First things first. In the last column we did not quite finish the report on the Northern Juried Art Show results.
In fact, we left out the most important awards of all, Best in Show and the People’s Choice. And artists from the Flin Flon area won them!
Everyone who attends votes upon the People’s Choice during the art show. This year it was awarded to Matthew Enns, a recent NorVA artist. He also won a prize in the Drawing category.
The Best in Show award is given by all three judges to the overall best art piece in the show. This year the winner was Patricia Evans, who also won first place in the Photography Category.
Mighty congratulations to these fantastic artists. So glad you are part of the Flin Flon arts scene.
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Home Routes Classical presented the last concert of the season on May 25. Featured were Winnipeg artists Haley Rempel (flute) and Maddy Hildebrandt (piano).
The concert was named An Evening in Paris and highlighted French music of the 19th century. Composers such as Debussy, Faure, Ravel and Satie made up the repertoire.
The players used multi-media to enhance the concert-going experience.
This house concert was really a house concert this time.
Most Home Routes Classical concerts are held on the RH Channing Auditorium stage because performers can use the Steinway grand piano.
The Flin Flon Arts Council refurbished this beautiful piano in 2012, thanks to a fabulously generous donation by an old Flin Flon musical family.
It has a wonderfully responsive touch, according to Maddy, who played the piano in her solo recital here. It also needs to be played so that it can breathe.
Unfortunately, the Community Hall was booked for the date of this concert so the show was at 19 Hemlock Drive.
Look out for the new season, beginning in October. There are four concerts per season, October to May.
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The NorVA Gallery opened a new show called First Ink on May 21 and it runs until June 15.
It is a show featuring new prints by eight NorVA Artists. The gallery obtained a printing press in April and the artists quickly got busy learning how to use this art form to express their ideas.
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There will be a cabaret-style evening at Johnny’s Social Club, 177 Green Street, on Saturday, June 6.
Numerous local performers are in the lineup following a short hiatus to recover from Les Misérables.
Susan Lethbridge has organized this event to kickstart fundraising for Flin Flon’s Culture Days weekend to be held September 25 to 27.
Susan Lethbridge is a life-long Flin Flonner, well, except for the 10 or so years she and husband Brent spent in Winnipeg in the 1970s and ’80s, when Susan sang with some really good rock bands.
She sang with Rocki Rolletti (Peter Jordan) as Freida People and notably with Graham Shaw and the Sincere Serenaders.
Susan got her ‘training’ in Flin Flon, though, starting in high school with bands like Power Plant and continues to sing with her sisters (yes, The Hanson Sisters – she comes by her talent honestly).
Susan has always enjoyed sharing with special guests onstage and most recently she has introduced monthly ‘jam sessions’ at Johnny’s Social Club to encourage local singers, guitarists and other instrumentalists to display their talents to our community.
But the Cabaret will not be a jam session. There will be new performers on stage and many familiar faces.
Some performers will play together, in combinations never seen before, which will stretch them beyond their previous limits.
Susan, Brent, Mark Kolt and Craig Bancroft will provide backing for some musical acts and others will accompany themselves. The show is $10 and is a ‘bring your own treats’ event.
Of course, Culture Days will be a magical weekend, but more about that in a later column.
Calendar
May 22 to June 14: First Ink art exhibit @ NorVA Centre, 177 Green Street
NorVA New Logo Contest closes May 31 – submit your design ideas in person or on-line and win $250
May 27: Photography Club regular meeting, NorVA Centre, 7 pm
May 28: Sketch Club regular meeting, NorVA Centre, 7 pm
June 6: Cabaret @ Johnny’s Social Club, 177 Green Street, $10
June 13: Writers’ Guild regular meeting, NorVA, 177 Green Street, 2 pm