What a weekend we have experienced with the Flin Flon Arts Council’s production of the Flin Flon Community Choir’s La Grande Opera with Dustin Hiles. It was really glorious – this performance broke the mold. The last time that happened was Les Miserables!
Over 200 Flin Flon, Creighton, and Denare Beach residents were, I believe, completely blown away by this performance. Dustin Hiles, the young tenor from Toronto returned to the Flin Flon stage to the strains of “La Dona e Mobile” from Rigoletto and completely won the audience over. His voice is beautiful and he he has wonderful control of the dynamics of the piece. The choir took note and kicked their own dynamic performance up a few notches.
We were treated to an incredible rendition of “Habanera” from Carmen, thanks to the incredible voice of Katrina Windjack. She was sexy and sultry and the choir provided the first of their exceptional choral backing. Katrina did double duty as a knowledgeable emcee and explained the operatic works to the very mixed crowd, though it seems there are far more opera buffs in Flin Flon than suspected.
Another performance of note was delivered by Pandora Furniss and Angela Ishaka singing “Nella Fantasia” by Ennio Morricone. It was ethereal and dream-like, as befits its name and was totally in keeping with the operatic standards being performed even though it was only released in 1986.
Another duet featuring Candia Cormack and Angela Ishaka gave us “The Flower Duet” from Lakme. Both women were flawless and performed this piece at least as well as I have ever heard.
The lovely Janéve Masson performed several pieces, highlighted by “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess. Her voice is rich and strong and she sold the feeling of lazy days and sunshine. In the opera it is a lullaby but no one was going to sleep during this performance. Kari Rutherford performed two different pieces in which she was actually a male character. It sounds unusual but the music was astonishing and Kari, who has not yet completed her music education, has turned her incredible natural talent into a beautiful instrument. She looked and sounded divine.
John Bettger sang “Nessun Dorma.” Enough said! This piece from Turandot was made famous by Luciano Pavarotti and requires phenomenal presence in a singer. Bettger has that in spades and he soared through those high notes.
Last but not in any sense least, Kevin Imrie sang “Figaro” from The Barber of Seville and was comic genius! This is incredibly challenging to sing just straight but to act and make it so funny was miraculous. It was a definite highlight.
The choir was wonderful and worked really hard to present this evening and the best thing was that almost everyone was local.
Now on to what’s coming up! Jazz night is happening at Hapnot Collegiate on Thursday, May 17. If you can, get out and see the up and coming talent in our town. There is a Great Movies You Might Have Missed evening on Friday, May 18, featuring
another pick from Colin Davis who will not steer you wrong.
Lastly is another fabulous show at Johnny’s Social Club on Saturday, May 19. Logan McKillop and Madeleine Roger will perform as a duet.
This is a lot of namedropping but it demonstrates the musical pedigrees of these two performers who have now found each other musically and are making terrific new sounds. It also goes to show that Flin Flon’s musical reputation really is out there. Performers want to come play for us because they know we know talent. Tickets for this wonderful show are $20 and $10 for students, at the Orange Toad. Come on out, bring a snack and chill to the sounds of Logan McKillop and Madeleine Roger.
