Monday, February 7, 2011

A Cabaret-Chanson at Alliance Française

You have probably heard of Mitch Smolkin before. He was the artistic director for the Ashkenaz Festival from 2001-2006, he is a beautiful performer of Yiddish music, and he is currently an artistic associate with the Harbourfront Centre. What you may not know is that he can also sing chanson.

On Friday evening, Smolkin will be collaborating with Sophie Perceval and Denis Schingh for an evening of Pillow Songs, or Chansons sur l’oreiller, at Toronto’s Alliance Française. For this performance, the gallery will turn into a bedroom and the singers will explore intensity and emotion through music.

I’ve attended the Chanson-Cabaret series at Alliance Française before. The stage is low and the room is small and packed, but it makes for a wonderfully intimate performance. The level of talent is high, and so is the energy of the audience. Pillow Songs might be the perfect theme for this series.

Pillow Songs @ Alliance Française
24 Spadina Road, 7:30pm
Admission: $12 (free for AFT members!)

Casandra Campbell

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