5th Annual Leonard Cohen Night (in Edmonton, September 23, 2006)
Leonard Cohen Night returns to Edmonton, Saturday, September 23rd with an evening of poetry and song. This event, presented by the Cohenights Arts Society in conjunction with the first Edmonton Poetry Festival, will celebrate the 72nd birthday of Canada’s favorite poet by featuring local singers Colleen Brown, John Gorham, Jared Sewan and Ann Vriend as well as wordsmiths Jacques Jocko Benoît and Myrna Garanis. The 5th Annual Leonard Cohen Night is the culmination of a two-week celebration that includes Spice Box, an exhibition of women's portraits inspired by Cohen's poetry, at Edmonton City Hall, September 7 - 20. This exhibition will feature works by Tessa Nunn, Glenys Switzer and Raymond Thériault curated by Danielle LaBrie. Join friends, fans and others who dig music and poetry - and ‘Leonard’ - for these unique festivities. Leonard Cohen Night will be held at La Cité, 8627 - 91 St., Edmonton. Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22 and are available at TIX on the Square (780.420.1757 or toll free 877.888.1757, tix@tixonthesquare.ca.
For more information contact Artistic Coordinator Ronald Tremblay at 780.461.9028 - ed.bisk@telus.net or Cohenights Arts Society President Dr. Kim Solez at 780.710.1644 - kim.solez@ualberta.ca
5th Leonard Cohen Night in Edmonton
Hello everyone,
One last mass invitation from the Cohenights Arts Society to the following events:
Thursday's (Today's) media launch at City Hall (11am)
Thursday's official opening of Spice Box -also at City Hall (7pm)- a visual arts event where Cohen's poetry meets the vision of local artists Tessa Nunn, Glenys Switzer and Raymond Thériault (Sept. 7-20). Poetry performance by Jocko on the 7th.
Leonard Cohen Night 2006 - Saturday September 23 at La Cité francophone (8627, 91st Street). Music by Colleen Brown, Jared Sowan, Ann Vriend, John Gorham and Jason Kodie; poetry performances by Myrna Garanis and Jocko.
'Forty years on: Leonard Cohen's historic visit to Edmonton' a discussion panel on September 24th on the U of A Campus (see attached document)
The Cohenights Arts Society AGM immediately following the panel.
All of this in collaboration with the 1st Edmonton Poetry Festival.
Share the word. Enjoy the word.
All the best,
Ronald Tremblay
Artistic Coordinator
Leonard Cohen Night 2006
Here is the complete Press release!
5th Annual Leonard Cohen Night
“Forty years on: Leonard Cohen’s historic visit to Edmonton’
EDMONTON – September 7th 2006 – On September 24 at 2 pm, a panel of authors, critics and performers will be discussing Leonard Cohen’s continuing influence as well as his enduring connection with the City of Edmonton. "Forty years on: Leonard Cohen's historic visit to Edmonton" will be held at the U of A’s Tory Lecture Theatre Complex.
The panel’s chair, Adriana Davies, is the Executive Director of the Heritage Community Foundation. She was a U of A student in 1966:
“It was a pivotal point in terms of Canadian identity. The next year would be Canada's centenary and we would welcome the world at Expo 67 in Montreal. On the University of Alberta Campus, the English Department was hosting Canadian poets but they were all older. When Leonard Cohen came, it was like a breath of fresh air. He spoke in a new idiom which was the language of the heart”. She concludes with a wink: “He was also drop-dead gorgeous”.
On a more serious note, Ms Davies hopes that the panel will begin an important discussion about Cohen’s place not only in poetry and music but also with respect to Canadian cultural identity.
“In my mind, his subsequent international career was a part of a coming of age of Canadian writers and musicians and today we enjoy that legacy”, says Adriana Davies.
Ms Davies sees each of the panelists quite able to give a strong, personal and professional perspective on Cohen, his writings and his influence. All parties agree that this seminar could be the seed for an international conference in the future. This is very interesting in view of the fact that the Cohenights Arts Society will be hosting the International Cohen Event in 2008. The event is held every two years in a different part of the world, most recently in Berlin (August 2006).
Besides Ms Davies, the panelists on the 24th will include author and critic Doug Barbour, singer-songwriter Ann Vriend, author Gordon Morash as well as playwright and performer extraordinaire Sheri-D Wilson. The public is cordially invited.
The Tory Lecture Theatre Complex is situated on the U of A campus, near Saskatchewan Drive and 111th Street.
2006 Leonard Cohen Video Scholarship Competition
Images from a New Generation
The Cohenights Arts Society is also pleased to announce the winners of
The 2006 Leonard Cohen Video Scholarship Competition
First place went to Alicia Pawlowski and Katie Harlton of École Secondaire Sainte-Marguerite d'Youville in St. Albert for their creative interpretation of Leonard Cohen's Last Year's Man. With numerous costume changes and a wide variety of locations, Alicia and Katie accurately portrayed the poet’s “soulful lament”.
Second prize was awarded to Grant Guidy for his wonderfully personal video of Cohen's In My Secret Life. Grant attends Spring Bank Community College. The Scholarships allowed Alicia, Katie and Grant to participate in this summer's Teen Video Intensive held at Red Deer College in July where these young video creators further developed their filming techniques.
We are proud to premiere both videos at September 23rd Leonard Cohen Night.
Tickets for the September 23rd show are available at TIX on the Square.
La Cité francophone is located at 8627, 91st Street.
Source: Ronald Tremblay, Artistic Coordinator
780.461.9028 - ed.bisk@telus.net
Cohenights Arts Society President Dr. Kim Solez
780.710.1644 - kim.solez@ualberta.ca.