Sarah Slean joins the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra in a celebration of Mitchell’s music. (Photo Provided)

On the eve of her 80th birthday, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra is celebrating Joni Mitchell with A Case of You. The SSO will team up with Canadian recording artist Sarah Slean to explore the music from Mitchell’s albums Both Sides Now and Travelogue. Mitchell’s songs helped form the foundation for Slean in her own musical career.

“She was always very sure about her own artistic voice. It never wavered.”

“When I got my first CD player, one of the CDs was Joni Mitchell’s Blue,” Slean says. “I played that album more times than I can recall. It was my way in. The way she sang, the way she wrote, she was always very sure about her own artistic voice. It never wavered.”

Slean joined the SSO in 2018 for a landmark performance of Mitchell’s music. It was the first time Vince Mendoza’s orchestral arrangements were played outside the recording studio. Now, this new concert will blend Mitchell’s iconic tunes like A Case of You, Both Sides Now with classics like River and Circle Game.

Canadian artist Sarah Slean performing the music of Joni Mitchell with the SSO in 2018. (Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra)

The interest in Mitchell and her work has been given new life since her surprise performance at the Newport Folk Festival last summer. Brandi Carlile hosted a nearly three-hour “Joni Jam” featuring stars like Allison Russell and Wynonna Judd. Interest in Mitchell’s body of work swelled. It’s something that Slean has studied in depth with the completion of her Master’s Degree in Composition (2023) from York University which focused on the impact of composers like Mitchell.

“Her music is nourishment that we all need as our world becomes more disconnected.”

“I put Joni Mitchell in the same category as Stravinsky. She turned musical tradition on its head blurring the lines between pop songs and high art,” says Slean. “She stretched the medium beyond its limits.”

Slean says there’s a certain poignancy to performing Mitchell’s music in Saskatoon with the SSO.

“Saskatoon is where she grew up. Many of the experiences that were here formed her,” says Slean. “Her music is nourishment that we all need as our world becomes more disconnected. This sharing of music is a unifying force, a spiritual experience, it’s communion.”