During a tuneful tour de force on Nov. 25, Lynne Dickson and dozens of Sunshine Coast musicians raised almost $4,000 for the Sunshine Coast Community Services Society. Dickson coordinated the Fantastic Fall Foodbank Fundraiser in the auditorium of Chatelech Secondary School, where she directed nearly two hours of music.
Dickson’s flagship group of ukulele players — the Mother Pluckers, a corps of 24 adult instrumentalists — was founded only two years ago.
“When we started the Mother Pluckers it was a women’s only group because I didn’t want to deal with men,” said Dickson to guffaws from a near-capacity audience. “When we got the women all settled around, we thought: hmmm, we could use some of that nice lower end. Let’s let a few choice men in. And it’s turned out to be wonderful.”
“[We’re] Mother Pluckers and we’re red-hot / We’re here to play for you,” the musicians crooned.
Singer-songwriter Rae Armour, herself a member of the Pluckers, performed a pair of crowd-pleasers.
The Babes With Bellows, another group affiliated with the Music Makers Studio in Davis Bay, united guitarist Reg Dickson with three accordionists: Lea Laberge, Helen Blank and Lynne Dickson. Following two sedate melodies, the instrumentalists revealed that they had been at work on a long-anticipated virtuoso barn-burner — the Beer Barrel Polka.
“We were going to play it last year,” admitted Dickson, “and it wasn’t ready. We thought we’d get it ready for this year, but [we asked are] our nerves ready? It may not be as fast as a polka; maybe it’s the Beer Barrel Dirge.” The quartet deftly accelerated the tempo, working spectators into an exuberant lather.
Dickson emphasized the fast-paced achievements of her adult Mother Plucker players, many of whom had no knowledge of music theory until a year ago.
The three original members of the Definitely Diva ensemble — Dickson, Wendy Hibberd and Patrice Pollack, now in the third decade of singing together — delivered spirited numbers concluding with the Andrews Sisters hit Bei Mir Bist Du Schein.
The Mother Pluckers will reappear during the Elves Club Telethon on Nov. 30. Their performances inaugurate several weeks of seasonal choral presentations across the Sunshine Coast.
The Inspirato Vocal Ensemble, which is led by Sarona Mynhardt, performs winter concerts on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, both at Calvary Baptist Church. The group’s light-inspired program was evoked by an anonymous Inuit poem: “There is only one great thing, / The only thing to live to see / The great day that dawns / And the light that fills the world.”
The A Cappella Strait and Choralations Children’s Choir, each under the direction of Janice Brunson, will present a concert focused on seasonal music from medieval times to the present on Dec. 6 (at St. Hilda’s Anglican Church in Sechelt) and Dec. 7 (at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church in Gibsons).
The Suncoast Phoenix Community Choir, directed by Sara Douglas, plans “Merry Old Christmas”-themed concerts on Dec. 14 (at St. Hilda’s) and Dec.15 (at Calvary Baptist Church in Gibsons).
At the Pender Harbour School of Music on Dec. 15 and at the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden on Dec. 17, the venerable Pender Harbour Choir will sing a program of holiday favourites, led by music director Kenneth Norman Johnson with Serah Strandberg on piano.
Johnson appears again on Dec. 16 and 19, leading the Coastal Lights Choir at St. Hilda’s with piano accompaniment by Anneka Bonser.
Meanwhile, the Sunshine Coast Community Orchestra and the Suncoast Concert Band sustains their 30th anniversary celebrations with a show (“In the Spirit of Christmas Past”) at Chatelech Secondary on Dec. 14.
Admission details and ticket links for all concerts are available online by browsing listings at coastculture.com.
