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601 Christie Street, 2 blocks south of St. Clair Avenue West
~ Look for the blue tent outdoors in the summer months, or the red banner at the office of Storytelling Toronto in the winter ~
Open only to members of Storytelling Toronto
Date: Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Time: 6:30 PM for a 7:00 PM start
Venue: Peter MacKendrick Community Gallery, Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street
*this is a wheelchair accessible space
Our festival theme this year is
“Stories told eye to eye, mind to mind, heart to heart” (Traveller proverb).
Tradition bearers bring wisdom from the ancestors to illuminate our future,
weaving new understandings from the web of old stories.
Artistic Director: Heather Whaley
Co-Directors: Backseat Balladeers
PAST PERFORMANCE
An evening of Queer Stories, Gay Tunes & Drag!
The Queers in Your Ears Collective presents another rollicking evening of tale-telling that explores queer identity and what it means to be queer – you’ll hear stories about love, friendship and death, the hard truths that we have to swallow and the power of storytelling.
Featuring Rico Rodriguez, Jeffrey Canton & Faith Nolan
Ethnomusicologist and multi-instrumentalist, Judith Cohen performs sung stories and tales from Sephardic and pan-European traditions.
Newfoundland storyteller and balladeer Ellen Power, and guest musicians, Emily Yarascavitch and Charlie McKittrick, lead our second house concert style ceilidh with story and song.
CSI Annex – How do I get there?
CSI Annex is at 720 Bathurst Street in Toronto. Wheelchair Accessible.
If travelling by TTC, go to Bathurst Station. CSI Annex is a block and a half south on the west side.
Street parking and Green P Parking is available.
Artist Biographies
The Backseat Balladeers is a casual group that sings ballads and songs for the sheer joy of spreading lyrics and music for generations to come. It formed in 2007 as a result of Storytelling Toronto’s Ballad 101 and 201 courses led by the esteemed Lorne Brown, teller of old tales and singer of old songs. They performed their debut at Nuit Blanche with Storytelling Toronto in 2009 at Artscape Wychwood Barns and at the 2011 Toronto Festival at Harbourfront Centre.
Membership has changed over the years, however original members, Meryl Arbing, Pat Bisset, Karen Blair, Donna Dudinsky, Kim Michele and Heather Whaley are some of the voices taking the stage to share stories and ballads and songs. Whether tragic, historical, romantic or comic, all invoke powerful emotions and have significance in our lives. As with many ballads and folk songs, audience participation is encouraged!
Judith Cohen is a singer and storyteller, an ethnomusicologist, a multi-instrumentalist and an inveterate traveller. A specialist in Sephardic songs, she has collected and studied these and many others, over years of travelling in Spain, Portugal, the Balkans, Morocco, Greece, Turkey, Israel and right here in Toronto and Montreal. Judith follows her ballads and their stories around, with versions of the same story sung and told in French Canada, Sephardic Morocco and Bosnia, Spanish and Portuguese villages. She blends and mixes ballads, stories, languages, and anecdotes in unexpected ways, with a number of traditional instruments, and spontaneous communication drawing in the audience as if they were in her living room.
Charlie McKittrick is a full-time musician living in Toronto, ON. He gigs regularly, whether it be drumming for bands at festivals, theatres clubs and weddings, or performing solo acoustic guitar and singing in casinos, pubs, resorts and microbreweries in and around the Greater Toronto Area. In 2009 Charlie earned his Bachelor of Music from the University of Windsor where he studied classical music as a percussion major under the direction of Dr. Bryan Malito and Dr. Nicholas Papador. Mr. McKittrick tours North America drumming for The Tartan Terrors (www.tartanterrors.com). In April 2018 Charlie released his debut solo EP called Two Hearts. Included on that release are four original songs. Many more of his songs are ready to be recorded will be released within the coming year.
Ellen Power was born in the isolated outport community of South East Bight, on the south coast of Newfoundland. Although raised in St. John’s, Ellen remains connected to the ballad-singing and storytelling traditions of her family—fishermen and traditional singers from Placentia Bay. She has performed at festivals across Newfoundland, including the March Hare Literary Festival and the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival. Singing ballads passed down through generations of Newfoundlanders before her, Ellen uses her voice to keep the old songs alive
Emily Yarascavitch received several titles such as: Junior Canadian Champion, a Grand Masters Junior Showcase Performer, two time Canadian Open Duet Champion and a Canadian Grand Masters Finalist. She is trained in various fiddle styles as well as classical violin through the Royal Conservatory of Music and is a graduate of the University of Waterloo Honours Sciences with Minors in Biology and Music. She currently tours North America professionally with The Tartan Terrors; North America’s Premiere Celtic Event and plays with other solo artists. Emily released her debut CD My Passion in 2009 and released an EP with her trio Branches of Silver in 2015.
Emily is no stranger to StoryFusion Cabaret! She accompanied revered storyteller, Carol McGirr, with fiddle tunes for the telling of Blind MacNair at the Butler’s Pantry in 2014, our very first show. This time Emily will be step dancing as well!