BIGLAKE and Base31 are proud to present a very special concert celebrating the 80th birthday of Canada’s musical legend and hero, Joni Mitchell. Award-winning performer and singer-songwriter Sarah Slean has performed this programme for sold-out audiences across the country, and is coming to PEC to captivate with her hauntingly beautiful renditions of Joni Mitchell songs. Sarah is supported by the sweet symphonic sounds of the BIGLAKE Orchestra, made up of musicians from Ontario’s finest orchestras, conducted by Artistic Director and COC Music Director Johannes Debus. This 2023 BIGLAKE Festival closing night concert will be one you will never forget!
Sarah Slean
Signed to Atlantic/Warner Records at the tender age of nineteen, 4-time Juno nominee and modern-day Renaissance woman Sarah Slean has since released 11 albums in over 10 countries worldwide – but perhaps the most astonishing aspect of her artistry is its breadth. Over her 25-year career, Slean has published two volumes of poetry, starred in short films and a movie musical (spawning two Gemini Award nominations), penned award-winning chamber works, held numerous exhibitions of her paintings and shared the stage with 10 of the country’s professional orchestras. Classically trained from the age of 5, she routinely collaborates with cutting-edge contemporary classical ensembles like The Art of Time, and has been invited to sing world premieres by Canada’s leading living composers.
BIGLAKE Symphony Orchestra Conductor Johannes Debus:
Born in 1974, Debus learned his craft at the Frankfurt Opera, where he took a post as a repetiteur in 1998 after finishing his conducting studies in Hamburg. Later promoted to Kapellmeister, he internalized a broad repertoire that came to encompass everything from Mozart and Verdi to Thomas Adès. He also met the composer Hans Werner Henze during his time in Frankfurt; the two remained close friends until Henze’s death. Debus has been music director of the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto since 2009. Debus has also increasingly dedicated himself to teaching: He is the director of North America’s only orchestral academy specialized in opera, in Toronto, and regularly conducts concerts with students of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra. He also gives masterclasses at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.
August 26th at 7 PM at Base31’s Drill Hall. A limited number of tickets have been made available at the Early Bird ticket rate. Regular ticket pricing will commence once the Early Bird ticket limit has been reached. Early Bird tickets will be on sale until May 21 at 11:59 PM or when the Early Bird ticket limit has been reached. Click here to purchase tickets.
