Fill the signin form to join the newsletter and gain access to a Members Only section with freebies and other great Paisley Jura stuff. After you sign up and log in you will see a Members Only button in the top menu.
secret rooms
Click Here to Make Reservation
Click Here for More Info
Paisley Jura’s innovative concert series Secret Rooms combines her theatrical pop with classical, jazz, dance and film challenging notions of concert tradition by presenting it all not in a bar, concert hall, church or art gallery, but in something else. What? A Secret Room. Actually, several.
Now in it’s second season, this unique series pairs Paisley’s dramatic live show with artists from a variety of genres in site-specific installations. The inaugural season featured performances by now well-known artists Alejandra Ribera and the Madawaska String Quartet.
In developing Secret Rooms Paisley says, “I love the idea of being allowed behind-the-scenes, whether those scenes are the inner recesses of a military college, the guts of a brewery, or a studio space in the National Ballet School. I’m the kind of person that turns a garment inside out to see how it is made before I buy it – I love finding out what goes into creating something beautiful, or delicious, or culturally important.”
One of the important outcomes of the initial season was the chance to collaborate with artists in other genres. Artists partnering with Paisley on the series present their own material in concert, and also work with her to create new interpretations of Paisley’s songs. For the May 2010 concert with the Madawaska String Quartet Paisley commissioned arrangements of several songs from Juno- and Gemini-winning composers Andrew Downing and Robert Carli. The resulting string quartet arrangements became a leading thread in her upcoming studio album (to be released October 26, 2010 at Hugh’s Room).
The lure of secrets is irresistible. Secret Rooms brings together the best artists in the most interesting spaces with impossible-to-predict creative results.
Click here to read an article by National Post journalist Vanessa Farqueson about Secret Rooms.
SECRET ROOMS 2010-11
The House, Windsor
Thursday, November 25, 2010 9:00 pm
with Jacquie Robitaille (opera)
In the first ever Secret Rooms show to take place outside of Toronto, Paisley and the band will perform at The House, a century-old mansion in the heart of downtown Windsor. The House is home to a unique performance space and cafe, a graphic design firm and a promotions company specializing in social media training. Its unique acoustics, tested during its former life as a pub and inn, perfectly suit the eclectic and intimate sounds of Paisley’s music. Jacquie Robitaille (sister of Pat), fresh from her stellar one-act opera shows, will perform an opening set at 9 pm.
Keep an eye on this space for more Secret Rooms concerts in 2011!
SECRET ROOMS 2009-10
Canadian Forces College Officers‘ Mess, Toronto
215 Yonge Blvd
Friday, November 27, 2009 8:00 pm
with Alejandra Ribera (world and cabaret inflected jazz)
You may not even know it, but there is an advanced military college at Yonge and Wilson in Toronto. The Canadian Forces College is situated on acres of beautiful greenspace and gardens, and in the centre of it all lies the Officers’ Mess: the hub of formal activities for Officers from all branches of the armed forces from across Canada and around the world. The building itself features cut-glass windows, stone archways, wood-panelled rooms, and expansive fireplaces.
Fresh from performances with the Art of Time Ensemble and her regular Tuesday night showcase at the Cameron House Alejandra Ribera is an exotic beauty: a smoky voiced wonder that you may not have heard of yet, but you will never forget. Heard most recently on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning and Big City Small World, Alejandra’s star is rising quickly – see her in this intimate setting before it’s too late!
www.myspace.com/alejandraribera
Great Lakes Brewery, Toronto
30 Queen Elizabeth Blvd.
Friday, January 29, 2010 8:00 pm
with Robin McPhail, Gillian McPhail and Sean Ling (dance)
Situated in south Etobicoke, Great Lakes Brewery is the oldest independent craft-brewery in Ontario. Dancers and audience will weave in and around the giant copper kettles in this seldom-glimpsed space.
Robin McPhail, Gillian McPhail and Sean Ling began dancing together as members of the Toronto Dance Theatre. Alumni of the Alberta Ballet and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance (New York), their individual careers have seen them appear in works by Peggy Baker, Veronica Tennant, Christopher House and the Danny Grossman Dance Troupe for presenters including Nuit Blanche and the Canadian Opera Company. Robin McPhail appeared with Paisley Jura at Hugh’s Room in June 2009 and is delighted to return for the premiere of this work for dance trio.
The National Ballet School, Toronto
400 Jarvis St
Saturday, April 3, 2010 8:00 pm
with the Madawaska Quartet (classical string quartet)
The ever-eclectic and stunningly beautiful ladies of the Madawaska Quartet perform repertoire ranging from mainstream classical to performance art, from film score to the avant garde, and from Baroque to the present day. Their numerous acheivements include performances with Measha Brueggergosman, a feature on CBC Radio’s “The Music Around Us“ series, and a performance piece by Yoko Ono captured in Barbara Willis Sweete’s film“Sky Piece for Jesus Christ” (Rhombus Media).
