamin Bowman (National Ballet of Canada, Canadian Opera Company orchestras), as well as many others. 

 

The Art of Time is particularly proud to welcome international star Madeleine Peyroux to the ensemble. Her debut album was hailed by Time Magazine as "the most exciting, involving vocal performance by a new singer this year," and her second album sold over one million copies worldwide.  While evoking Fats Waller's 52nd Street and Edith Piaf's Paris, Peyroux's voice remains a distinctly modern one, having worked with the Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman and Steely Dan's Walter Becker, among others.  

 

A great number of equally distinguished artists are also part of the 2012-2013 season, including: John Gzowski, Marc Bendavid, Tess Girard, Andy Ballantyne, John Johnson, Perry White, Peter Lutek, Kevin Turcotte, Al Kay, Davide Di Renzo, Andrew Downing, Rob Piltch, Don Rooke, Ryan Scott, Erica Goodman, Les Alt, Max Christie, Ben Cruchley, Joseph Phillips, Trevor Tureski, Joan Watson, Rachel Mercer, John Southworth and Danny Michel, among others.  

 

The 2012/2013 Season Lineup: 

 

War of the Worlds 

Presented in association with Harbourfront Centre

Oct. 30 – Nov. 4, 2012 

Sean Cullen joins Nicholas Campbell and Marc Bendavid in the return of the sold-out 2011 production of the play based on Orson Welles' infamous radio broadcast. Timed to coincide with its original air date of Hallowe'en (1938), Art of Time is proud to present War of the Worlds in an extended 8-performance run.  The all-star cast is accompanied by an on-stage radio orchestra and a live Foley sound effects artist in this behind-the-scenes play that, according to the Globe and Mail's J. Kelly Nestruck, "even though our eyes assure us there's absolutely nothing to worry about, pulls us into the terrible story they tell of mankind annihilated by an extraterrestrial race."  Of the Art of Time Ensemble production, Margaret Atwood tweeted "Brilliant! Not 2 miss!"   Also on the bill is Herrmannthology, featuring a suite based on the scores penned by the legendary film composer Bernard Herrmann. From Citizen Kane to Taxi Driver, and Psycho to Cape Fear, Herrmann's dramatic themes are performed by an orchestra, and accompanied by Tess Girard's live montage of the brilliant films they underscored. 

The Big Band Show

Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, 2012 

The Big Band Show is a rare chance to experience the power and beauty of a full 25-piece big band in an extraordinary range of music written for the genre. Legendary jazz composer and big band leader Duke Ellington's 1960 interpretation of the Nutcracker Suite arranges the themes of Tchaikovsky's ballet score for the classic big band instrument lineup. Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto was commissioned by the American bandleader Woody Herman in 1945, and is considered one of the Russian's finest neo-classical works. Of the Ebony Concerto, Stravinsky said it "is my contribution to the blues."  Shostakovich was a fan of jazz, and was invited by a Leningrad jazz band to compose for them. The resulting three-movement Jazz Suite No. 1 represents American big band jazz as filtered through the creative mind of one of the greatest classical composers of the 20th century. 

Gabriel Prokofiev

February 22-23, 2013

Art of Time welcomes to the Enwave stage London DJ Gabriel Prokofiev as he continues his grandfather Sergei's legacy of reinventing modern music, including the electronica for which he has garnered his own international fame.  Gabriel will show his roots in his composition Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No. 2. The concert features works by the American avante-garde composer George Antheil, and 2007 Grawenmeyer Award winner Sebastian Currier, hailed by the New York Times as creating "music with a distinctive voice," and "lyrical, colorful, firmly rooted in tradition but absolutely new" by the Washington Post. 

Franz Schubert: Source and Inspiration

April 5-6, 2013 

Canadian legend Carole Pope joins Martin Tielli, John Southworth, Danny Michel and Andy Maize in the latest installment of our Source and Inspiration series. The evening examines Franz Schubert, from the performance of a work for which he is legend, through to the songs of today inspired by him.  Piano Trio No. 2, expertly performed by Andrew Burashko, Rachel Mercer and Benjamin Bowman, will accompany pop songs provoked by Schubert, written and performed by the quartet of singers led by Canada's self-described "anti-diva." 

Songbook 7: Madeleine Peyroux 

May 31 – June 1, 2013 

Multi-million album seller Madeleine Peyroux has been dubbed "the 21st century Billie Holiday." Peyroux has worked with some of the greats in the industry, having co-written songs with self-proclaimed fan Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, and been produced by Joni Mitchell's legendary producer Larry Klein. Art of Time is thrilled to welcome Madeleine Peyroux to the Enwave stage, where she will present her most cherished songs by a dozen of her favourite artists, arranged expressly for Art of Time by Canada's top composers. 

Burashko goes on to say, "The calibre of artist that has chosen to join the Art of Time Ensemble this season is truly humbling. We're thrilled beyond words that Madeleine Peyroux has included us in her plans, and when we add the best actors, designers, dancers, artists and classical and jazz musicians in the country to the mix, we get the collaborative possibilities that I dreamed of when forming the Art of Time." 

 

All concerts take place at the Enwave Theatre at Harbourfront Centre, 231 Queens Quay West.

 

Three-, four-, and five-concert subscription packages ($63-$221) and single tickets (from $25-$59) are available at www.artoftimeensemble.com or by calling the Harbourfront Centre Box Office at 416-973-4000.