It’s amazing what busy musicians can get up to in their free time.<\/p>\n
In the case of Toronto’s Ensemble Polaris<\/a>, it has led to four CDs and quite a bit of touring for their adventurous blend of old and new music from countries where the Winter Solstice means several extra hours of darkness.<\/p>\n In the spirit of ensembles old and new, the gang prepares many of its own arrangements, and does a lot of improvising.<\/p>\n They present their own twist on a programme of seasonal music Friday evening at cozy and acoustically friendly Heliconian Hall, in Yorkville. Tickets max out at $20, at the door.<\/p>\n “Get away from mall Muzak and join us for some Grog,” they say in invitation for a freewheeling program of Russian folk music, including their own arrangements of a well-known ballet score that rhymes with bushwhacker.<\/p>\n Check out who they are and what they do here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here’s a sample of what they do: an improvisation on an Italian tarantella at the Gladstone Hotel in June, 2010, with\u00a0Marco Cera, guitar, Debashis Sinha, percussion and Ben Grossman on the hurdy gurdy (cellist Margaret Gay looks on):<\/p>\n