This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment Part Two
By John Swartz
The Orillia Jazz Festival wraps up Sunday afternoon with a concert at the Opera House with Brassworks. Alex Dean is sitting in with the band (and he’s been in town this week coaching the school ensembles).
From the schools a jazz band made up of students from all the high schools and a choir of Twin Lakes and OSS will also be performing. Get tickets for those online. Also during the afternoon Will Davis and Chris Robinson are at Couchiching Craft Brewing and James Brown is at Picnic.
Thursday night The Streets Alive Painter Passing Through public art project wound up with a meet and greet at Creative Nomad Studios. About 80 people were on hand to await the end of an online auction. Four pieces went for over $200.
The top one was painted by Mariangela Sherwood. It sold for $270. There were 48 of the 59 guitars on display and when I first looked at the assemblage, Sherwood’s caught my eye because of the many portrait styled guitars, hers it showed Gord as I remember him.
Katherine Kaiser’s portrait was next, going for $255 and Steph Dunn’s portrait went for $225.
There were bids coming in from all over the country and 9 people in the United States were after a guitar. The furthest away bidder was in Long Beach, California and she ended up successfully picking up the guitar Jane Rooyakkers painted.
Leslie Fournier, who created the project, did something different to pass the time waiting for the auction results. She divided up the crowd into three groups and ran a trivia contest. All the questions related to the project. There were 9 guitars using the Pussywillows, Cat-tails theme and 7 of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Of all the Edmund Fitzgerald’s the one painted by Jessica Fraser I thought went a step further, showing the ship caught in the storm.
You can see photos of the guitars on the Streets Alive Facebook page.
The Shorts
- The Orillia Silver Band’s season opening concert is Oct. 22 at the Opera House. The 2 p.m. show features pianist Kyung-A Lee. She has been the accompanist at Cellar Singers concerts and is very accomplished. She will be playing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Libertango by Astor Piazzolla – both backed up by the OSB to arrangements by OSB conductor Neil Barlow. The band will be playing music by Bach, Chopin, Gershwin and Verdi. You can get tickets online.
- St. Paul’s Centre has a slate of concerts happening. Matthew Good is in Oct. 19 and Sloan’s Chris Murphy is in Nov. 16; the Skydiggers will be in Dec. 14 for a Christmas concert. You can find tickets for all those online. The Orillia Concert Band and the Orillia Big Band (one before, the other after halftime) have a fundraising concert for Hillcrest Lodge Oct. 21; you can get tickets online.
- The Opera House has several concerts on the menu; Carl Dixon Is in Oct. 28. It’s about the music and the journey. Carl played in bands that opened for Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and is best known being a member of April Wine, Coney Hatch and The Guess Who. There will be a story to catch about Carl this week; Oct. 20 The Comic Strippers are in; Second City follows up Oct. 25; In between the Orillia Silver Band fall concert is Oct. 22 and a documentary called Four Feet Up: A Documentary Screening and Childhood Poverty Panel Discussion is happening Oct. 24; The Family Crow: A Murder Mystery a puppet comedy/mystery show by Adam Francis Proulx is in Oct. 26; Oct. 27 magicians Ted and Marion Outerbridge bring their show Mysteries of the Keyhole House to town; Zachary Lucky with Richard Inman Oct. 29. You can get tickets for any of those shows online.
- The 4th annual Trunk or Treat happens Oct. 28 at ODAS Park; the concept is people decorate their cars or other vehicles and stock them with candy for the kids. There have been dozens of such people participating on that end; meanwhile the little ones get to do their thing in a controlled place and at an out of control pace; you can register you vehicle online, and you can also get tickets for your kids at the same place; there is no cost, but they will take a donation for the tickets which offsets the costs of putting on the event; any excess donated money goes to the Orillia Youth Centre; this event has sold out, so to speak, every year it has run, so go to the registration link and get tickets now, we’ll still be here when you are done.
- The Leacock Museum’s Fall High Tea event was so popular last year, they’re doing it again. It’s an afternoon thing, arrive between 2 and 3 p.m. and you get all the tea in China you can handle, plus some finger food and a tour of the house. You can get tickets for several dates between Oct. 19 and Oct. 28 online. They also have Ghost Walks Oct. 21, 22, 27, and 28 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Get those tickets here.
- Tangents is organizing a Halloween concert/fundraiser for the Comfie Cat Shelter at St. Paul’s Centre; joining them are Dead Beyond Fear and Get ‘N Dirty. Its Oct. 28 at 12:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for this all-ages event and you can get them online; the music is metal and there will be vendors and grub. Wear your costume.
- The Orillia Museum of Art and History has a fundraising concert Oct. 28 at St. Paul’s Centre. Top of the bill performers are Jacquie Dancyger Arnold and Hugh Coleman. Blair Bailey is the MC, and Ross Arnold, Laura Kelly and Gail Spencer are also performing. The first half of the concert is Classical music, the second Jazz. You can get tickets online.
- The Orillia Concert Association has an inflation proof, deal of the century – season passes for all 5 concerts are still only $90. They are available online. The Stratton Soloists ensemble opens the series Oct. 29, pianist Daniel Vnukowski performs Nov. 26, the Chris Robinson / Will Davis Quartet plays Jan. 28, James Campbell and Angela Park perform March 24, and Ensemble Vivant closes the series May 5.
- Mariposa has Lance Anderson recreating the 60 in 60 concert he did at last year’s Mariposa Folk Festival on Nov. 18 at the Opera House; it’s been expanded to a 90 minute show and Matt Weidinger, Quisha Wint, Selena Evangeline Mike Daley (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Wayne Deadder (guitar and vocals) Russ Boswell (bass) Bucky Berger (drums) will be performing with Lance; you can get those tickets online.
- The Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Foundation annual gala is Nov. 18 at Casino Rama. The event is moving into the Entertainment Centre, so there’s more room for more people. It’s in there because the entertainment is Cirque Under the Stars. There is an online auction tied to the fundraiser (wait until Nov. 10 to bid). Tickets are available online.
- Cloud Gallery has their fall series of exhibits returning; starting October 21. Each show will run two weeks with opening night receptions (6 to 9 p.m.). First are Lori Meeboer and Jennifer Woodburn; next is Julie Veenstra (November 4); Patricia Clemmens has her work up November 25 (all artists in the gallery) and December 9 it’s a group show with many of the artists represented by the gallery in attendance; look for a story about the success of the gallery and these artists this week… The Orillia Museum of Art and History also has three new exhibits 50 Years Of Mariposa Arts Theatre, A Close up on Carmichael (showcasing OMAH’s collection of related items) and Jennifer Zardo’s Home Sweet Home; meanwhile in the basement see The Orillia Police And The Sir Sam Steele Memorial Building; the monthly Speaker’s Night returns – live, not on Zoom – Nov.1 with Margaret Pomeroy talking about Quilting Through the Ages, register to attend online… St. Paul’s Centre has the Call to Action 83 Art Project in the Ogimaa Miskwaaki Gallery… Hibernation Arts’s guest artist for October is Ashley Gringhuis and she’ll be at the gallery Oct. 7 from 1 to 3 p.m.
- Quayle’s Brewery has Peter Flood playing Oct. 20; Jojo is in Oct. 21; REbekah Hawker plays Oct. 22; James Gray is in Oct. 26… Couchiching Craft Brewing has Jokob Pearce and Dave Hewitt playing Oct. 20; Charlottte and the Dirty Cowboys are in Oct. 21; Stephan Bernard is in Oct. 22; Even Steven plays Oct. 27; they have a Halloween Party Oct. 28.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Images Supplied) Main: The Streets Alive A Painter Passing Through public art project wrapped up last week.
