The concert, Love and Hope, this Saturday, Jan. 14, at 4 p.m. at St. Hilda's Anglican Church in Sechelt, has been organized quickly for an urgent cause.
Proceeds willhelp rebuild the lives of victims in the Philippines following the typhoon that slammed the southern part of the country just days before Christmas, causing landslides and flash floods that swept away entire villages while people were asleep.
More than 1,000 people (many of them children) died, and around 500 are still unaccounted for. More than 45,000 people were left homeless and are now living in temporary shelters. Many local musical groups have stepped up to perform at the fundraising concert: the Coast Phoenix Singers, the SASSpenders and others, as well as soloists such as pianist Kenneth Johnson and vocalist Edmund Arceo. Admission is by donation. All proceeds will be donated to the Philippine Red Cross.
Walk and video
The annual community walk, Plain and Simple, takes place this Saturday, Jan. 14, starting at 10 a.m. at St. Bart's Church in Gibsons, rain, snow or shine. Walk at your own pace. Lunch follows at St. Bart's at noon, and at 1 p.m. a video memoir will be shown: Walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrim trail in Spain. All are welcome.
More this weekend
The Gibsons Public Art Gallery holds an artists' reception this Saturday at 2 p.m. for the Bodhi Drope and Vivian Chamberlin shows. The Sojourners appear on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 2 p.m. in Madeira Park as part of the Pender Harbour Music Society's season.
Song Circle
The Community Song Circle, a group for those who love to sing, continues on Wednesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. at their new location, Eric Cardinall Hall in Shirley Macey Park on Chamberlin Road near Gibsons.
No singing experience is necessary and participants are led by Karen Stein or Vicki Beeman to learn songs from all over the world. Bring a donation - the money collected funds the group's project, the well-being of people in the village of Isecheno in Kenya, and it provides practical help for school age kids and caring grandmothers.
Pecha Kucha
Artistic entertainment with an odd-sounding name, Pecha Kucha (PKN), comes to the Arts Building in Gibsons on Friday, Jan. 20, starting at 7:30 p.m.
Each presenter will show 20 photos for 20 seconds each and describe what inspired the collection. I will be one of the presenters and my subject is Dance: Motion and Light, based on many years of photographing local performances.
Other presenters include Heather Conn, Alan Sirulnikoff, Sandy Buck, Junco Jan and Gibsons Coun. LeeAnn Johnson.
Organizer Wendy Crumpler explains that we have just been registered as an official PKN city (the smallest currently presenting) in this trademarked concept that originated in Japan. And how do you pronounce it? It's more like"pe-chak-cha," Crumpler says. Admission is $10. The Arts Building is located at 464 South Fletcher Rd. See www.artsbuilding.org for more details.
Met opera?
On Saturday, Jan. 21, at 10 a.m. lovers of Baroque opera have it all: the world's best singers, glorious music of the Baroque masters, and a story drawn from Shakespeare.
In The Enchanted Island, the lovers from Shake-speare's A Mid-summer Night's Dream are shipwrecked on his other-worldly island of The Tempest.
The work showcases arias and ensembles by Handel, Vival-di,Rameau and others, and a new libretto by Jeremy Sams.
Eminent conductor William Christie leads an all-star cast with David Daniels (Prospero) and Joyce DiDonato (Sycorax) as the formidable foes, Plácido Domingo as Neptune, Danielle de Niese and Luca Pisaroni.
It's a long one: three hours, 35 minutes with one intermission.
Tickets are $24 (general) and $20 (senior 65 and over). Call the Raven's Cry Theatre at 604-885-4597 to have your ticket held for pick-up.
Dance
Dancer Sylvain Brochu will be leading two dance classes this season in addition to his yoga practice. Level one dance is on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. at Dance Works Academy starting Feb. 1 (call 604-740-6986), and Level three is held in Wilson Creek on Saturdays. Call Brochu at 604-886-0430 for more details.
Tuesday deadline
Send notice of your arts events to [email protected] or phone 604-886-4692 by Tuesday at 5 p.m. for Friday's newspaper. Let me know who, what, where, when, why and ticket info briefly.
Because of the volume of submissions, the Art Beat column covers events from one day to one week ahead only.
