Media Launch/Article in Edmonton Journal

The Edmonton Event - before and after
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KimSolez
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Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2002 8:47 pm
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Media Launch/Article in Edmonton Journal

Post by KimSolez »

We had a great launch! Images at:

http://homepage.mac.com/evocative1/LCIE ... um253.html

Images show Peter North and Larisa Sembaliuk-Cheladyn speaking and Ann Vriend singing.

All the best. - Kim

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/s ... 595ebee95c

Edmonton Journal page D3

Festival promises all Leonard Cohen, all the time
GILBERT A. BOUCHARD Special to the
EDMONTON JOURNAL
Jann Arden, Serena Ryder and Peter Elkas are among the Canadian artists who will pay homage to Leonard Cohen when an international festival dedicated to the renowned songwriter/poet comes to Edmonton in July.

After berths in Montreal, New York and Berlin, the 2008 edition of the Leonard Cohen International Festival will attract hundreds of international and regional fans to Edmonton from July 23 to 28, says Kim Solez, one of the event’s organizers.

The all-Cohen-all-the-time festival boasts a tour-de-force tribute gala on Saturday, July 26, at the Winspear Centre, featuring Jann Arden, Serena Ryder, Darrell Scott, Tom Rush, Peter Elkas, Roddy Hart and Kate HammetVaughan.

The event will also include literary readings by Ted Bishop and The Journal’s Todd Babiak.

“Musicians at the gala cover a widerange of performers, from amateurs to well-known artists, some who’ve had friendships with the manor have recorded Len Cohen songs,” says Solez, noting that Cohen is one of the most covered artists in the world.

“For example, early on in her career, Cohen visited Jann (Arden) in the studio and brought her a fine guitar as a gift. He has been one of her important muses.”

One of the many international guests making to the trek to Edmonton for the event is the Australian band Monsieur Camembert.

“This group is very good. In fact, Cohen himself was so impressed by them that he invited one of their singers to join his own band,” says Solez.

Other events include open-mike sessions, multimedia performances, poetry readings, academic presentations and a Cohen-centric tour of Edmonton, focusing on his 1966 trip to our fair city, immortalized in the song Sisters of Mercy.

The Montreal native wrote it in his hotel room after meeting two women, Barbara and Lorraine, in the middle of a snowstorm.

Solez is also hoping the festival will be able to host a touring showing of Cohen’s own visual artwork.

Sadly, Cohen won’t be attending the festival or extending his international concert tour to include Western Canada.

“It’s been an interesting tension over the years,” says Solez. “Cohen has known about these international events, but keeps a distance.”

Information about the festival is available at http://www.cohenites.blogspot.com .
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