The annual Friends of the Gallery (FOG) exhibition has opened and runs to Jan. 29 at the Doris Crowston Gallery in the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, 5714 Medusa St., Sechelt. Last year the show drew 98 artists to the gallery who worked in a variety of mediums. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Contact the gallery at 604-885-5412 or see www.suncoastartscouncil.com
Messiah Choir
The Messiah Choir concert that was postponed on Dec. 9 will be performed again this Friday – Epiphany, Jan. 6 – at St. John’s United Church, Davis Bay. Tickets for the postponed performance will be honoured. For ticket availability, phone 604-885-9015.
Met Opera
The Metropolitan Opera series continues at the Raven’s Cry Theatre, Sechelt, on Saturday, Jan. 7 with Verdi’s Nabucco. It starts at 10 a.m. and runs for three hours. Tickets are $24 or $20 for seniors and students. Met music director James Levine conducts Verdi’s early drama of Ancient Babylon, Nabucco, with Plácido Domingo adding a new role to his repertory as the title character. Phone 604-885-4597 for more.
Film season
The Sunshine Coast Film Society opens their season with an oddball American comedy from eastern Washington. Join them for Captain Fantastic, a comedy, drama, romance with Viggo Mortensen, on Monday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. Memberships can be purchased at the door for single events for each film night or you can buy an annual membership online or at the door. You can also buy a Friend of the Film Society membership plus tickets package. See www.scfs.ca for more.
Dawn music
Tickets for Dawn Pemberton in concert at the Pender Harbour School of Music are on sale now. The concert is on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. in Madeira Park. Tickets are $25 available at www.penderharbourmusic.ca, Harbour Insurance in Madeira Park and Sechelt Visitor Centre. Concert is sponsored in part by Marg and Ken O’Coffey and H & R Block. When Pemberton’s CD Say Somethin’ was released in 2014, critics lined up to call her Canada’s new Queen of Soul. In 2015, she was part of a talented band with the unique name The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer that won Western Canadian Music Awards in three categories for their release A Real Fine Mess. Thanks to her strong vocal technique and true emotional connection, Pemberton’s voice is a perfect fit for the complementary worlds of R & B, gospel, funk and jazz fusion.
Burying Ground
The Burying Ground and Jack Garton perform live in concert on Saturday, Jan. 21 at Heritage Playhouse, Gibsons. They will feature The Burying Ground’s new Country Blues and Rags EP release. The Burying Ground will take you straight into the sweetest, broken-hearted, foot-tapping realm of your dreams. Starting out as a duo in early 2014 and hailing from Vancouver, Woody Forster (vocals, resophonic guitar) and Devora Laye (vocals, washboard, saw, kazoo) have been charming modern hearts all over western Canada, lending new life to old songs while composing original tunes, spinning ragtime, jazz, and early blues and country into a musical tapestry. The Burying Ground touch on mental health, the traumas of war, social justice, sorrow, strength, determination, and good old-fashioned lost and found love. The band will be performing with guests Joseph Lubinsky-Mast on upright bass, Jack Garton on trumpet and Trent Freeman on fiddle. Garton has developed a distinctive voice on the accordion, mixing Cajun, European and country styles with ease. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; music at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 advance at Laedeli, Sechelt Visitor Centre, MELOmania, and online at Share-There.com or $25 at the door.
The Kube
The Kube Studios in Gibsons announces that January begins with Jill Pilon as featured artist and she will begin teaching in the studio next week, on Monday, Jan. 9, a variety of classes in collage and mixed media, drop-in/ workshop/critique for artists and kids’ classes. Contact them at [email protected]
FibreWorks
FibreWorks Studio and Gallery is open by appointment only (email or telephone) from now until March 30. The studio will continue to offer workshops during this time with the first on Jan. 19 and 20 with Jennifer Love, Colour Play: Low Immersion Dyeing for Knitters, Weavers and Spinners. FibreWorks is at www.fibreworksgallery.com, email [email protected], or phone 604-883-2380.
Rogue Arts
The Rogue Arts Festival very much enjoyed last year at Shirley Macey Park, and they are now thrilled to announce that they will be relocating to the Clarke Farm on Tyson Road in Wilson Creek next August. Find out how to submit your act for next year’s festival at roguefest.ca. Musician applications are now being accepted on the online form. Deadline for submissions is Feb. 24.
Wellness webinar
Vimalasara Mason-John of Gibsons is the author of Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. She will join 15 plus esteemed teachers, doctors and practitioners in Winter of Wellness, an online health, healing and wellness series taking place Jan. 11 to Feb. 8. Find out more and register for free at shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/wow17VMJ/vimalasara/
Knitting
Kim Fenton of Unwind Knit and Fibre Lounge is teaching Knitting Basics at the Arts Building in Gibsons in January. She offers tricks to help you become a better knitter. This workshop is for beginners who want to develop good techniques; it’s on Saturday, Jan. 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a fee of $35. The Arts Building offers many interesting courses and activities. See www.artsbuilding.org for an events listing.
Noon deadline
Send your notice of arts events by Tuesday at noon for Friday’s newspaper to [email protected] or phone 604-886-4692. Please include a contact person’s phone number or email in your notice.
