"...an engaging and stimulating entertainment no classical music lover should miss." - Stage Door

The CBC’s storytelling host Tom Allen teams up with the Garneau String Quartet and harpist Lori Gemmell in A Poe Cabaret, described as a “gothic, intense and beautiful experience”.

A Poe Cabaret combines the fascinating and tragic life story of Edgar Allan Poe with beautiful music conjured in his honour by Debussy, Andre Caplet and Alexina Louie. The evening is haunted by three of Poe’s greatest stories: the crumbling gothic shadows of The Fall of the House of Usher, the cautionary quarantine epic The Masque of Red Death, and a startling musical setting of Poe’s greatest success, and deepest heartbreak – The Raven.

Through storytelling, poetry and riveting music performed by an ensemble of absolutely spectacular musicians from front row of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra strings and one of this country's most musically compelling harpists, A Poe Cabaret will bring the chilling life and art of Edgar Allan Poe in from the cold.

A Poe Cabaret was initially co-commissioned by Luminato and the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. Listen to this fresh retelling of the Romantic master’s greatest works.

“…. [Lori] and I have put together an ever-growing number of shows that combine chamber music and storytelling. It is, apparently, just what we do. We’ve done this ‘Poe Cabaret’ for several years, and even though our own world has now tilted a little closer to his understanding of things, it’s still a flight of fantasy. Poe has been gone for over 150 years, and although his imagery remains compelling, there is a dark relief to be had in revelling in the shadows of his world and hearing the arc of his life and the vision of his work. Art has the power to illuminate our lives, no matter how dark the world around us may be.” - Tom Allen