RELY ON CREATIVITY TO STAY ENTERTAINED
Anna Jax has your covered
With the threat of stricter travel rules being imposed to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by new variants, I am staying put and looking for creative ways to still feel inspired by talent.
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The Gary Cable Project is a nine-piece pop/rock band comprised of an A-list group of musicians, each with a resume that reads like one’s favourite record collection.
This group came together under the directorship of Gary Cable to make music and perform some classic hits from super-groups that include Chicago, Lighthouse, Toto, Blood Sweat and Tears, Supertramp to name a few.
With COVID-19 restrictions cancelling their concert venue tour last year, Cable has been working tirelessly for the last nine months planning a Zoom alternative that will stream live this Friday at 7 p.m. All live, all real, all-stars. But this time, recorded at (socially-distant) locations across Canada.
The band consists of Gary Cable, piano and electric keyboard; Ariana Whitlow, vocals; Gord Maxwell: bass; Dave Chobot, guitar and keyboards; Robert Walsh, guitar; Steven Hilliam, saxophone; Vince Mai, trumpet; Rod Murray, trombone; and Aaron Anderson, drums — all of whom share the job of backing vocals and periodically taking the lead vocal spot.
I asked Gary what song he is looking forward to performing the most and although he confesses to curating the setlist with predominately his favourite tunes from classic albums. He admits to having a soft spot for School and Bloody Well Right from Supertramp’s Crimes of Century album. As an accomplished pianist, he tells me that he finds it bizarre to have never covered these two pieces before, because both songs contain iconic piano solos.
For those who would like a little teaser of the professional calibre you will expect on the night, visit YouTube and search for their soundcheck song “Sunny Days, Legendary Rock Live!”, then purchase your ticket through the link on the website garycableproject. com.
Tickets are $10 and Chock Chocolate gift package prizes will be awarded to five randomly selected ticket holders.
Also, prior to the concert, the first 90 signed-on guests will get the chance to be part of a Q&A with the members of the band.
My husband is connecting my laptop with the Zoom link up to our big flat screen at home to watch this one!
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From Friday to Sunday, students of W.L. Seaton Secondary School in Vernon, along with 27th Street Theatre Company present a play by the name “Seeds of Hope.”
This fact-based play reveals the dark and little-known history of a real-life internment camp for Ukrainian and Eastern European citizens from 1914-20, located at the field that is now known to locals as MacDonald Park, home to Seaton Secondary.
The play focuses on three perspectives: those imprisoned, those in charge, and the citizens of Vernon.
Under the direction of Lana O’Brien, and professionally filmed and edited by Spring Creative, this play can be viewed online. Tickets are by donation through ticketseller.ca.
Once your ticket is purchased, you will have a 12-hour timeline to watch. All donations support the school and the theatre which has been significantly impacted by COVID-19.
As an immigrant myself, whose family brought me from Poland to Canada at the age of one, I find this quite an interesting piece of historic news about our valley.
I look forward to watching this with hindsight and understanding. I was made fun of, teased and made to feel embarrassed of my foreign family. I just wanted to fit it into a Canadian mould. I didn’t understand then the sacrifices my mother made to keep us safe and live in Canada.
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From Friday until Feb. 20, the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art at the Rotary Centre for the Arts on Cawston Avenue, will exhibit “The Voice of the Land.”
In this exhibition of “visual music interpretation” by UBC Okanagan masters of fine arts student Emerald Holt, viewers can trigger sounds of piano, flute and cello that represent the Okanagan environment.
The gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. This exhibition is part of the Living Things Festival, currently in progress.
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The Deadline to enter Square: Mural Project, in partnership with Cannery Brewing in Penticton, is Friday.
All interested artists are asked to submit an application and proposal if they wish to participate. Selected artists will be provided with a four-inch by fourinch primed wood panel, $500 artist honorarium and a private unveiling party for you and guests at Cannery Brewing in March.
All works will be hung inside the venue until summer when the patio will be open, then auctioned off in the fall with proceeds split 50/50 between the Penticton Art Gallery and the artists.
Submit your proposal to: curator@pentictonartgallery.com, with ‘Mural Project’ in the subject line. For details, visit the website: pentictonartgallery.com/squaremural-project.
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I would like to congratulate Rosemary Thomson (Opera Kelowna, Okanagan Symphony Orchestra) on accepting the role to mentor participants in a landmark national consulting fellowship, which inspires women in music.
This multi-year professional opportunity will assist female music directors and conductors to expand the talent pool for women in musical leadership in Canada.
The program is coordinated by Tapestry Opera, as well as Pacific Opera Victoria and Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and is in collaboration with leading opera and music organizations across Canada, including Opera Kelowna.