Chamber music and puppet theatre, not what you’d expect to find on the same bill of fare, but then Kimberley Kaleidoscope festival is nothing if not eclectic in its offerings.
Following Saturday night’s concert with the Lovebullies on the Centre 64 outdoor stage on August 6, the action moves indoors on Sunday, first to Studio 64 for an afternoon tea and chamber music concert with The Selkirk Trio starting at 2.30 p.m., then upstairs to the Centre 64 theatre for a WP Puppet Theatre presentation of “Pigs in a Canoe and other watery stories” starting at 7 p.m.
The Selkirk Trio have been playing classical chamber music concerts around the Kootenays for a number of years but each member of the trio has a much longer performance history.
Cellist Jeff Faragher, who now resides in Nelson, recently took over the conductor’s baton for the Symphony of the Kootenays, leading that orchestra in the “Symphony on the Mountain” on the Kimberley ski hill last July 4, but has been performing classical, folk, and jazz music in solo, duet, trio, quartet and orchestral concerts across North America and Europe since receiving music degrees from the U of A, McGill, and the Banff Centre. He was a founding member of Edmonton’s Pretorius String Quartet and has studied with Yo-Y o Ma among other of the world’s great cellists.
Pianist Susan Gould, now a resident of Golden, grew up in Calgary where she debuted with the Mt. Royal College orchestra at age 11. A graduate of U Vic and the Banff Centre, she has performed piano solo and duo concerts and in chamber and jazz combos throughout western Canada. Susan is currently the artistic director of Young Voices Children’s Choir and performs frequently with the Music Mosaic trio.
The third member of the trio, clarinetist Nicola Everton, was a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for 20 years before moving to the Kootenays where she now resides in Rossland. She studied at Arizona State University and the Curtis Institute of Music in Phjiladelphia. Nicola has performed with YoY o Ma, the Chieftains, and Diane Krall among others and has played in orchestras performing for the Dalai Lama and the Queen.
Tickets for the Sunday afternoon tea & chamber concert in Studio 64 on August 7 are $20 adults, $15 youth under 19, including tea, coffee, and pastries. For more info go to kimberleyarts.com.
The afternoon concert will be followed in short order at 7 p.m. by the performance upstairs in the theatre of “Pigs in a Canoe”, a puppet theatre production suitable for children 5 years and older and for adults with a sense of fun. Wendy Passmore is the artistic & founding director of WP Puppet Theatre, established in Calgary in 1991. She has designed, built and performed over 20 different productions, most recently “Pigs in a Canoe and Other Watery Stories” and toured regionally and internationally. She chairs the International Puppet Power Conference committee, has taught thousands of hours of workshops and residencies in Alberta schools, and inspired thousands of children. Wendy believes that puppets have a special power as metaphors and proxies, and stories have a power transcending time & culture. She sees that puppets help people to better understand each other, promote diversity and tolerance, and provide a creative platform to express controversial and significant social issues. They bring joy and are a creative outlet that help us tackle emotional and social issues.
Tickets for “Pigs in a Canoe and Other Watery Stories´ are $5 for children 12 & under, $10 youth 12 to 18, $12 adults, or $25 for a family of 4. You can get them online at kimberleyarts.com or at Centre 64 (250-427-4919).
On Monday, August 8, Wendy Passmore will conduct a puppet theatre workshop for adults and children aged 10 and up. This 4 hour workshop starts at 10 a.m. in Studio 64 and should be fun as well as educational. The registration fees of $40 + GST for adults, $25 for youth aged 10 to 18, includes all the materials needed to make your own stick puppet. Could this lead to the start of puppet theatre in Kimberley? Anything is possible when two or more creative individuals get together with a common purpose. That’s what the Kimberley Kaleidoscope festival is all about.