Media Release: FIRST BLOOM – Edith Wallace in Concert
First Bloom: Edith Wallace in Concert (Album Release)
February 19, 2016 at 8 pm
Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam
Tickets $35 via http://evergreenculturalcentre.ca/event/edith-wallace-concert/ or 604-927-6555
Vancouver’s Edith Wallace celebrates the launch of her new double album, First Bloom, with an intimate concert that showcases her many gifts as a singer-songwriter. It’s a rare performer who can connect the way Edith does with her listeners, combining superlative musicianship with raw emotional courage, warm and wide-open honesty, and belly-laugh-inducing humour. Being at an Edith Wallace concert is like taking a seat at her kitchen table, having a cup of tea and talking about life; you’ll laugh and cry (sometimes both at once), listen with your whole heart, and walk away a little wiser. Edith’s music is beautiful, challenging, wise, hilarious – and ultimately full of joy.
Media Release: Notes From the Araxes Basin
MUSIC WITHOUT BORDERS:
Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra presents Festival of Middle Eastern Music
Global Soundscapes Festival: Notes From the Araxes Basin
February 19-29, 2016
Various venues in Vancouver, North Vancouver & Victoria
This February, Vancouver-based musicians and composers will collaborate with virtuoso soloists from Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon and Iran, and visiting Canadian ensembles from Victoria and Montreal, to present traditional, contemporary and intercultural music of the Middle East and Canada. Notes From the Araxes Basin promises to be a great musical adventure, guaranteed to expand horizons and transcend borders.
VICO: Chrysanthemums & Maple Leaves Festival
For Immediate Release: August 27, 2014 (UPDATED October 9)
A JOYOUS SYNTHESIS OF SOUND & CREATIVITY:
CHRYSANTHEMUMS & MAPLE LEAVES FESTIVAL CELEBRATES JAPANESE MUSIC IN CANADA
October 22 – November 3, 2014
Various venues in Vancouver, Burnaby & Victoria, BC
Tickets & information: www.vi-co.org
************
The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra launches its 14th season with Chrysanthemums & Maple Leaves 2014. This innovative festival celebrates the music of Japan, and explores interactions between Japanese and Canadian cultures through educational events, workshops, chamber recitals and orchestral concerts in Vancouver, Victoria and Burnaby.
Grease (Footlight Theatre)
GREASE IS THE WORD FOR FOOTLIGHT THEATRE’S 46th SEASON
November 9 – 24, 2012
Michael J. Fox Theatre
Forty years ago, Grease opened on Broadway and was a runaway hit! Just six years later, the film version starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John smashed box office records to become the highest-grossing movie musical of all time. For many, Grease is STILL the word, and brings back memories of rockin’ music, fantastic dancing and, of course, tight black pants! So dig out that poodle skirt or biker jacket and brush up on your hand jive skills; this November, Footlight Theatre is taking audiences back to 1959 with an exciting new production of the ultimate high school musical.
Plot synopsis? No need. The classic, hilariously corny storyline – first love, teenaged cliques, fast friends and faster cars – will be familiar to many… and so will the 50s-style pop/rock soundtrack, jam-packed with beloved hits. From “Summer Nights” and “Greased Lightnin'” to “Born to Hand Jive”, “We Go Together” and so many more, you won’t be able to keep from singing along!
Footlight’s large and talented cast includes Jennie Neumann (Rizzo), well known to local audiences thanks to her acclaimed portrayals of Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray and Natalie in Next to Normal (both at the Arts Club Theatre). Jennie will be joined by Lucas Blaney (Blood Brothers at the Arts Club) as Danny Zuko, Alex Gullason (Titanic at Theatre Under the Stars) as Sandy, and Craig DeCarlo (Roger in FCP’s Rent) as Kenickie. Footlight’s production is directed and choreographed by Lalainia Lindbjerg Strelau, with musical direction by Tom Arntzen and Monique Creber, set design by John Bessette, lighting design by Phil Guhl, costumes by Christina Sinosich and production stage management by Melanie Thompson. Tickets start at $19.59 (yes, the year the show is set) and are on sale now at http://www.ticketstonight.ca. Don’t miss out!
FOOTLIGHT THEATRE COMPANY has been producing quality community theatre in Burnaby, BC since 1965. Recently the company followed smash hit productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2009) and The Sound of Music (2010) with another family classic: The Wizard of Oz (2011). High production values, big talent both professional and amateur, and tons of heart: these are the hallmarks of a Footlight show. Visit www.footlight.ca for more information.
Spring in Venice: Laudate Singers
Article written for the North Shore News‘ “Arts Alive” monthly supplement, May 2010:
Spring in Venice:
Laudate Singers journey to the heart of a rich musical heritage
By Melanie Thompson
Imagine: you have just stepped into a Venetian gondola. It glides away down a moonlit canal… transporting you back in time, four hundred years into the past. You alight close to the Piazza San Marco, walk across the square (avoiding the pigeons!), and pass through great bronze doors into the Chiesa d’oro (church of gold), St. Mark’s Basilica. Inside, vaulted ceilings curve into domes high overhead. Brightly coloured mosaics, edged in gold, glint in the candlelight. Shadowy choir lofts overlook the vast central space, and from them singers’ voices rise clear and pure, calling back and forth, weaving together in counterpoint. Even after they fall silent, the echo of the music still shimmers in the air.
It may sound like a dream, but in fact, you can take this magical journey without ever leaving the North Shore. Acclaimed local chamber choir Laudate Singers and artistic director Lars Kaario will be your guides, along with some of Vancouver’s finest early music instrumentalists: Nancy DiNovo and Pat Armstrong (violins), Ariel Barnes (cello), Ray Nurse (theorbo) and Christopher Bagan (organ). On May 14th, this fine ensemble will perform a glorious mosaic of works by Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Lotti and Caldara, composers who lived in Renaissance and Baroque-era Venice, and were closely associated with St. Mark’s Basilica. The sacred choral music they wrote for that unique space was some of the most innovative, expressive and colourful in all of Europe at the time. Its ability to transport and uplift audiences endures to this day. Laudate Singers are proud to bring this music to the North Shore community, and they look forward to seeing you at this, the grand finale of the choir’s 2009-2010 season.
VENETIAN MOSAIC
Friday, May 14, 2010 8pm
St. Andrew’s United Church (10th & St. Georges), North Vancouver
Tickets: $35 Adults / $30 Seniors & Students / Free <18 years
www.laudatesingers.com
VICO Spring Concerts: A Weekend of World Music
The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO) welcomes internationally acclaimed guest musicians from Japan and Taiwan for two major concerts over the last weekend in May (Asian Heritage Month in Vancouver). This is fusion music on a grand scale, collaborative art that breathes new life into centuries-old sounds from all over the world, creating global music for a global stage.
Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra
in collaboration with Vancouver Pro Musica & Vancouver Community College
presents
Imagined Worlds: Japanese Interventions
Saturday May 29, 2010 at 8 pm
Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra
Jin Zhang, conductor
with special guests Curtis Patterson (koto), Bruce Huebner (shakuhachi) from Tokyo
& the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra of Taiwan
Imagined Worlds: Japanese Interventions will feature world-renowned Tokyo-based musicians Curtis Patterson (koto) and Bruce Huebner (shakuhachi), who will join the 22-member VICO to perform the world premiere of two Canada Council commissions by Vancouver composers Jin Zhang and Farshid Samandari, as well as a new arrangement by Mark Armanini of the traditional Japanese piece Chidori No Kyoku (Song of the Plovers) – all written especially for the unprecedented instrumental combination of koto and shakuhachi with the tar, dizi, xiao, zheng, sanxian, oud, pipa , erhu, santur, bansuri, tabla, marimba, flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and bass of the VICO. The evening will also include a guest appearance by the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra of Taiwan.
Tickets and information
Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra
Sunday May 30, 2010 at **7 pm**
Chih-Sheng Chen, artistic director
with Heidi Krutzen (harp) and members of Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra
The VICO is proud to sponsor the celebrated Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra in its first ever concert appearance in British Columbia. Established in 2000 and now a strong musical force in Taiwan, the LgCO represents a new generation of Chinese orchestral music developed over the last half century. The orchestra is headquartered at the prestigious National Concert Hall in Taiwan, presenting both the complete ensemble of over one hundred musicians and smaller chamber ensembles throughout the year. In Vancouver, the LgCO will present a chamber ensemble of 16 instrumentalists, conducted by artistic director Chih-Sheng Chen, performing a programme featuring the latest works by Taiwanese composers as well as two pieces by Vancouver composers Mark Armanini and Lan Tung. Harpist Heidi Krutzen and members of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra will also make guest appearances.
Tickets and information
The VICO is thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with these talented artists, and to mark Asian Heritage Month in Vancouver by bringing international guests together with some of our city’s finest world music practitioners, to create new contemporary music that reflects the cultural diversity of the society and the world in which we live.
Tempus Theatre: 36 VIEWS
Tempus Theatre Celebrates Asian Heritage Month
with Western Canadian Premiere of
36 VIEWS by Naomi Iizuka
May 1 – 23, 2009
Tues.-Sun. at 8:00 pm, Jericho Arts Centre
Tickets: $25 plus service charges at www.ticketstonight.ca or 604-684-2787
Students & seniors: $20 at the door only / Preview April 30 & all Tues.shows: pay-what-you-can at the door
Tempus Theatre, one of Vancouver’s most exciting new theatrical voices, presents the Western Canadian premiere of 36 VIEWS by award-winning Japanese American playwright Naomi Iizuka, in an innovative multi-disciplinary production directed by Anthony F. Ingram and starring Keith Martin Gordey Annabel Kershaw, Michael Kopsa, Lissa Neptuno, Bert Steinmanis and Valerie Sing Turner. Part romance, part mystery and part con game, the play casts a enthralling spell of poetic language, evocative sounds and beautiful images, even as it asks compelling and timely questions about cultural authenticity, the value of art in society, and the quest for truth in art and in human relationships.
Appropriately for a production running during Asian Heritage Month, 36 VIEWS is a contemporary play set in a modern, metropolitan city that incorporates elements of traditional Japanese Kabuki and Noh theatre, as well as references to Japanese literature, music and visual art (including The Tale of Genji, the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon and the works of Japanese master artists)…references that are fraught with fascinating ambiguity. “When you live in a country like Canada and a city like Vancouver,” says Ingram (Tempus Theatre’s artistic director), “and you’ve got all these cultural identities struggling to fit themselves in or define themselves against a predominantly northern European cultural influence…what is the difference between bastardizing a cultural touchstone and borrowing it to create a new cultural language?”
36 VIEWS moves effortlessly between that bigger picture and a more intimate, more personal one: in the playwright’s words, “it’s a play about how difficult it is to arrive at some fixed, unchanging truth about a human being, or a work of art, or a love affair. What we thought was the truth changes. Our perceptions shift, and it’s complicated. People are complicated. Why they make certain choices is at times contradictory, and I wanted to build a play that captured in its actual form all those contradictions.”
Plot synopsis: An art dealer and an art historian discover what appears to be an ancient manuscript, a priceless Japanese pillow book created by a medieval courtesan. As they try to prove its authenticity, their search becomes an erotic game of greed, love, and sleight-of-hand. In a series of 36 interlocking scenes, Naomi Iizuka’s play explores the relationship between the imaginary and the real, and the lines and spaces that separate feelings and words, objects and images of objects, antiques and reproductions, and a person’s heritage and physical features. Culture and commodity, fetish and forgery, and personal and professional revenge are all exposed in 36 VIEWS.
Design Team: 36 VIEWS will feature lighting by Darren Boquist, set by Todd Parker, sound by Ronin Wong, projections by Corwin Ferguson and costumes by Nina Prelog. It is co-produced by Tempus founders Anna Hagan, Anthony F. Ingram, Bert Steinmanis and Valerie Sing Turner, with Maria Denholme as Associate Producer.
Valerie Sing Turner in 36 VIEWS; photo by Tim Matheson
Benefit Concert: Every Road Leads Home
Announcing
The Universal Gospel Choir
& Shari Ulrich in
EVERY ROAD LEADS HOME
A Benefit Concert for the Callanish Society
Saturday April 18, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
2750 Granville St.
Tickets $32.50 at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Box Office (604-687-1644)
or online at www.vancouvertix.com
Vancouver’s Universal Gospel Choir and singer-songwriter Shari Ulrich join forces in this benefit concert for the Callanish Society, a grassroots non-profit organization that provides emotional and spiritual support to people with cancer, their families and their health care providers (www.callanish.org). “Every Road Leads Home” will be the first time that these two much-beloved local acts have performed together, and audiences are sure to be uplifted by the interweaving of Juno Award winner Ulrich’s evocative original songs with the Universal Gospel Choir’s passionate renditions of sacred songs from all over the world – including a healthy helping of on-your-feet-booty-shaking-gospel. Pianist Diane Lines, drummer Rob Ferguson and multi-instrumentalist Bill Runge provide accompaniment. “Every Road Leads Home” promises to be an evening full of joy, hope and the healing power of music…all in support of a cause that touches us all.
Directed by Kathryn Nicholson, the Universal Gospel Choir is a multi-faith, multi-cultural community choir that has been bringing the healing and uplifting power of the world’s sacred song traditions to diverse audiences since 1985. The UGC has established a reputation for engaging audiences with its passion, commitment to musical authenticity, and dedication to the community-building power of shared song. The choir’s eclectic repertoire reflects African-American, Cuban, African, European, Asian and Native American influences. www.universalgospelchoir.ca
A 2002 inductee into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame, Juno Award winner Shari Ulrich‘s finesse on violin, mandolin, flute, piano, sax and dulcimer was first heard in the early 70s with the Pied Pumkin. After two years with the “Hometown Band,” Shari went on to record six solo albums of original songs as well as two with UHF (Ulrich/Henderson/Forbes) and two with the re-emergent Pied Pumkin. She just released a live concert CD with Barney Bentall & Tom Taylor, and is currently recording a long overdue new solo album. Shari also composes, produces and engineers music for television and documentaries, and teaches songwriting, both in the university and workshop setting. www.shariulrich.com
Laudate Singers: Voice of the Tango
Laudate Singers present
VOICE of the TANGO
with
Douglas Schmidt, bandoneon
Kay Sleking, guitar
Saturday March 21, 2009 at 8:00 pm
St. David’s United Church, West Vancouver
and
Tuesday March 24, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Capilano University Performing Arts Theatre, North Vancouver
Tickets $25 / $20 / Free for ages 17 & under (reservation required)
For March 21st: 604.729.6814 or www.laudatesingers.com
For March 24th: as above, and via Capilano University at 604.990.7810 or boxoffic@capilanou.ca
Laudate Singers and artistic director Lars Kaario invite Vancouver audiences to dance a few steps off the beaten path with Voice of the Tango: a ground-breaking programme of sensuous, alluring choral music from Central and South America, featuring internationally-renowned instrumentalists Douglas Schmidt (on bandoneon, the quintessential instrument of the tango) and Kay Sleking (guitar). The repertoire – much of it very seldom performed in Canada to date – will include works by Astor Piazzolla, Oscar Escalada, Miguel Matamoros, Gustavo “Cuchi” Leguizamón, Eduardo Ferraudi, Jorge Cardoso, Carlos Gardel and Hector Stamponi among others, as well as newly commissioned works for choir, bandoneon and guitar by Douglas Schmidt and Laudate’s composer-in-residence Bruce Sled.
Laudate Singers – well known for their high level of technical skill and interpretive flexibility, as well as for consistently presenting repertoire that spans centuries and continents in a relevant and accessible manner – are excited about the artistic challenge of performing this dynamic, passionate music. They also look forward to working with and learning from instrumentalists who are internationally recognized experts in Latin and South American music. Mr. Schmidt, a transplanted British Columbian best known in Canada as a member of Tango Paradiso and Montreal’s Quartango, comes to Vancouver from Germany. Mr. Sleking is based in Amsterdam, and works extensively in Europe both as a soloist and as a member of several high-profile tango ensembles.
VICO: Planetful of Sound
The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra presents
PLANETFUL OF SOUND
March 14, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts – Telus Studio Theatre
Tickets $20/$10 at Ticketmaster
604-280-3311 or www.ticketmaster.ca
The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra presents sounds of China, the Middle East, India and the West, in works by Vancouver composers Mark Armanini, Moshe Denburg, Lan Tung, Jin Zhang and special guest composer Joel Bons (artistic director of Amsterdam’s Atlas Ensemble): music that transcends cultural boundaries, performed on instruments from all over the world. For the first time ever at a VICO concert, the performance will include large-screen video, giving audiences an up-close view of the musicians and their instruments in action.
The VICO is currently the only professional orchestral ensemble in BC (possibly in Canada) devoted to performing inter-cultural music on a grand scale. Planetful of Sound offers VICO musicians and composers an exciting opportunity to connect with Joel Bons, who has been breaking similar ground in Europe with his acclaimed contemporary music group Nieuw Ensemble and the Atlas Ensemble. The latter is described (very similarly to the VICO) as “a unique chamber orchestra uniting brilliant musicians from China, Central Asia, the Near East and Europe, presenting an unheard soundworld of western and non-western instruments.” Like the VICO, the Atlas Ensemble’s repertoire consists almost entirely of specially commissioned works, by such composers as Guo Wenjing, Jia Daqun, Faradj Karajev, Fabio Nieder, Theo Loevendie , Frangiz Ali-Zade, Bun-Ching Lam, Jack Body, Stefano Bellon, Artjom Kim, Javanshir Guliev and Evrim Demirel. (www.atlasensemble.nl)
Planetful of Sound will feature the North American premiere of Joel Bons’ piece Tour à Tour as well as Floating on the Sea of Serenity (Armanini), Little Suite for Erhu and Harp (Zhang), Market Place, Chapter 1: China (Tung) and Camel Hop at the Caravanserai (Denburg), performed by a 22-member ensemble that includes zheng, sanxian, santur, oud, dizi, bansuri, sheng, suona, flute, oboe, clarinet, marimba, Celtic harp, percussion and Western strings. The programme will also feature a solo by visiting Taiwanese musician Janelle Yichen on satar (Uighur fiddle from northwestern China).
In the VICO, Western-trained orchestral musicians rub shoulders with performers in musical traditions from all over the world…shedding light on the musical traditions of Canada’s many cultures and the myriad bridges between them. For more information on the ensemble and its upcoming events, please visit www.vi-co.org.
Planetful of Sound was made possible through the generous assistance of the Chan Endowment Fund of the University of British Columbia.
Vancouver International Storytelling Festival 2009
Announcing…The 17th Annual
Vancouver International Storytelling Festival
February 6-8, 2009
Heritage Hall (Main St. @ W. 15th Ave.)
Tickets (see prices below) at www.ticketstonight.ca or 604-684 2787
The Vancouver International Storytelling Festival celebrates its 17th season with a weekend of performances by sought-after professional storytellers from home and abroad, all on the theme of “In the beginning…” Main Street’s Heritage Hall, decorated in the style of a magical, Arabian Nights-inspired Bedouin tent, will be home to origin stories from all over the world, and tales about beginnings of all kinds. Local favourites Kira Van Deusen, Jean-Pierre Makosso, Melanie Ray, Naomi Steinberg, EvenSteven, Wing-Siu Wong, Max Tell, Philomena Jordan, Kagan Goh and Helen Mintz will be joined by special guests Janet Blake (world-renowned teller from the UK), Eric Gauthier (from Montreal) and Pat Braden (from the NWT).
Schedule Overview
Friday Feb. 6, 8 pm – Opening Concert: In the Beginning
Hosted by Naomi Steinberg, with Janet Blake, Wing-Siu Wong, Jean-Pierre Makosso, Melanie Ray & the 2008 StorySlam Champion; also featuring fiddle tunes by Mary Brunner
Saturday Feb. 7, morning – story circles for kids & teens (FREE for ages 16 & under!) with Max Tell, Pat Braden, Jean-Pierre Makosso and Janet Blake
Saturday Feb. 7, afternoon – Mother’s Stories, Women’s Story Jam, “Leaving Home, Finding Home”, “Big Bang! Primal Traditions of Myth & Magic”, and a workshop for multi-lingual tellers
Saturday Feb. 7 (OFF SITE) – Montreal teller Eric Gauthier at the Alliance française
Saturday Feb. 7, 8 pm – Speak Easy: Cabaret Night – Non-Traditional Telling hoted by EvenSteven with Pat Braden, Janet Blake, Philomena Jordan, Kagan Goh & Tanya Evanson
Sunday Feb. 8, morning – Epic tales and creation stories over coffee, featuring an ancient Tibetan epic about the heavenly trickster Gesar, as told by Kira Van Deusen; also “Secret Melodies: Jewish Women’s Stories” with Helen Mintz and “Coming into Being” with Janet Blake & Pat Braden
Sunday Feb. 7, afternoon – panel: contemporary myths & the storyteller’s responsibility, moderated by Kierstin De West (CEO, Conscientious Innovation) with Janet Blake, Tanya Evanson, Helen Mintz & Kira Van Deusen; also “The Wind At My Back: Stories and Songs of the Human Spirit” with Wing-Siu Wong, Vanessa Richards & The Cultural Medicine Cabinet Choir
Sunday Feb. 7, afternoon (OFF SITE) – Montreal teller Eric Gauthier at Le Centre culturel francophone
Sunday Feb. 8, evening – Community Pot Luck
**NOTE: Opening Concert and Cabaret are adults only (there will be a cash bar).
Tickets: Available at www.ticketstonight.ca or 604-684-2787
Opening Concert or Saturday Cabaret (adults only): $20
Day Pass – Saturday or Sunday: $18 (adults) / free admission for ages 16 & under on Saturday morning
Individual Adult Weekend Pass: $55 (general) / $50 (seniors, students, VSOS members)
Family Weekend Pass: $100
Sinfonia Family Christmas
Announcing…
SINFONIA FAMILY CHRISTMAS:
The Music of the Carpenters
Saturday December 20, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Centennial Theatre, North Vancouver
Tickets $35/$30 (seniors)/$15 (students) at 604-984-4484
Featuring
Sinfonia, Orchestra of the North Shore
Monique Creber, vocalist
With
The Michael Creber Band
Mulgrave Community Choir
The CM Singers
Sinfonia, Orchestra of the North Shore, is pleased to announce its annual family Christmas concert, which will feature both traditional hymns and carols (including audience sing-alongs!) and selections from two of the most beloved Christmas albums of all time – The Carpenters’ Christmas Portrait and An Old-Fashioned Christmas. Under the direction of Maestro Clyde Mitchell, Sinfonia will be joined by vocalist Monique Creber and the four-piece Michael Creber Band (Michael Creber on piano, David Sinclair on guitar, Brian Newcombe on bass and Phil Robertson on drums) for an evening of heartwarming holiday classics.
“These have been my favourite Christmas albums for years,” says Monique Creber, whose own singing voice has been described as “eerily similar” (The Province) and “remarkably close in tone” (CBC Radio) to that of the late, great Karen Carpenter. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to perform Richard Carpenter’s beautiful arrangements as he originally wrote them, with orchestral accompaniment.” Backing vocals will be contributed by Joani Bye, Janet Warren, Gord Maxwell and Sean Hosein, with the Mulgrave Community Choir and The CM Singers.
Sinfonia is a professional chamber orchestra based on Vancouver’s North Shore, employing 25 to 40 musicians and performing the greatest works from the Baroque and Classical eras to the present. Founding Music Director Clyde Mitchell is a former Resident Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and is sought after across North America as a conductor, adjudicator and speaker.
Laudate Singers: MYSTERIUM
Laudate Singers proudly present
A Winter Concert By Candlelight
Saturday December 13, 2008 at 8 pm
St. Andrew’s United Church, North Vancouver
and
Friday December 19, 2008 at 8 pm
St. David’s United Church, West Vancouver
Tickets $25/$20 (students/seniors)/Free (age 17 & under)
Call 604-222-3158 or buy online at www.laudatesingers.com
In their annual winter concert, Laudate Singers and artistic director Lars Kaario will explore the beauty and mystery of the season through different settings of O Magnum Mysterium, an ancient liturgical text traditionally sung during Matins on Christmas Day. By shimmering candlelight, the North Shore’s premier chamber choir will perform interpretations of this medieval chant by composers from all over the world, spanning several centuries. Audiences will hear O Magnum Mysterium as put to music by the Spaniard Tomas Luis de Victoria (c.1548-1611), the Venetian Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612), the Englishman William Byrd (1539-1623), the Frenchman Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) and the American Morten Lauridsen (b.1943), as well as the world premiere of a brand new setting by award-winning Vancouver composer Bruce Sled, offering a contemporary Canadian perspective on the text.
The evening will also include Today the Virgin and a setting of William Blake’s The Lamb by John Tavener (b. 1944), Hodie Christus natus est by Miklós Csemiczky (b.1954), motets by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901), and such beloved seasonal classics such as Anton Bruckner’s Ave Maria, the classic Es ist ein Ros entsprungen by Praetorius, Joseph lieber, Joseph mein by Johann Walther and Puer natus in Bethlehem by Samuel Scheidt. With Mysterium, Laudate Singers once again create a warm, luminous oasis amid the grey days of winter, spiriting audiences away on a transcendent musical journey.
Also, don’t miss Laudate Singers’ annual Free Family Christmas Concert at St. Andrew’s United Church on December 14th at 3 pm – a rollicking community event that has also become a North Shore holiday tradition.
VICO: Imagined Worlds
The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra proudly presents
IMAGINED WORLDS: PAST & FUTURES UNVEILED
Sunday November 23, 2008 at 8 pm
UBC School of Music Recital Hall (6361 Memorial Road)
Tickets $20 General, $10 Students/Seniors/VICO Members/Groups of 10+
To purchase tickets call 604.739.8047, e-mail info@vi-co.org, or visit http://www.vi-co.org
In its first major concert of the season, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra proudly presents the world premiere of a pioneering inter-cultural work by renowned composer/ethnomusicologist Elliot Weisgarber (1919-2001). Songs of a Thousand Autumns, a choral piece based on classical texts from the 8th century Manyoshu Anthology of the Imperial Court of Japan, and sung in Japanese, was commissioned in 1984 but has never yet been performed in its entirety. The VICO and guest choir Laudate Singers will present the piece in a new arrangement by Mark Armanini, as the centrepiece of an exciting programme that also includes “The Inner Light” (by another pioneer of inter-cultural music: George Harrison of Beatles fame), the world premiere of Habitaculum – Dwelling Place, a new commission for choir and inter-cultural orchestra by Vancouver composer Larry Nickel, and Nasime Shiraaz (from Dreams of the Wanderer) by Moshe Denburg, featuring astounding Iranian tenor Amir Haghighi.
Imagined Worlds: Past & Futures Unveiled offers Vancouver audiences a rare opportunity to learn about the roots of inter-cultural music in BC, and to witness the potential it holds for the future.
The musical programme will be accompanied by a photographic exhibit by Laurie Gish entitled A Living Heritage: the Composers’ Community. The collection, curated by Mark Armanini, includes portraits of pioneering BC composers such as Harry, Frances and Murray Adaskin, Barbara Pentland, Jean Coulthard, Elliot Weisgarber and more. A Living Heritage will be shown alongside recent photographs of VICO performers and musicians by Alistair Eagle and others… images that reveal the people behind the scores and instruments, and tell compelling stories of artistic innovation, documenting the talent and diversity of BC’s leading musicians across several generations.
The VICO is currently the only professional orchestral ensemble in BC (possibly in Canada) devoted to performing inter-cultural music on a grand scale… shedding light on the musical traditions of Canada’s many cultures and the myriad bridges between them.
“Music that sounds like Vancouver looks”
– The Georgia Straight
In the VICO, Western-trained orchestral musicians rub shoulders with performers in musical traditions from all over the world…and fertile ground is created for cross-cultural teamwork between classical, jazz and world music artists. For more information on the ensemble and its upcoming events, please visit www.vi-co.org.
Main Street Theatre: GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
Main Street Theatre Equity Co-op presents
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
By David Mamet
Directed by Stephen Malloy
Featuring Ryan Beil, Ian Butcher, Bill Dow, Josh Drebit,
Alex Ferguson, Patrick Keating, Daryl King, Michael P. Northey
November 19-29, 2008 at 8:00 pm (No show Nov. 24)
Little Mountain Studio
196 East 26th Ave. at Main St.
Admission: Pay What You Can ($12 suggested)
Info: 604.992.2313
Stephen Malloy directs a dynamite ensemble cast in David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play about fast-talking real estate salesmen and the lengths to which they will go to make a deal. Ryan Beil, Ian Butcher, Bill Dow, Josh Drebit, Alex Ferguson, Patrick Keating, Daryl King and Michael P. Northey will make Mamet’s rapid-fire dialogue ricochet off the walls of Little Mountain Studio, a small art gallery converted into an intimate performance space. Sparks will fly!
Like so many other creative and ambitious endeavours, this production of Glengarry Glen Ross came about over pints of beer. “We were talking about how we’d love to see more of the contemporary classics – Mamet, Stoppard, O’Neill, Simon, Coward, Albee and others – produced in Vancouver,” says King, who is producing the show with Beil and Drebit. “Nine times out of ten, the ideas that come out of conversations like this remain in the bar with the empty pint glasses. But this time, we decided to forge ahead. We settled on Glengarry Glen Ross because of the power of the writing, the comment it makes on modern business practices, and the strong ensemble feel of the show.” Respected Vancouver actor Bill Dow agreed to join the cast in the pivotal role of Levene, and everything seemed to fall into place with remarkable ease after that. The result: an explosive evening of theatre in an intimate, unconventional venue…and a rare Vancouver mounting of a modern classic.
Bill Dow (Levene) and Josh Drebit (Williamson); photo by Mike Fly
Blackbird Theatre: PINTER’S BRIEFS
Blackbird Theatre presents
PINTER’S BRIEFS
Harold Pinter at his comic best
- Photo by Tim Matheson
The Dumb Waiter & selected shorts
September 9 – 27, 2008
Presentation House (333 Chesterfield Ave., North Vancouver)
Previews Sept. 6 & 7; evening shows 8 pm Tues.-Sat.; matinees 2 pm Sat. and Sun.
Tickets (prices below) at theatre box office or call 604-990-3474, online at www.phtheatre.org
October 8 – 16, 2008
Studio 16 (1555 W. 7th Ave.)
Preview Oct. 7; evening shows 8 pm (no show Oct. 13); matinees 2pm Sat and Sun
Tickets at Tickets Tonight, 604-684-2787 or online at www.ticketstonight.ca
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TICKET PRICES:
All evening shows $27 / $20 (seniors) / $10 (students and groups of 10 or more).
All matinees $20; all previews are Pay-What-You-Can.
(Prices include taxes and service charges)
Blackbird Theatre launches its 2008-2009 season with Pinter’s Briefs, a collection of quirky, superbly entertaining short plays by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, directed by John Wright and starring Simon Webb and Anthony F. Ingram. These rarely-performed comic gems – six short pieces and the iconic one-act play The Dumb Waiter – have been collected from the master’s oeuvre and polished to perfection by Vancouver’s award-winning Blackbird Theatre. Pinter’s Briefs will be presented in intimate venues over the next several months.
Blackbird’s 2006 production of Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party was enthusiastically received by critics and audiences, garnering multiple Jessie Award nominations (including one for Anthony F. Ingram’s performance as Stanley). With Pinter’s Briefs, the company mines a lighter vein: existential comedy, funny and touching, that nonetheless contains a lurking undercurrent of suspense…a frisson of fear that will keep audiences riveted to their seats.
Photo by Tim Matheson
Pinter’s Briefs will feature set and costume design by Marti Wright, lighting design by Mélissa C. Powell and sound design by Alexander Brendan Ferguson, with production management and technical direction by Jayson Maclean and stage management by Noa Anatot.
Note: Pinter’s Briefs will also be mounted in the new VanCity Culture Lab at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre from December 3 to 6 (preview Dec. 2). Tickets will be available at Ticketmaster; please check www.blackbirdtheatre.ca for details.
Bluebird North #60
The Songwriters Association of Canada presents
BLUEBIRD NORTH
Where Writers Sing and Tell
Vancouver Show #60
Tuesday June17, 2008
The Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre
(Corner of Davie & Pacific)
7:30 pm
Tickets $12
Discount at door for SAC members w/ card
Information (604) 224-6201
Featuring
Wil
Carolyn Arends
Joel Kroeker
Joe Mock
Bluebird North celebrates 60 shows in Vancouver with a crackerjack line-up of Canadian songwriting talent: sharing the stage with host/producer Shari Ulrich are Wil (“expansive roots-rock sound and world-weary lyricism”), Carolyn Arends (“warm and soul-stirring pop”), Joel Kroeker (“poised pop-folk…somehow riding the fence between joy and melancholy, happiness and the fear of rejection”) and Joe Mock (beloved to West Coast audiences as Shari and Rick’s cohort in Pied Pumkin, also described as “a voice of erratic charm; warm, comprehensive and plain…”). This is a musical party you won’t want to miss!
Bluebird North: Where Writers Sing and Tell is produced by Shari Ulrich for the Songwriters Association of Canada. For more information on the SAC’s mandate, activities and membership programs please visit www.songwriters.ca.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Wil was born to musical parents, and was influenced early on by listening to them play and sing along to the old crooners and guitar legends such as Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins and Hank Williams. He went on to blend his love of old school country with diverse new influences from Led Zepplin to Michael Hedges. In 2002 Wil released his first full length record, “Both Hands.” That year he played over 300 gigs with acts such as Colin James, Matthew Good, Joel Plaskett Emergency and Xavier Rudd. His famously intense live shows have since been described by the Calgary Sun as having so much “power and soul it could stop your heart.” On his second album, “By December,” Wil collaborated with some of Canada’s most respected musicians: Dave MacKinnon (FemBots), 54-40’s Neil Osborne, Broken Social Scene’s Jason Collett, and a host of others known for working with Arcade Fire, Hidden Cameras, Feist, The Weakerthans and Blue Rodeo. The whole shebang was mixed in Nashville by Grammy-winner Trina Shoemaker. Wil is currently touring in support of “By December” and will appear at select festivals and engagements this spring and summer before entering the studio to record his third full length record. www.ibreakstrings.com
Carolyn Arends has released 9 albums and is the author of 2 critically-acclaimed books. 15 of her songs have become top 10 radio singles on the Canadian pop and US Christian charts. She has earned 2 Dove Awards, 3 Juno Nominations, and was recognized as the West Coast Music Awards’ Songwriter of the Year. Her newest project, Pollyanna’s Attic, is already being heralded as her most honest and beautiful work. Accolades aside, Arends is known for songs and books that stir the soul, and a warm, engaging style that leave her audiences feeling like they’ve found a new best friend. Arends graduated from Trinity Western University in Langley, BC with a degree in psychology and English. She lives in Surrey, BC with her husband Mark, nine-year-old son Ben, and six-year-old daughter Bethany. www.carolynarends.com
Joel Kroeker began playing guitar while in high school in Winnipeg, performing in different folk, jazz, world beat and rock bands over the years. His debut CD “Naive Bohemian” (1999) reached # 7 on the Canadian National Campus Radio chart. In the year of its release Joel was named Best New Recording Artist by the Alberta Recording Industry Assn., and won the Film Score of the Year category for the documentary “Tokyo Gardens.” Joel’s song “The Wind” was featured in the Canadian film “Ham + Cheese”; and “Joan of Arc,” co-written with Lee Aaron, was featured on the soundtrack of the Canadian film “Life, Death & Mini-Golf.” Joel has also co-written with Annette Ducharme, Emm Gryner, Haydian Neale, Stephan Moccio, Liam Titcomb, Simon Wilcox, and Australia’s Brooke McLymont. Joel’s songs have been covered by Jonas, Pavlo, Deekaye Ibomeka, Patricia O’Callaghan, and Lee Aaron. His latest solo album, “Closer to the Flame”, was released in 2007 on True North Records. www.joelkroeker.com
Joe Mock was part of the emerging West Coast folk scene back in the early sixties, as a member of several groups including the psychedelic band the Mock Duck and, of course, Pied Pumkin. He has spent time in Japan, where he wrote and recorded songs for the Kawai language series “Embarkations,” as well as English versions of 23 of Japan’s top 40 for Daichi Kikaku. Other composition credits include the score for the NFB film ‘Potlatch” and also for the JTP video “Canadian Memories’ by Taki Sekiguchi. Joe is a Juno Award winner for the songs Fear of Flying and I’m Ready, both of which were recorded by Shari Ulrich on A&M. He presently lives in France but tours annually with the Pied Pumkin. www.joemock.piedpumkin.com
BC Highland Games & Scottish Festival 2008
The United Scottish Cultural Society presents
BC HIGHLAND GAMES
& Scottish Festival 2008
Saturday June 28, 2008
Percy Perry Stadium
(formerly the Coquitlam Town Centre Stadium)
10 am – 6 pm
Tickets $12 / $8 / $2
www.bchighlandgames.com
Info: 604- 263-6955
Hundreds of pipers, drummers, dancers, heavy events champions, entertainers, Celtic musicians and more will take the field at Percy Perry Stadium this June for the 77th annual BC Highland Games. This massive celebration of Scottish culture is the largest event of its kind in the province, and – tracing its origins back to the 1880s – older than the City of Vancouver itself. Highlights of this year’s colourful and dynamic line-up include:
• Performances by Scottish folk icons Gaberlunzie (Robin Watson & Gordon Menzies)
• Champion Pipe Bands and Highland Dancers
• Whisky tastings and a lively Beer Tent featuring the best of Scottish beer
• The amazing CaberMan, BC Provincial Women’s Heavy Events Champion Karyn Dallimore and many other competitors from all over BC performing astounding feats of strength in the Caber Toss, Sheaf Toss, Hammer Throw and other heavy events
• The Annual BC Highland Games Shortbread Competition: play your cards right and you could be a judge!
• British Car Show
• Face-painting, kite flying, mini-golf and other fun activities for kids
Join the Scots in celebrating the Canada Day weekend! The Games offer something for all ages and tastes, so come and kick off the summer with a fabulous day of family entertainment.
The Life of Paper (Pangaea Arts)
Pangaea Arts presents
THE LIFE OF PAPER
An Origami Theatre Event
Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre
May 24 – June 1, 2008
(2-for-1 Preview May 23)
Tues- Sat 8 pm; Matinees May 25 & June 1 at 2 pm, May 28 at 1 pm
Show Tickets $22/$18 at http://www.ticketstonight.ca
Admission to exhibition, workshops & other ancillary events is FREE
In this ground-breaking world premiere, world-class origami artist Joseph Wu and performers from East and West take audiences on an amazing theatrical adventure spanning centuries, cultures and continents.
The Life of Paper traces the ancient art of paper folding from 105 AD China through Korea, Japan, the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, Germany, England, France and all the way to contemporary North America and Asia, calling on different theatrical styles (from Chinese opera and Buddhist chant to Japanese magic and Victorian English vaudeville) to illustrate the milestones in paper’s long and colourful history. Vibrant characters – artists, professors, musicians, mathematicians, monks and magicians – tell the story, with help from stunning costumes, props, masks, puppets and musical instruments…all made of folded paper.
Award-winning interdisciplinary theatre company Pangaea Arts collaborates with Joseph Wu, Vancouver’s Orchid Ensemble and a cast of talented performers, including renowned Chinese opera performer Ling He, Japanese mime and mask artist Yayoi Hirano, local actors Lenard Stanga, David Warburton, Tomoko Hanawa and stage manager Yvonne Yip. The production, directed and co-written by Heidi Specht, also features music by composer Judy Specht, set and lighting design by John Webber, and costume design by Margaret McKea. The Life of Paper is a partnership with the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre.
SPECIAL EVENTS: WORKSHOPS, LECTURE, LIVE PAPER ORCHESTRA
The Life of Paper will be complemented by an interactive origami exhibit, opening on May 21 in the Exhibition Hall at the Roundhouse. The public will be encouraged to attend origami workshops and lectures by Joseph Wu, in which they will learn how to create their own paper art and add pieces to the installation over the course of the exhibit’s 2-week run. All are also invited to participate in a paper instrument-making workshop, and then to bring their instruments to the Roundhouse on May 25th (4-5 pm), where they will become part of a large paper orchestra. (Yes, you read that right!) Under the guidance of the Life of Paper artistic team and the musicians of Orchid Ensemble, this one-of-a-kind orchestra will perform a piece written especially for the occasion by composer Judy Specht. The performance will be recorded for later broadcast. (E-mail admin@pangaea-arts.com to reserve your spot in the orchestra!)
The Life of Paper is an epic journey; a meditation on how knowledge is passed between individuals and cultures, and how it evolves over time; a reminder that there is magic in ordinary things, and that myriad stories can be told starting with a single small square of paper.
Laudate Singers: SPRING IN VIENNA
Laudate Singers present
SPRING IN VIENNA
Friday May 2, 2008 – 8:00 pm
Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre
2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver
The North Shore’s premier chamber choir concludes its subscription season with the musical equivalent of a glass of fine champagne: an evening of sparkling, graceful melodies from 19th-century Viennese opera. The May 2 concert will feature Laudate Singers, artistic director Lars Kaario and pianists Gaye Alcott and Bernard Duerksen in a programme that includes such beloved favourites as Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, choruses and solos from Lehar’s The Merry Widow and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. Audiences are invited to join the choir for refreshments – wine, coffee and authentic Viennese pastries – during intermission. Music to make your ears sing and your spirit dance!
Tickets ($25/$20/FREE for 17 years & under): 604-990-7810
Yesterday Once More: A Tribute to the Music of the Carpenters
Creber Music presents
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE:
A Tribute to the Music of the Carpenters
featuring
Monique Creber
with Joani Bye, Janet Warren, Nathen Aswell, Steve Maddock
The CM Singers and The Michael Creber Band
Friday April 4, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Kay Meek Centre, West Vancouver
Vocalist Monique Creber, whose voice has been described as “eerily similar to that of the late, great Karen Carpenter” (The Province), joins forces with an outstanding musical cast to present an evening of classic, beloved songs by one of the best-selling music acts of all time. Singer-songwriter Barry Greenfield (“a raw, rough vocal quality that speaks of truth and passion” – The Peace Arch News) opens the programme.
“Yesterday Once More” is the fulfillment of a long-held dream for Monique, who maintains a busy career as a performer, session vocalist, producer and educator on Vancouver’s North Shore. She’s a versatile vocalist who has sung and recorded in many genres – jazz, pop, musical theatre, classical – but ever since she started singing professionally over 25 years ago, listeners have constantly compared her deep, rich voice to Karen Carpenter’s…and the music of the famous duo has always held a special place in her heart. The tribute concert will be a family affair, with Monique’s husband, Grammy-nominated pianist/composer Michael Creber leading an all-star band that also features Miles Black on keyboards, Brian Newcombe on bass, Phil Robertson on drums and Robbie Steininger on guitar. Well-known local vocalists Joani Bye, Janet Warren, Nathen Aswell and Steve Maddock will contribute the intricate backing vocals that are so integral to the Carpenters’ signature sound.
The warm-up act is Barry Greenfield – an outstanding singer, #1 hit songwriter and storyteller who has toured and opened with such acts as Supertramp, Frank Zappa, John Lee Hooker, Steve Martin, Cheech & Chong, Mose Allison, the Pointer Sisters, Susan Jacks and Chilliwack.
Tickets ($35): 604-913-3634
CHASING RAINBOWS Across Canada
For Immediate Release: March 31, 2008
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR FULFILLS HER DAUGHTER’S DREAM
– SCREENS DOCUMENTARY ACROSS CANADA FOR YOUNG ADULTS LIVING WITH CANCER
Vancouver-based actor Sara Taylor Gibson was diagnosed with cancer in 1997 at the age of 23; she spent the next two and a half years “living life while fighting for it,” and working to raise awareness of the particular needs of young adult cancer patients. She dreamed of doing something about the lack of resources targeted at her age group…something to let others like her know that they weren’t alone. She began work on a documentary called Chasing Rainbows: Young Adults Living With Cancer; but sadly, she died in 2000 while the film was still little more than raw footage. Six years later, Sara’s mother, producer/director Pat Taylor, finished the film and screened it at cancer centres throughout BC in the spring of 2007. In April-May 2008, Pat will take another step towards fulfilling Sara’s dream: she’ll take Chasing Rainbows across Canada, presenting screenings in Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.
Chasing Rainbows: Young Adults Living with Cancer is a dynamic 43-minute documentary built around an honest, intimate living-room conversation between six young adults: four women (Sara being one) and two men. With passion and humour, they discuss hope, fear, faith, sexuality, infertility, family relationships, finances, the future and more. Their stories are an invaluable source of information, inspiration and hope – not only for other young adults facing life-threatening illness, but also for their families, friends, caregivers and medical support teams.
“I couldn’t protect Sara forever,” says Pat. “But I can certainly help her reach one of the goals she had before she died: to make sure Chasing Rainbows reaches young adults throughout BC, Canada, the US and the rest of the world. Our hope – Sara’s and mine – has always been that the film can be used to raise public awareness of the unique challenges facing young adults living with cancer. They need help to address their needs – which are not only medical, but also financial, logistical and emotional – both in the short and long term. I will continue to do what I can to make that happen.”
It seems that Pat and Sara are well on their way: in addition to last year’s screenings in BC and those planned across Canada this spring, the film was shown in Mumbai, India last November – and Pat has received requests for screenings in the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and Australia.
Chasing Rainbows: Young Adults Living with Cancer also features animation by Derek Cummings, evocative original songs by Michael Booth Palmer and underscoring by Edward Henderson. Copies of the DVD are available from the BC Cancer Foundation, online at www.bccancerfoundation.com/chasingrainbows or via www.chasingrainbowsproduction.com.
VICO: Dreams of the Wanderer
Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra & Capilano College present
Dreams of the Wanderer
featuring
Capilano College Singers
Capilano College Festival Chorus
Cecilia Ensemble Women’s Choir
Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra
Amir Haghighi, vocalist
Lars Kaario, conductor
Performing the WORLD PREMIERE of a new work by Moshe Denburg
Saturday April 5, 2008, 8pm & Sunday April 6, 2008, 3pm
Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre
2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver
A diverse and colourful musical landscape, exciting new work rooted in centuries-old traditions, and the promise of adventure…all this will be on offer as Capilano College School of Music collaborates with the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO) to present the world premiere of Dreams of the Wanderer, a major new piece by BC composer Moshe Denburg. The composition weaves together the musical traditions of many cultures, incorporating texts sung in Farsi, Mandarin Chinese, Hebrew and English by tenor soloist Amir Haghighi and the combined choirs of the Capilano College Music Program, all under the direction of Lars Kaario.
The concert program will also include a cappella songs from a variety of cultures, performed by the choirs, as well as several instrumental works for smaller forces performed by members of the VICO.
Tickets ($22/$18): 604.990.7810.
“Music that sounds like Vancouver looks.” – The Georgia Straight
Raise the Roof! A Rockin’ Benefit Concert
CANADIAN MEMORIAL UNITED CHURCH & CENTRE FOR PEACE LAUNCHES CAPITAL CAMPAIGN FOR 80th ANNIVERSARY
“Raise The Roof!”
Saturday March 15, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Canadian Memorial United Church
(Corner of Burrard & West 15th)
Canadian Memorial United Church and Centre for Peace is proud to launch its 80th anniversary celebrations with a rockin’ benefit concert featuring well-known local performers Corinthian Clark, Rachel Landrecht and Brian Tate, backed by the Peace in the City Band (Dave Danylchuk, Sean Dillon, Jason Nickel and Neil Weisensel), a 40-voice mixed choir and a 10-piece string section. This explosive line-up is guaranteed to raise the roof with music – fitting, since the concert kicks off a capital fundraising campaign intended to provide the church’s sanctuary with an actual new roof. As organizers put it, “The Old Lady needs a new hat!”
The concert will feature the music of Bob Marley, John Lennon, Brian Tate, Neil Young, the Beatles, Elvis Costello, Neil Weisensel, U2, Arcade Fire, Rachel Landrecht, Marvin Gaye, Corinthian Clark and others, performed by the same fiery, fearless entertainers who played to full houses at such events as John Lennon: A Celebration of Peace I and II (celebrating the 20th and 25th anniversary of Lennon’s death in 2000 and 2005) and the World Peace Forum Concert in 2006.
Canadian Memorial United Church was built by national subscription in the aftermath of World War I, as a memorial to the fallen and a commitment to the cause of peace in the future. It is home to a series of beautiful stained glass windows representing the provinces and territories, as well as to the only existing replicas of Canada’s Books of Remembrance (the originals are housed in the Peace Tower in Ottawa). The church began holding regular services on November 11, 1928 (ten years to the day after Armistice), and has been an active force in the community ever since.
Tickets $40/$25 at 604-731-3101 or at the door
William Davis Centre Joins Forces with VanArts
NEW PARTNERSHIP ENERGIZES MEDIA ARTS EDUCATION IN VANCOUVER:
William Davis Centre Joins Forces With VanArts
Vancouver, BC – March 4, 2008
The William Davis Centre for Actors’ Study (WDC) and the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts (VanArts) are proud to announce an exciting new partnership that will see the WDC moving into new digs at VanArts, and merging its acclaimed actor training programs with VanArts’ internationally renowned curriculum, which currently includes full- and part-time courses in animation, video game art and design, digital photography and visual effects. The formal alliance of these two career training institutions – both widely recognized in the entertainment industry for the quality of the education they offer – will open up an array of fascinating new opportunities for students, faculty and Vancouver’s thriving media arts industry in general.
“There is so much potential for creative synergy,” says VanArts President Alan Phillips. He quotes the Institute’s founding program director, Academy Award-winning animator Lee Mishkin: “Lee used to say ‘Animators are actors with pencils.’ Animation students need some performance training in order to be able to bring characters to life. We used to bring in acting instructors…now we will have a full acting program and a wonderful faculty right here in house.”
Similarly, students in the Acting for Film & Television diploma program will be able to beef up their demo reels by participating in short films produced by students in the visual effects department, thus gaining additional experience not only in front of the camera, but also in acting against a green screen. They are also already working on various projects with students in the digital photography program. “We’ve only just begun to discover all the possibilities for collaboration between different departments,” says Christine Willes (former co-owner and Artistic Director of the WDC, now Department Head of what will henceforth be known as the William Davis Centre for Actors’ Study at VanArts). “It’s incredibly inspiring for both students and faculty.”
The William Davis Centre for Actors’ Study was founded in 1989 by actor, director and teacher William B. Davis (best known for his role as Cigarette Smoking Man on TV’s The X-Files), while the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts opened its doors in 1995. Both institutions have demonstrated a long-standing commitment to providing students with a nurturing, challenging learning environment and practical, state-of-the-art career training. Under the VanArts umbrella, this merger allows both to offer a diverse mix of cutting-edge vocational programs in both the visual and performing arts.
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Melanie J Thompson 
