NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER — WHAT’s ON IN NOVEMBER
After October’s jubilant and well-attended opening to the season with no less than nine ArtSpring Presents performances and just as many community events, November promises to continue the momentum with classical youth, Inuit throat singing, joyful modern dance, blazing gypsy music, ArtSpring’s own Makana Youth Choirs, and a sensory multi-media showcase combining Indigenous, Canadian, and Norwegian musical stories.
November is also a busy month for community events from Bach on the Rock’s Remembrance Day performances involving several island choirs, Viva Chorale’s take on Japanese culture, a local jazz performance in ArtSpring’s gallery, two must-see “Best of the Fest” films from the Salt Spring Film Festival, and a new photography exhibition from Brian Purcell in the lobby all month long.
I am also pleased that more people in the community are now asking about our new Theatre Angel tickets, which are available for only $15 a week before any ArtSpring Presents performance. Twenty seats are reserved per performance. The tickets must be requested in person or by phone only. Youth tickets, as always, are $5 making it affordable for families to bring children to any of the compelling shows we stage.
See you at ArtSpring!
With thanks,
Howard R. Jang, Executive & Artistic Director
ArtSpring
ArtSpring Presents In The Theatre
Students from the highly-regarded Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Young Artists Collegium Program come to ArtSpring for a special chamber music concert. Featuring ensembles of outstanding young talent aged 12 to 18 on strings, winds, and piano, the concert will be followed by a fascinating on-stage feedback session from a great master artist, violinist Yuel Yawney of the Borealis String Quartet.
PIQSIQ is an experience inspired by haunting northern beauty. Sisters Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik are Inuit throat singers from Arctic Canada who blend their ancient traditional form with contemporary technology to create evocative soundscapes and improvisational compositions that change with every show.
A dancer enters the stage and discovers a ball. Intrigued, she moves toward it. As soon as she touches it, the magic of the stage is unleashed, transforming one dancer into many in this graphical world made up of forms, colours, textures, sounds, and illusions. This topsy-turvy, playful performance is full of surprises and invites audiences to see the world anew through the eyes of a child.
Virtuosic showpieces and romantic ballads, blazing gypsy tunes and forgotten chestnuts are all brought to life with multi-instrument mastery. This is Quartetto Gelato. With sold-out performances in New York, Washington, L.A., London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, this dazzling ensemble has enchanted audiences and critics worldwide with its exotic blend of musical virtuosity, artistic passion, and humour.
Come see the Makana Youth Choir in action with their end of term concert, directed by Caroni Young. These young singers from grades 2-9 will show you their enthusiasm and joy at the end of their second term. With a focus on teaching musical concepts such as harmony, tone and note reading, find out what these young singers have been learning!
Created by the Gryphon Trio, in collaboration with Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists from Canada and Norway, the multimedia presentation explores the flow of knowledge and cultural treasures through the generations. As we face the dangers of climate, conflict, and environmental degradation, the work draws on resilient stories from Canada, Norway, Australia, and Mali, combining live and pre-recorded music, spoken word, and film.Community Presentations
Community Presentations
Featuring “Dona Nobis Pacem,” Ralph Vaughan Williams’ 40-minute Cantata for Choir, Orchestra, and two soloists, through the vision of Artistic Director Jean-Sébastien Lévesque. Also appearing are well-known Canadian Soprano Suzie LeBlanc, Baritone Hans Grunwald, and the Makana Youth Choirs. Come 30 minutes early for war era sing-a-longs with Salt Spring Singers, Viva Chorale! and Lost Chords.
100+ Women Who Care celebrate five years of high-impact philanthropy with its November meeting and vote for one of three member-nominated charities. The winning presentation earns the charity over $15,000 in one evening. Doors open at 6:30 for a pre-meeting mingler!
Salt Spring Film Festival presents SWAN SONG featuring Karen Kain
Wed Nov 15 | 7:30pm | $13
Named Best Canadian Documentary at the Calgary International Film Festival, SWAN SONG takes viewers behind the scenes as Kain directs a legacy-defining 2022 production of Swan Lake on the eve of her retirement as Artistic Director, after a two-year pandemic delay. Contentious racial politics and a pointed push for equity are deftly explored, as some of the strongest emerging ballerinas are young women of colour, challenging ballet’s Eurocentric ideals of beauty, perfection and conformity.
Saxophonist Iain Duncan and B3 organist Nick Peck present an evening of jazz, blues, and bossa nova, with Hans Verhoeven on drums and surprise guests. Cover is by donation at the door, cash or e-transfer. General admission seating. Music from 7pm-9:15pm with intermission. Doors open at 6pm.
Salt Spring Film Festival presents The Road to Patagonia
Wed Nov 29 | 7:30 | $13
International premiere! Join handsome and adventurous Australian Matty Hannon on what begins as an incredible solo challenge — to surf the entire West Coast of the Americas, traveling 50,000 km by motorcycle from the top of Alaska to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. Hannon’s audacious plans unexpectedly fall apart right here in BC, where he meets the woman of his dreams, Heather Hillier, who throws caution to the wind, sells her home, buys a motorcycle and follows Hannon south.
Exhibitions & Galleries
Constantly trying to get to a position where he can capture a moment for its artistic merit, Brian is just as devoted to his love for the alien as his hate of the mundane. A man with innumerable stories, he can capture his art from many perspectives. Brian has lived a life that is full and, as such, his photography reflects his own quirky viewpoint. The subject matter itself puts a unique lens on what would otherwise be forgotten.
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