The three-week Sunshine Coast Festival of the Performing Arts culminated last week with sessions dedicated to vocalists, bands, instrumentalists and orators.
On April 23, seven local choirs presented nearly four hours of live music, interspersed with adjudications by Capilano University professor (and veteran chorister) George Roberts.
“Festivals like this bring a focus and a purpose to what might otherwise be about as interesting as golfing,” said Roberts. “Choirs need an audience. It’s not a human moment until there are people listening to what you’re doing. Choirs are in a completely different headspace when there’s an audience there, and an adjudicator there. It ramps up the learning exponentially when singers are in that hyper-vigilant headspace.”
Geographic themes dominated the choirs’ repertoire: the Pender Habour Choir sang Away From the Roll of the Sea; the Suncoast Phoenix Community Choir presented Here Comes the Sun, and the Coastal Lights Choir crooned Moon River. The Choralations Children’s Choir, which achieved Silver+ stature at the recent Vancouver Kiwanis Large Ensembles Festival, performed the virtuosic Libertango; a member of the group’s tenor section pumped his fist and grinned upon its successful conclusion.
Ensembles from Chatelech Secondary School dominated the band discipline, followed by saxophone performances by Ythan Leitso and Leif Montgomery (music educator Carl Montgomery joined his son for two duets). Cornet player Paul Pedlar concluded the session with an anthemic rendition of Don’t Doubt Him Now.
Dramatic works on April 25 brought the festival to a conclusion, including a biographical tale composed and delivered by dynamic adult performer Patricia Hetherington.
A highlights concert will take place on May 10 at the Heritage Playhouse, featuring top performers across all disciplines. Full details are online at coastfestival.com.
Calling all Judys
A tradition now running 27 years will continue next Wednesday, when the annual Sunshine Coast Judy Day Dinner takes place on May 7 at 5:30 p.m.
“It’s such a ridiculous concept,” laughed organizer Judy Rother. The dinner brings together anyone bearing variations on the name Judy: Judes and Judiths are welcome, but Jacquelines and Julies are not.
The tradition began more than a quarter-century ago when two Judys met at the Roberts Creek General Store and proposed a dinner get-together.
“It evolved from that,” said Rother, “and continues to this day.” A staunch tradition of the gathering is distribution of mandatory nametags. For dinner music, Rother plays a CD compilation of 22 Judy-themed songs.
In past years, some participants proposed a Judy-themed cruise. “But honestly, a dinner once a year is enough,” said Rother. “This isn’t a lifestyle.”
Enthusiastic Judys can contact Rother for the event location via email: [email protected].
Gathering to heal
Following the tragic event at Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Festival last weekend, the Sunshine Coast Filipino-Canadian Association and High Beam Dreams have organized a vigil and prayer meeting for anyone affected.
The vigil, taking place on May 4 at 4 p.m. at High Beam Dreams (350 Glassford Road in Gibsons), will include music for prayer and solidarity played on the shakuhachi flute by Alcvin Ryuzen Ramos.
Donations will be accepted by the Sunshine Coast Filipino-Canadian Association. Participants are urged to leave flame candles at home and bring battery-powered alternatives.
Well-loved luminary
The final concert of the Coast Recital Society’s 2024–2025 season was last Sunday dedicated to the memory of Frances Heinsheimer Wainwright, who passed away on April 22 a few days before her 83rd birthday.
Over decades, Wainwright was a fixture of CBC Music as a globetrotting producer. She was revered for her deep knowledge, expansive network of artist connections, and wit expressed through a passion for good stories.
She and her husband retired to Sechelt in 1997. Soon, Wainwright launched enthusiastically into a new commitment: artistic director for the Coast Recital Society. In that role, she recruited some of the finest classical talent in the world to perform on the stage of the Raven’s Cry Theatre, and expanded the society’s outreach and education programs.
In 2023, the visiting Cheng2 Duo debuted an original work by 94-year-old composer Yehudi Wyner, written in her honour: La Bella Strega di Sechelt (The Beautiful Witch of Sechelt).
After 20 years, Wainwright retired from her CSR role in 2024. Denise Ball, another CBC veteran, took up the reins of the artistic directorship.
In the chronicles of Sunshine Coast culture, Wainwright’s inspiring life and artistic accomplishments resonate without diminishment.
