Art of Time Ensemble Reveals 25th Anniversary Season & Ensuing Closure

This year Art of Time Ensemble, led by its founding Artistic Director Andrew Burashko, will celebrate its 25th anniversary and announced its final concert season. Mr. Burashko has announced an exciting slate of live concerts and special projects that span the next 18 months, after which he plans to wind down the critically acclaimed arts organization in 2025.

“When I started Art of Time Ensemble in 1998, I wanted to create a chamber music series like no other,” said Mr. Burashko. “I wanted to take classical music out of its silo and present it alongside other styles of music and other art forms to challenge preconceived notions of how music should be presented. I never imagined that it would grow into the company it is today. In the last 25 years, we have created over 80 unique live projects and recordings involving some of Canada’s greatest artists; and performed close to 400 concerts throughout North America and Europe. Our 25th and final season will celebrate all that we have accomplished and say thank you and goodbye to our incredible audience and supporters.”

Mr. Bursahko added, “It has been an extraordinary privilege to follow my passion and curiosity, and to grow in so many unexpected ways. When I started Art of Time, I was a pianist. After leading Art of Time artistically and administratively for 25 years, I want to explore my creativity in other ways. I now move on as a pianist, conductor, musical and stage director, producer and curator. I’m thrilled to discover what the future holds.”

Three live concerts will be mounted by Art of Time Ensemble over 2023 and 2024 for its 25th and final season which will take place at Harbourfront Centre Theatre:

 To All A Good Night 8  (December 7-9, 2023) – The eighth and final presentation of an Art of Time holiday tradition

Dance to the Abyss (February 23-24, 2024) – featuring the decadent cabaret and jazz-inspired music of the 1920s that captured the zeitgeist of a culture on a path to catastrophe.

Both Sides Now (May 9-11, 2024)  – a Joni Mitchell retrospective that will span the entirety of her career, from her folk roots to her experimentations in jazz.

The artists joining the ensemble for the final season will include Sarah Slean, Martha Burns, Tom Allison, Tom Wilson, Jessica Mitchell, Torquil Campbell, Jasmyn, Jackie Richardson and Julian Richings, among many others. Subscriptions for the 2023-24 Coda Season are now available at Art of Time Ensemble’s website at artoftimeensemble.com .

In addition to these concerts, three very special projects will be completed:

L’Histoire du Soldat – a reimagining of Stravinsky’s classic with a new libretto commissioned from Nigerian-born, Edmonton-based poet Titilope Sonuga in a co-production with Against The Grain Theatre, premiering in October 2024.

A Music and Dance Film – a short animated film based on 10 restrictive dance band rules and regulations from Nazi Germany. This censorship of jazz will be illustrated in the musical performance as well as in the choreography by Guillaume Côté (The National Ballet of Canada Principal Dancer and Choreographic Asscociate). The dancers will be captured in motion-sensor suits and abstracted through animation by Justin Stephenson (Gord Downie’s film The Secret Path).

Digital Archive – an online archive to preserve and share each production from the last 25 years of Art of Time Ensemble’s history.

Alongside Mr. Burashko’s announcement, the Chair of Art of Time Ensemble’s Board of Directors, Ian Bandeen, today launched the Coda fundraising campaign to raise money to finance these ambitious works.

“Andrew has, as always, outdone himself in assembling a wide-sweeping and hugely exciting final line-up for Art of Time. The Board is unanimously supportive of the Coda initiative and are eager to assist in securing the funding required to see all of these excellent final projects to their successful completion,” said Mr. Bandeen, who added that “along with the close to 400 Art of Time Ensemble performances to date, these final legacy projects should endure and enhance the international reach of the Canadian arts and cultural community.”

The target for the Coda campaign is $450,000 of which $176,000 has already been pledged. Donations can be made online at artoftimeensemble.com/coda-campaign.