Sounds of the season
‘Songs For A Winter’s Eve’ to feature holiday music
If you’re still not in the Christmas spirit by Dec. 20, a trio of Cape Breton entertainers are planning to fix that with two concerts of seasonal music, one in Baddeck and one in Sydney River.
“Songs For A Winter’s Eve” will feature Robyn Cathcart, Joella Foulds and Michele Stephens performing on Dec. 20 at Knox Church in Baddeck and at Sydney River United Protestant Church on Dec. 22.
Both concerts will begin at 7 p.m. and doors will open at 6:15 p.m. The Baddeck event will also feature performances from Rosie MacKenzie and Brendan Begley.
Tenor, director, voice teacher and clinician, Cathcart’s 37-year career spans the worlds of opera, musical theatre, jazz, pop, concert performance, commercial performance and recording. With more than 200 respective productions, concerts and recital appearances to his credit, he is the founding artistic director of Enter Left Productions and is the owner/operator of “Sing: The Cape Breton Voice Studio.”
Cathcart was awarded a Cape Breton Vitality Award in 2014 for his contributions and leadership in the arts and culture sector of Cape Breton Island.
Foulds’s first professional performances go back to the 1960s during her years in university when singing folk music in coffee houses and concerts was a good supplement to her student income.
After moving to Cape Breton in the late 1970s, she met Rita MacNeil and they began performing together. Foulds spent six years as a singer and guitar player in MacNeil’s band, recording and touring across Canada
with her. With MacNeil’s encouragement Foulds began writing songs. She performed solo in the late 1980s and was recorded by CBC radio several times in concerts and in studio. She went on to develop and manage the Celtic Colours International Festival.
In 2013, she returned to the stage and in 2017, she was part of a women’s songwriters concert at Celtic Colours, having retired from her role at the festival the previous year. She is currently in the process of recording her original songs and plans to release an album in early 2018.
Stephens is a performing artist who sings and plays piano. She released an album (“Bucket of Honey” in 2010) of original jazz compositions and maintains a calendar of solo appearances. A talented actor, she has been a principal cast member of such productions as Chicago (2014) and Les Misérables (2013).