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"The Rose" Video Shoot

Sarah has teamed up again with the wunderkinds from Fortyfps and Major Street Productions - the group behind 2008's film "Last Flowers".   After some scheduling difficulty, the shoot date was finally booked for March 5 in Toronto. BravoFact has generously supported the project, the aim of which was to ambitiously combine play-within-a-play storytelling, musical performance, and dance.  Sarah was particularly interested in working with Lucy Rupert again - the dancer behind last year's "Abecedarian" project, a solo piece that Sarah described as "riveting".  The video is being completed and released much later than the actual song's release (December 2008), but the project was such a congruence of creative people that Sarah assures us it will have been worth the wait.

"The Rose" was released as an iTunes bonus track for the album The Baroness and later as a track on the EP The Baroness Redecorates.

Working with Plaskett

It's official, Ms. Slean will be melding creative worlds with East coast rocker Joel Plaskett! A return to the sunshine pop of Day One? A bit of clunky-funky at Baronial ball?
Stay tuned.

Spring Cleaning: Web Site Overhaul and Survey

Got ideas for SS.com? In early April the site will be getting a complete makeover and we'd like your input. Please drop us a line at help@SarahSlean.com and tell us what you'd like to see more (or less!) of at the online headquarters for all-things-Slean.  Don't hold back now.

CARE Canada: "Half The Sky" screening

Sarah wants to send a big thank you to those of you who came out on March 4 to the CARE screening in north Toronto. The CARE staff was thrilled with the event's success, and a large part of that was thanks to the amazing support of fans.  If you haven't had a chance to read this book yet, Sarah recommends it highly.  The inspiration found therein will give you a full year's supply of energy, enthusiasm, and that magical, unquantifiable substance, hope.

Wearing a string around our fingers to remember the importance of empowering women worldwide.

Royal Wood, Sarah Slean and Kathy Wong from CARE Canada at the Toronto Half the Sky Live Event.

Aloha!

Sarah has returned from Paris where she says it was difficult to put the writing pen down. Grey and dreary weather proved ideal for indoor composing, and she reports that the vision for her next album is becoming clear.  What about those pieces for string orchestra that she was writing for the Canada Council grant? Two have been completed, and they might just make it into some songs! We shall see. In summary, the muse-tap is on. Perfect timing too - have you seen the weather these days? Everything is waking up, getting born...

In the mood for a little something, mmm, "life-changing"?

I was so inspired and moved by my recent "Song for Africa" trip to Rwanda that, upon my return in December, I reached out to  CARE Canada (an aid organization we worked closely with there) to ask if I could be involved in their efforts in any way.  As it turns out they are running a Canada-wide campaign to promote "Half the Sky", an incredible book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, both Pulitzer prize winning reporters with decades of experience in the developing world. The book has been made into a film, screening for *one night only* on March 4th, 2010 in Toronto's Empire Empress Walk 10 Cinemas, 7:30 pm. I've just read the book, and am so honoured to be a small part of the film's launch in Canada, because it's undoubtedly going to change the world. Join me and the wonderful folks from CARE Canada on March 4th! xo S

Sarah in Paris

After receiving a Canada Council for the Arts grant, Sarah is currently in beautiful Paris, France, writing music once again. Combining her strongest musical influences – the melody and simple structures of songwriting with the lush timbre of orchestral strings – some of what she’s working on right now may even end up in the "Boy Wonder" musical she’s been envisioning for years…stay tuned!

Watch "Last Flowers"

Last Flowers, a film directed C.J. Wallis, is now available online for everyone to see. In this short, Sarah plays Mona Miller, the female lead, opposite Joseph May as Harvey Harris, an unsuccessful novelist and obituary writer for a local newspaper.

Click here to watch Last Flowers now.

Rwanda Part 6

Read Sarah's latest blog entries about her trip to Africa with Song For Africa by clicking here.

RWANDA part 5

A choir - a choir! I woke up that morning like a kid at Christmas. Don't care what kind of choir! Don't even care if they're good! Multiple voices raised in song will give me whole-body goosebumps every time.

Read Sarah's latest blog entries about her trip to Africa with Song For Africa by clicking here.

RWANDA Part 4

More studio lunacy! The momentum of music-making has given me energy and strength - even though for the past two days I've been running on coffee and oranges... which reminds me of that exquisite, biting Wallace Stevens poem...

Read Sarah's latest blog entries about her trip to Africa with Song For Africa by clicking here.

Rwanada Part 3

Read Sarah's latest blog entries about her trip to Africa with Song For Africa by clicking here.

RWANDA PART 2

Man down, man down! Steve has fallen ill. Who will make me laugh until I cry now? Alas! We soldier on without him. Boo.

I am a tad concerned about the enthusiasm and confidence with which I ate last night's dinner...
We pile into a van and head to the eastern districts to learn about the remarkable progress that CARE Canada and local communities have been making.  Their latest project - helping people organize themselves into savings and loan groups - is making an incredible difference in Rwanda and other rural populations in the developing world...

Read Sarah's latest blog entries about her trip to Africa with Song For Africa by clicking here.

Rwanda Part 1

Read Sarah's latest blog entries about her trip to Africa with Song For Africa by clicking here.

Climate Change Vigils

Join Sarah and support Toronto's Climate Action Candlelight Vigils, taking place on December 12 and 13. Sarah will be attending one or both of these vigils and details for both are below.

Time: Saturday, December 12 at 8 pm
Venue: Queen's Park
Place: University Ave and Wellesley Ave, Toronto, ON

Time: Sunday, December 13 at 4:30 pm
Venue: In front of Da Vinci school
Place: Russell St and Spadina Cres, Toronto, ON
Host: Maryem Tollar