What a weekend for music on the Sunshine Coast! Home-grown, electro-groove singer-songwriter Kaeli McArter and band Tyger are just one of the class acts featured in the Sechelt Arts Festival’s Coasters Covering Coasters event this year, running one night only, on Friday Oct. 12 at Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt. Also in the lineup are guitarist Michael Friedman, jazz drummer Dan Brubeck with a band he’s put together especially for this show, and Simon Paradis and Gut Bucket Thunder. Starts at 8 p.m. If any tickets are left, they’ll be $25 or $15 for students on the festival website or cash at the Sechelt Visitor Centre.
Emerging Sounds
Tickets might also be hard to come by for the festival’s Emerging Sounds concert Saturday Oct. 13 at the Sechelt band hall. The show, which has sold out in previous years, features the SD46 Jazz Band; singers Gretchen Hergesheimer, Solomon Hergesheimer, and Hadley Laviolette; musician Daniel Bate with dancer Kaliyana Denham-Rohlichek; and more. Advance tickets are $10; $15 at the door, at the festival website or for cash at the Sechelt Visitor Centre. It’s an all-ages show, licensed for those 19 and over. Doors are at 6:30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. start.
Funk and more in the Harbour
It will be the second Friday of the month on the 12th and that means music and more at the Pender Harbour School of Music, featuring the funk/jazz of Anna and Hordes of Ords; Caitlin Hicks and Gordon Halloran doing character sketches with musical accompaniment; and violin trio Triumvirate. Doors open at 7 p.m. at 12956 Madeira Park Road, music from 8 to 10 p.m. Admission is a suggested $10 donation.
Solo classical
Local classical instrumentalist Valerie-Ann Rutter is one half of the musical duo Gemini, but she’ll be flying solo in a concert at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Gibsons Saturday, Oct. 13 at 2:30 p.m. Rutter has been a featured soloist with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and the Victoria and Edmonton symphonies. She will perform sacred, classical and popular favourites on piano and recorders. Tickets are $20 at Laedeli, Sechelt Visitor Centre, and at the door. Admission includes tea, coffee and refreshments following the performance.
Mom Prom
Here’s another original idea from High Beam Dreams. On Saturday Oct. 13, 7:30 to 11 p.m. at 350 Glassford Rd. in Gibsons, the theme is Glam Mom; dress is formal. Wear your old prom, wedding or bridesmaid dress, or pick up something fancy from the Thrift Store. The $40 ticket includes DJ music, snacks, desserts and a mocktail. Proceeds go to the Bellies & Babies program.
Earth Art
While the Home Grown Heroes exhibit (see story on this page) occupies the loft section of Sechelt’s Seaside Centre, another Sechelt Arts Festival display, Earth Art, will be featured on the main level. Eight Sunshine Coast artists express their “love for this land.” Works from Jane Ford, Beth Hawthorn, Elaine Hunter, Kim Lafave, Motoko, Linda Nardelli, Brian Romer, and Robert Studer. Show runs Friday Oct. 12 through 21, noon to 5 p.m., with a 10 a.m. start on Art Crawl weekend, Oct. 19 to 21.
The Art of Loss
Gibsons Public Art Gallery and the Hospice Society have invited 30 accomplished, local artists to consider how experiences of grief and loss can inspire us to live more fully. These works in painting, sculpture, mixed media and videography will inspire reflection and discussion on this intimate, and frequently avoided, topic. A portion of the proceeds from art sales will benefit the work of both GPAG and the Hospice Society. The exhibition is curated by Paula O’Brien and runs from Friday Oct. 12 to Sunday, Nov. 4. The opening reception is Saturday Oct. 13 from 2 to 4 p.m., with a hospice reception Friday Oct. 19, 7 to 9 p.m. There will be readings by Sharon Brown and Bonnie Klein on Sunday Nov. 4 at 1 p.m.
Always With Me
In parallel with the Art of Loss exhibition, GPAG will host a book launch for Always With Me: Parents Talk About the Death of a Child. It’s a collection of more than 30 essays on one of life’s most devastating and often unresolvable crises. Three local writers featured in the book – Bonnie Waterstone, Martha Royea and Judy Lynne, all of whom have lost adult sons – will read excerpts from their essays, Wednesday, Oct. 17 from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is a $5 donation to the Hospice Society.
The Banker and the Blackfoot
The Sunshine Coast Arts Council launches its Author Readings Series for the fall with a reading by Ted Chamberlin at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre. Chamberlin is a renowned Canadian writer and professor of literature. His latest book, The Banker and the Blackfoot, is a family memoir that also offers “a voice of hope in the ongoing debate about the collision between First Nations people and the settler society.”
Submissions
If you have an event you’d like considered for Art Beat, let Rik know at arts@coastreporter.net by 11 a.m. Tuesday. Space is limited.
