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Marco Cera, guitar; Kirk Elliott, harp, bagpipes, accordion, violin, psaltery, etc.; Margaret Gay, cello; Ben Grossman, hurdy gurdy; Katherine Hill, voice, violin, nyckelharpa; Alison Melville, flutes, recorders, seljefløyte; Colin Savage, clarinet, bass clarinet, recorders; Debashis Sinha, percussion [Photo Credit: Richelle Forsey] |
Ensemble Polaris is planning two concerts of new music in 2007-08, one in January and one in May for which we’ll be inviting a guest from Scandinavia to join us. The band is also playing for the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga on April 12/08.Check out the ‘upcoming’ section on this site, or have a look at www.ensemblepolaris.com for more information as it becomes available.
Ensemble Polaris was founded in the spring of 1997 and first performed for Toronto's Northern Encounters Festival later that year. Made up of seven gifted instrumentalists from the Toronto early, folk, new, improvisational and 'independent' music communities, the group reflects an uncommon and exciting diversity of musical backgrounds and sensibilities.
Since 2004 we’ve been working with Katherine Hill, of whose singing, playing and person we are all so fond that we’ve adopted her as Polaris’s newest member. The other members of Polaris are Kirk Elliott, Margaret Gay, Ben Grossman, Debashis Sinha, Terry McKenna, Alison Melville and Colin Savage.
Polaris's second CD is a riveting collection of arrangements and original tunes, this time all instrumental! You can get it from Polaris's website (set up with PayPal), through CDBaby, or contact me to order one.
For sound clips, concert dates and other info, check out myspace.com/ensemblepolaris.
Recordings
Not Much is Worse than a Troll - 2005
Polaris’s second CD, an all-instrumental program featuring original band compositions as well as many new arrangements of traditional Nordic tunes. Instruments added to the mix include bass clarinet, Norwegian seljefløyte, and one track with squeaky toys.
Midnight Sun - Dorian 93195, January 2000
Traditional tunes from Scandinavia, the Baltic and Scotland with a Canadian twist.
A.M. on flute/recorder with Colin Savage, clarinet/recorder; Margaret Gay, cello/button accordion; Catherine Keenan, hurdy-gurdy; Kirk Elliot, harp/guitar/mandolin/dulcimer/pipes; Terry McKenna, lute/guitar/bouzouki; Ben Grossman, percussion/santur/jew's harp; and guest vocalists Sarah Granskou and Tiina Orpana. Available at amazon.ca
From happy customers at Amazon.com:
“Take my advice friends – this is a GREAT recording! I dare you not to love this music. This music is inventive. This music is full of passion. This music made me like the clarinet…an instrument I’ve despised since my days in middle school.”
“Each arrangement seems so perfectly matched to nuances of each song…I’m hoping for more great stuff from this group.”
“Listening to this wonderful music, I cannot help but think that J.R.R. Tolkien would have loved it…I hope that Ensemble Polaris makes more music, and soon.”
Banner photos: Paul Orenstein