Sarah Slean will give audiences a new view of her musical abilities on Saturday night. (Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra)

Classical and pop worlds are blurring in the final show of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra’s season Appalachian Spring Saturday May 14, 2016.

Sarah Slean is known the world over for her blend of pop music and poetry. Now Saskatoon audiences will have a chance to see Slean as a classical chanteuse in a performance of Christos Hatzis’ Lamento. It’s a song cycle written specifically for Slean. She says it’s accessible to everyone. “It’s wildly original and has moments of utterly gorgeous poignancy, wrenching sorrow and other-worldly beauty.”

Slean has performed Lamento with orchestras before and says the process is exhilarating. “When one is surrounded by mastery and exquisitely beautiful sound, it’s the ultimate for a creative artist.”

“When one is surrounded by mastery and exquisitely beautiful sound, it’s the ultimate for a creative artist.”

While many in the crowd may find the leap from pop hits like Sweet Ones to a composition like Lamento to be odd, Slean says it’s all music to her. “Sociological influences create ‘genres’, and keep them distinct from each other but at bottom, the language of music is still the same very basic elements.” Slean explains, “As a musician, it’s stimulating to shed that extra baggage and just explore music alone.”

This is a show with two song cycles. Saskatchewan contralto Bonnie Cutsforth-Huber is coming home to perform Les Nuits d’Ete. Cutsforth-Huber has graced international stages like Carnegie Hall but never performed on the SSO stage. The orchestra is excited to have her.

As for the show title, Copland’s Appalachian Spring will be a piece audiences will instantly recognize. “We wanted to give people something they could instantly fall in love with,” exclaims Executive Director Mark Turner. ”It’s the bonus track!”

They’ll be plenty of bonuses in this show and you won’t want to miss it this Saturday at TCU Place.

Get tickets here.