Flin Flon arts and culture fans rejoiced last weekend when the community earned some major media attention, via a special feature on Flin Flon in the Saturday edition of the Winnipeg Free Press.
The multi-page feature article was crafted by journalist Erin Lebar and photojournalist Ruth Bonneville. The two visited Flin Flon last month to get a first-hand taste of the community’s diverse arts programming.
Lebar’s article, “At heart of the arts, a mine,” explores how music, theatre, and the visual arts have shaped, and been shaped by, Flin Flon’s history and development, from the early days of the Flin Flon Glee Club to the community choir’s dramatic musical performances of the past several years.
“It was gratifying,” said arts council coordinator Crystal Kolt.
“We have worked so hard for so long…and it’s just wonderful to feel heard and feel that we’ve been able to share all the great things that are happening up here.”
The online version of the article includes a five-minute video with short interviews with locals sharing personal insights into Flin Flon’s unique arts community.
As artistic director and conductor of the Flin Flon Community Choir, Kolt said she had to watch one portion of the video behind her hands: the scene that captures the Flin Flon Community Choir at rehearsal.
“I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, please let it be good—the music part of it,’” she said with a laugh. While Bonneville was recording, the choir was rehearsing Lux Aeterna, a challenging piece that the local choristers will perform in June at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. Kolt said she was pleased with how the choir comes across in the clip.
“It is a very complicated piece and we are starting to get around it, and I am really happy about that.”
