The last Artesia Coffee House of the season presented by Coast Cultural Alliance will be held this Friday, May 25 at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt. To showcase new and emerging performing artists, they will present a young duet of Teegan and Stella Kosh from Pender Harbour with harmonies, solos and ukulele. Their mom, Katrina Bishop, will entertain with her own set of vocals and piano from her new CD. Due to a snowed out show in February, singer/songwriter/poet George Connell from Earls Cove will be back with guitar and songs from his latest CD. To close the night a new jazz duo of Peter Hill and Pam Gerone will be joined by Coast favourite Budge Schachte on guitar, a perfect segue into the Jazz Festival season. Tickets are $10 at the door, which opens at 7 p.m. with show time at 8 p.m. Come early, enjoy treats by Trish, artwork in the gallery and a slideshow of past coffee house performers.
Diamonds at Expo
Charlotte Diamond and her son Matt Diamond will perform a family concert for the Family Expo on May 26 from noon to 12:40 p.m. at Chatelech Secondary School Theatre, Sechelt. For information and to register for the Family Expo contact: Tara Doyle at [email protected] or phone: 604-885-6782, but it is not necessary to register if you wish to attend only the concert. The concert is free and all are welcome. This will be the first family concert by the Diamonds since Charlotte moved to the Sunshine Coast in August 2017. It will feature song favourites, like “Four Hugs a Day” with new hits from their latest CD, Diamonds by the Sea, such as “Ottie the Otter” and “Put the Beat in Your Feet.” The CD is her 14th recording and was co-produced with Matt Diamond and features the Hug Bug Band. Matt, based in Sechelt, is a well-known and talented performer for adults as well as children. Visit www.charlottediamond.com to hear the new songs.
Dance Encore
A special encore performance of the lovely Introspective dance by the DSdanse troupe is on Saturday, May 26 at 8 p.m. at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons. The show offers deep and profound work from the company. Tickets are sold at the door and all proceeds go to a pre-professional dance program for 2018/2019 for Audrée Hutchinson. For years Dominique’s School of Dance has helped and supported many kids in the dance community with scholarships and bursaries and now it’s the turn of Hutchinson to showcase her work. For more information, contact [email protected] or call 604-886-0020. The school’s dance recitals are also on this weekend with a show this Friday, May 25 at 6:30 p.m., and shows May 26 and 27 at 1 p.m. at the Heritage Playhouse, Gibsons.
Photographing You
On Sunday, May 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Sunshine Coast Arts Council (SCAC) presents the latest in their series, The Business of Art. Studio Photography: How to Photograph Your Work or Shoot Yourself in the Head will be presented by Emily Cooper, master studio photographer to the arts. In Part One of this workshop, she will explain lighting, props, PhotoShop edits and programs. Cooper will also provide tips on how to work with a professional photographer to achieve the results you need. In Part Two, to be held on June 2, she will set up a temporary photographic studio in the SC Arts Centre’s Studio and will teach participants how to use their own cameras to achieve the best results. The photographer is known for her photo illustrations, book and Georgia Straight covers. The workshop is $15 for SCAC members and $25 for non-members. Register in person at the Arts Centre or via Share-There.com. Space is limited; drop-ins will be welcome if there is space. This series is made possible by funding from the BC Arts Council and sponsorship by the Sunshine Coast Credit Union.
This Weekend
• Lost in the Stars is the spring concert from A Cappella Strait and the Choralations Children’s Choir on Friday, May 25 at 7 p.m. at St. John’s United Church, Davis Bay, and on Saturday, May 26 at 7 p.m. at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, Gibsons.
• A Wonderful World Concert from Pender Harbour Choir has two performances this weekend. They are 7:30 p.m. (reception at 7 p.m.) on Friday, May 25 at Sunshine Coast Botanical Gardens in Sechelt and 2:30 p.m. (reception at 2 p.m.) on Sunday, May 27 at the School of Music in Madeira Park.
• Jazz singer Laura Crema, bassist Rene Worst and guitarist Steve Giltrow perform in the last show of an ongoing jazz series at the Gibsons Public Market on Saturday, May 26. Cocktails are at 7 p.m.; music at 7:30 p.m. See stevegiltrow.ca for more information.
• The Wildflower Book, a play by Louise Phillips, staged by the Chair Actors, opens on May 25 at 7 p.m. and performs again on May 27 at 3 p.m. at the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre. It’s the true story of a young widow’s struggle to create a book of Canadian wildflowers in time for Confederation. Phone: 604-885-3513.
Garden Clean-up
Join the Sunshine Coast Arts Council for a spring clean-up of the garden at the Arts Centre in Sechelt (corner Trail and Medusa) on Saturday, May 26. Garden Committee head Ray Niebergall will be on hand all day, starting at 10 a.m., but you can come at any time over the course of the day and stay for as long (or short) a time as you wish. Bring work gloves and small hand tools and join the work party. Refreshments will be provided. To RSVP call the Arts Council at 604-885-5412.
Monty Montego
Music from Jamaica or Motown meets reggae – it’s definitely dance music. Monty Montego and the Rocksteady Crew play on Saturday, May 26 at the Coopers Green Hall. Doors open at 7 p.m.; music/dance begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are at Halfmoon Bay General Store, Welcome Woods Market and Pastimes (Sechelt).
Living Salish Sea
Local film-maker Sarama has three screenings in the near future for This Living Salish Sea, a film about the watery world at our door and how to protect it: May 25, at the North Shore Unitarian Church, 370 Mathers Ave, West Vancouver. Doors open 6:30 p.m., film at 7:30 p.m. and June 2, Celebrating World Oceans week, at the Rio Theatre, 1660 E. Broadway, Vancouver. Doors open at 3:45 p.m., film at 4:15 p.m.. The film then moves to Castlegar. Sixty per cent of the net proceeds coming to Sarama will be paid to the Stop KM Legal Defense Fund, (stopkmlegalfund.org) to help pay legal costs for those arrested while standing in resistance to Kinder Morgan. The balance will help to pay for film production costs, which are still deeply in the red.
Music Makers
Music Makers present their year-end celebration on Wednesday, May 30 at 7 p.m. at Chatelech Secondary School in Sechelt. Hear from the Music Makers adult and gospel choirs, Definitely Diva and Reg and Lynne. Accompanying them will be Anneka Bonser and Berni G with special guest Trish Windsor. Tickets are $15 at the Sechelt Visitor Centre, Laedeli in Gibsons and from choir members.
Festival Season
The Pender Harbour Blues Festival is at locations in Madeira Park and Garden Bay, June 1 to 3. Lots of events are free and the ticketed evening events are selling quickly. See phblues.ca for the exciting lineup of blues favourites.
Back in Gibsons the Gibsons Landing Jazz Festival is gearing up for their June 15 to 17 performances. More later on this musical event, or see: coastjazz.com.
New CD
Grant Olsen is performing this Saturday in a free, public show in the afternoon and then a private house concert in Bonniebrook the same evening. If you don’t have your copy of his brand new CD titled Broken Dams, drop by Gibsons Tapworks on Saturday, May 26 from 1 to 3 p.m. There will be food, beer, music and no cover.
FOWA Tickets
Tickets for the Festival of the Written Arts go on sale on Wednesday, May 30 at 8 a.m. All the details about ticket purchasing are at www.writersfestival.ca.
Message Me
Send notice of your arts and entertainment events to [email protected] or phone 604-741-9360. Items go into the Art Beat column one day to one week ahead only, depending on space. Deadline is Tuesday noon for Friday’s paper.
