No time to rest in Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach in the next couple of weeks, so let’s get right to it.
This weekend Johnny’s Social Club is the venue for the lovely and talented Kenzie Jane and Friends.
This hard-working young woman has written enough original material to release an EP while completing the coursework for her undergraduate degree in music and psychology at Canadian Mennonite University. She is a wonderful singer and guitarist and she completely captivated the Johnny’s audience with a solo concert here in January.
This time around she will be treating us to her full band sound with Curt Friesen on guitar (he is her dad and is very proud), Nate De Avila on drums and Courtney Devon singing harmony.
Both of Kenzie’s parents are musicians, so she grew up knowing that way of life and it has set her on a spectacular path. She is planning three EP release events, one in each of the places that mean something in her life.
Her relationship with our very own Ben Wride is what makes Flin Flon special. From here, she will play a party in Altona, her hometown, and then on to Winnipeg, her professional home base.
She writes and plays music that is influenced by R&B, folk and jazz and has a really busy summer of touring planned that will take her all the way to the Yukon and all four western provinces.
Kenzie Jane will play the Winnipeg Folk Fest where she has been a Young Performer for the past three years, as well as Winnipeg’s Pride festival and Music on the Rooftop at City Place.
Kenzie Jane will be at Johnny’s Social Club on Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29. Tickets are $20 at the Orange Toad and will be $25 at the door. Doors open at 7 pm, with music at 7:30 pm, as usual. For a sample of her music, search Kenzie Jane on Youtube.
On Tuesday, May 1, the NorVA Centre and Gallery will open its new exhibition Scutelliphilly, curated by Zoe Schneider.
The somewhat loose translation of Scutelliphilly from Greek is phileein, or love, of scutellus, or little shields, which will be on display.
The artist has curated a show of patches from 12 different makers to explore the ideas of personal branding and the culture of display in this era of social media. She has done this through back patches like you might see on jean jackets or biker leathers. The exhibition will be at NorVA throughout May.
The artist will be in Flin Flon on Saturday, May 5 to lead a workshop on the making of patches. She has an entire tool kit of beads, felt and backing material and will teach us how to make meaningful patches while surrounded by Scutelliphilly to give inspiration.
Contact NorVA at [email protected] for more information or to register for an incredible workshop opportunity.
Also on Saturday, May 5, in the evening, the Flin Flon Community Choir with maestro Crystal Kolt and musical director Mark Kolt presents La Grande Opera. The community choir alternates between a musical theatre production and a program of masterworks each year and this is a non-musical year. That is actually a bit of a misnomer, as the choir will be presenting the most daring musical performance to date.
Opera is actually the earliest incarnation of musical theatre, as it placed dramatic themes and classical music together on a stage to entertain. Of course, one had to be a member of a royal court in Europe to be eligible to see it. Not so much in Flin Flon, thank goodness. We will have access to the very best of our local talent pool performing some of the greatest hits of opera and don’t even think you don’t know this stuff! If you have ever seen a movie, you have heard opera – Wall Street? Rigoletto; Gallipoli? The Pearl Fishers; Fatal Attraction? Madama Butterfly; and of course, Fantasia by Walt Disney, which has everything!
The community choir will be joined on this occasion by Dustin Hiles, a young tenor who last performed here during the great northern tour of Messiah to celebrate the choir’s 10th birthday. There will be solos by John Bettger, Candia Cormack, Pandora Furniss, Kevin Imrie, Angela Ishaka, Janeve Masson, Kari Rutherford, Tim Spencer and Katrina Windjack. Interspersed will be some great choruses for the choir to shine through.
The Flin Flon Arts Council is going all out on this event to really play up the grandeur of the music, so get your gowns and tuxedos on and come early to the show to enjoy a glass of sparkling wine and stay afterwards to meet the stars of the evening. The performance is $30, $15 for students at the R.H. Channing Auditorium. Doors open at 7 pm and music begins at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available at Northern Rainbow’s End.
