Local Arts

I've always envied a good singing voice. Whenever I lift my own voice in song, people scatter -though my singing has certainly come in handy on the hiking trail when I want to frighten bears.

The results of a major regional scan of the Coast's arts activity were published recently in a 32-page report from consultant Sydney Johnsen of Grant Thornton Management.

When the label-defying musician Kinnie Starr appears at the 50th anniversary concert at the airport this coming weekend, July 29 and 30, she will also be returning to her new home town of Sechelt.

Wilson Creek glassblower Jan Benda has reason to smile when he looks around his airy, bright showroom these days.

Music and art-making are the big attractions at the third annual Sechelt Arts Festival coming up July 29 to Aug. 7. Though the word "family" is no longer in the description of the festival, it is still very much about families.

The magic of Celtic music drew hundreds of people to the Rockwood Pavilion last Friday for a stellar concert by teachers and a few students of the Celtic Music Camp held July 10 to 14 in Roberts Creek.

The Coast String Fiddlers (CSF) will host dancers from Belgium this month. They will welcome again Back of the Moon, a Scottish band popular with many people on the Sunshine Coast.

When Grandma dies in a freak snowboarding accident she propels her quirky family into a web of deception, love and sex.

Poor Philippa Beary. The singer can't seem to get through a single opera production without finding a dead body somewhere, either in the dressing room or on stage. Whether in Turandot or the Pirates of Penzance, someone must die.

An important exhibit of the work of Canadian architect Arthur Erickson runs at the Vancouver Art Gallery this summer. The author who turned the world's spotlight on the man is still writing from her home in Garden Bay.