Up Close and Intimate Performance Series

Saturday, January 20th, 7:30PM

The Amazing and Impermeable Cromoli Brothers Present:
 The “Back in The Saddle” Cromoli World Tour!

 After a pandemic induced hiatus, the Cromoli Brothers are back and hitting the road!  They are delighted to continue their multi-year, We’ll See How Far We Actually Get (Could Just Be Creston, Who Knows?) World Tour at the Vallican Whole Community Centre on January 20 at 7:30 PM.  The show will feature a selection of Cromoli Classics including The Rich, Dear Mary I’m in a Gang Now, Pilot Talk, Cover Song,  Shot in the Dark, and Nude Beach with a sprinkling of new material, all chosen by you, the audience. No two shows are the same! A creation of local performer and playwright Lucas Myers, The Cromoli Brothers Experience inhabits the realm between the poignant, the political and the absurd, with original tunes on harmonium, glockenspiel and ukulele. If you know, you know, and if you don’t know, come to the show, and then you’ll know.

Saturday, March 2nd, 7:30 PM

Grandmama Speak, by Shayna Jones with Jesse Lee, accompanist

Grandmama Speak is a kaleidoscope of Afro-centric folklore and fact, fable and fierce reality hinged upon the mystery of “living waters”. Pieced together from the diverse folkloric traditions of the African diaspora, Grandmama Speak is a trumpet for black wisdom, resilience, and legacy that will touch listeners of all varieties, regardless of colour or creed. Love and loss, pride and pain, hambones and redfish take center stage in this evocative show and will leave listeners laughing, sighing, and lingering over the age-old wisdom of Grandmama Speak. Ages 13 +

Shayna Jones is a multi-disciplinary professional spoken word artist specializing in the
traditional oral storytelling of African and Afro-diasporic folklore. As an award winning actor, a spoken word poet and playwright, Shayna has written and performed for theatre companies, schools, and festivals across Canada. As a folklorist, Shayna combines her passion for live, theatrical performance with the study of traditional African and Afro-diasporic folklore and contemporary Black experience to create dynamically soulful, nuanced, and unforgettable performances. Learn more about Shayna and her work at: www.wearestoryfolk.com

Sunday, April 14th, 2:00 PM

Winds and Strings, a Classical Concert featuring the Shifting Winds and the Lakeside String Ensemble

The Shifting Winds

In 2018 a group of Slocan Valley women formed a woodwind quintet. Since they were all women, they called themselves The Slocan Valley Queen-tet. Later that year, after numerous shifts in personnel, they decided that The Shifting Winds described the group better. This was a good thing since men began joining the group in 2020.The group performed a number of times at various venues in the Slocan Valley including The Vallican Whole, Silverton Memorial Hall, and several house concerts until Covid shut them down in 2020. The group was able to practice a few times during 2020, but wasn’t able to really get going again until 2021, again with new personnel.Since then, the group has played at the Slocan Legion, the Pavillion in New Denver, The Vallican Whole, Mountain Lake Seniors Community, and Nelson Jubilee Manor.The current Shifting Winds musicians include Jane Butler on flute, Ron Butler on flugelhorn, Tia Leschke on French horn, Gail Elder on Euphonium, and David Stevenson on bass clarinet.

The Lakeside String Ensemble is an eclectic mix of professional and amateur string musicians that was formed in 2022 following an engaging performance of the Corelli Christmas Concerto at the Slocan Lake Arts Centre “Winter Fest”. The six chamber musicians live along the Slocan Lake and include:

Martine den Bok, soloist, current principal 2nd violinist for Okanagan Symphony and principal violist for the Symphony of the Kootenays, co-founding member of local Kootenay bands Freya, Vanir and Klezmeridian. Irene Whifield, currently the principal 2nd violinist with the Brandenburg Orchestra in Kamloops. She started Fiddle Dee Dee and Eldorado Hoedown in New Denver. Danika Skye Hammond, violinist and lifelong Suzuki player. Miranda Hughes, plays viola and violin, is co-founder of the Suzuki Valhalla Institute of New Denver, and currently plays as a violist with the Symphony of the Kootenays. Heather Huether, cellist, teacher, chamber musician and founder of the Valhalla Fine Arts Society and Valhalla Summer School of Music in Silverton. Sue Mistretta, amateur cellist and co-founder of Mountainside Chamber Music in Nelson.

Wednesday, May 15th, 7:30 PM

Small Town Artillery, with opening set by Salt Spring Island’s Safiya Labelle

THE SMALL TOWN ARTILLERY COLLECTIVE is the moniker under which brothers Tom & Derek van Deursen release and perform their signature style of music. The name comes from strong roots to their rural Kootenay upbringing, ties that have tattooed their hearts indelibly and deeply influenced their art. The name references the “artillery” of rural community living – where people come together to share resources in times of need, understand the benefit of ritual and respect, and are encouraged – not always by choice, sometimes by necessity – to work through their differences out of a need to share what little there is; like the grocery store. Or the fire truck. The belief that these values – honesty, joy, accountability, curiosity, empathy – are weaponry for good is a shared tool of the van Deursen brothers and their music.
This remote experimentation has been honed in over 400 shows together since 2003. 2023 has brought with it the loss of their beloved founding bandmate and bassist Carson, instrumental (pun intended, he woulda liked that) in helping shape the raw talent of the brothers into a sound that felt like something all its own and world class.

 
Their live show is a crackling good time, full of emotional dynamics, trumpet and violin earworms, guitarmonies and feeling. 2024’s touring outfit is 6 strong, featuring Kyle Vaughan (Year Of The Wolf) on Guitar, Safiya Labelle on Violin and Vocal, Jocelyn Waugh on Trumpet, and Sam Schuette on Bass.