A fusion of visual and performing arts will be shared at Salmon Arm’s Nexus at First with an upcoming performance in honour of International Women’s Day.
On Sunday, March 10, the Nexus stage (at the First United Church) will be transformed into a giant, illustrated novel, to be accompanied with music by the Kamloops Symphony as it presents their concert, Light The Night: A Symphonic Graphic Novel.
In a media release, the Symphony’s Ryan Noakes described the concert as a unique audiovisual experience that combines 800 hand-drawn illustrations by artist Pauline Stive, stitched together as a “symphonic narrative by Catherine Varvaro, with works by Alma Mahler-Werfel and her first husband, Gustav Mahler, telling the story of Alma’s struggles and aspirations as a composer and woman in the early 20th century.”
“Inspired in part by Alma Mahler’s private diaries, Light The Night explores love, loss, creativity, and identity through stunning images and powerful music,” said Noakes, noting Stive and Varvaro recently won the Prix Opus Regions award at the 27th Opus Prize gala for this concert experience. “The KSO invites you to join them in the Nexus at First to witness this fusion of art forms celebrating women’s voices in music in honour of International Women’s Day.”
On the same day, the First United Church will be hosting another work of art, a quilt designed by more than 300 grandmothers from across Canada (including some from Salmon Arm) and Africa, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. In 2006, the foundation launched its Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign in response to the emerging crisis faced by grandmothers in Africa as they struggled to raise millions of children orphaned by AIDS.
The quilt, titled Nurturing Generations Under The Canopy of Sisterhood, features the central image of a sprawling grandmother tree. The grandmother tree has branches outstretched showing competence and leadership, with roots delving deep into the heart of her community. Beneath the canopy are seedlings, symbolizing the children she has cared for during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Pam Webber of Salmon Arm’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers, said the 20th Anniversary Solidarity Quilt represents the “solidarity of grandmothers as we continue to turn the tide on HIV and AIDS.”
The quilt will be on display between 2 and 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Nexus. The concert begins at 3 p.m. Tickets are $37.55 if purchased in advance through the Kamloops Live! Box Office, by calling 1-866-374-5483 or going to kamloopslive.ca. Tickets will be $40 at the door. Youth tickets (under 19) are $10, and $15 for KSOundcheck members (age 19-34).
With files by Jennifer Feinberg/Black Press Media.