Kings arts scene - as of Nov. 24

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

Kings County Advertiser

Choir reunion

Calling all former Kings County/ Annapolis Valley Honour Choir members: the choir will be celebrating its 20th anniversary witha reunion Dec. 18 to 20 at the Horton High School Performance Centre.

Weekend highlights will include a meet and greet, rehearsals, a Saturday variety show and lots of reminiscing, and will culminate in a massed choir celebration Dec. 20 at 3 p.m.

For information, contact Erin Bustin at erin.bustin@gmail.com or Krista Griffin at 679-2341.

Nation-wide screening

Having crafted a documentary film about child poverty in New Minas, Valley-based filmmaker Nancy Ackerman will bring her new NFB documentary film, Four Feet Up to the Al Whittle Theatre in Wolfville Nov. 24

Freewill admission. All proceeds will go to Feed Nova Scotia and the Isaiah Education Fund.

Tickets available 30 minutes before screening. www.fundyfilm.ca or 542-5157.

Sing in Greenwich

Valley Voices sing a concert at Horton High School Nov. 26. Joining them will be the Horton High Choir and Kings Chorale.

Neptune visits

St. Mary’s Home & School presents Young Neptune Theatre’s “Munschapalooza” Nov. 26 at 6:30 (doors open at 6 p.m.) in the St. Mary’s School Gymnasium.

Tickets cost $6 or $20 for a family of four. For info, call 847-4400 or Mainstreet Video RiteStop.

Gamelan obsession

After visiting Bali, Ken Shorley is teaching an introductory course in Sundanese gamelan degung at Acadia University, as well as leading a terrific gamelan ensemble there.

The ensemble will be performing a concert Nov. 27 at Acadia's Denton Hall auditorium, starting at 8:30 p.m. (free admission).

In Canning

Peter Gordon, a local artist, is having a show of his paintings called Fusion, opening Nov. 27 at 7 p.m.

He is a recent graduate of the visual arts program at NASCAD. He is a multi-talented artist working mainly with photography and oil paintings.

Recently, Gordon was one of seven winners of a national art competition with more than 300 applicants. The Ottawa building where his winning painting is hanging is the headquarters of the Canadian Assoc. of University Teachers. Finalists were chosen by a group of university art professors

Fusion continues Saturday and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Ocean Spirit Studio.

Open mic kitchen party

At the Union St. Café in Berwick, the open mic kitchen party is hosted Nov. 27 by Marshall and Lake. Start is 8:30 p.m. every Friday.

Acadia Art Gallery

Nov. 28, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. it’s Drop in Art Saturdays’ free thematic art activities in the gallery for all ages. For November, we will be making snow globes. All materials are provided.

Andy & Ariana

The Wolfville band Thugs at Bay, also known as t@b, is concluding it's busiest year yet with the release of a seventh disc, “Look at them Apples.”

The celebration show takes place at the Al Whittle Theatre in Wolfville Nov. 28. A distinct Annapolis Valley feel permeates this new CD: no wonder. Since their last release, t@b has shared festival and theatre stages with dozens of Valley colleagues, and the number of local songwriters represented in their repertoire is now in the double digits. Beyond any doubt, the Valley has become the most significant musical influence for Ariana Nasr and Andy Flinn.

In addition to seven new songs, the CD contains t@b versions of songs written by Mike Aubé, The Hupman Brothers, Kimberly Smith, Adam Bazinet, Caleb Miles, Darren Arsenault and Amin Nasr, Ariana's Father.

November 28 at 8 p.m. at the Al Whittle Theatre, Thugs at Bay releases "Look at them Apples" at the Al Whittle Theatre at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 advance at the Wolfville Farmers' Market or Box of Delights Bookshop; $15 at the door.

Call out

Nov. 28, A Call for Submission, the Valley’s classic/ hard rock band, will be playing hits all night long at West Side Charlie’s in New Minas. Show starts at 10 p.m., cover is $2 at the door.

Right Top-40

Nov. 28, Joker’s Right’s Top-40 and classic rock is on stage at The Top Hat, Greenwood, 10 p.m., $3 at the door.

See Dickens

Berwick Community Theatre presents the second annual presentation of "A Dickens' Christmas Carol", (A Travelling Travesty in Two Tumultuous Acts) Nov. 28 at 7:30 pm in Christ Church (Anglican) Hall, Berwick. Admission is $5 and food bank donations will be accepted. (We will delay the start after the parade on the 28th if necessary.

In Windsor

A benefit concert in support of Christmas Angels is set for Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Mermaid Imperial Performing Arts Centre in Windsor.

The concert will feature Jason C. and Company, Emerald Tide and Swingology.

Tickets at Moe’s Place Music Sales or at the door are adults $8, youth/ seniors $6. For information, call 790-0111.

Size matters

The Harvest Gallery, Wolfville, annual show of small works of art, craft, jewellery and more by favourite gallery artists is on now. All work priced at $200 or less.

Film screens

Fundy Film in Wolfville screens Seraphine Nov. 29, 4 pp.m. and 7 p.m.

A fictionalized portrait of an obscure yet fascinating self-taught artist, Séraphine de Senlis (1864-1942), was a simple housekeeper whose brilliantly colourful canvases adorn some of the world’s most famous galleries after a German art critic and collector “discovered her” in 1912.

Tickets ($8) 30 mins before screening. www.fundyfilm.ca or 542-5157.

Hear Bach

Tickets are now on sale for the Acadia University School of Music’s production of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Nov. 29, 3 p.m., in Festival Theatre, Acadia University

This production features the Acadia University Chorus, directed by Michael Caines, and the Acadia String Ensemble, directed by Laura Veeze. Soloists include School of Music voice faculty member Christianne Rushton and guest soloists Susan Boddie, Ryan Billington and Ross Thompson. The production will also feature members of Symphony Nova Scotia, as well as students and faculty from the School of Music.

Tickets can be purchased at the Acadia Box Office or reserved by calling 542-5500.

Family of singers

It’s music from the Ernst Family Singers Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. in the Kentville Church of Christ, 177 Middle Dyke Rd. A freewill offering will be appreciated.

The Ernst Family is a vocal ensemble consisting of nine members, aged nine to adult, singing everything from solos to eight-part harmony. They perform Renaissance, classical, traditional sacred, spiritual and folk music. The family started singing in 2001 and has performed for national TV programs and toured the Maritimes, Eastern U.S., and Ontario.

Try out

Open auditions for Last of Jane Austen are Dec. 1 at 7 p.m., at CentreStage Theatre, Kentville.

The Last of Jane Austen is a comedy by Shirl Hendryx: two retired women decide to train a street thug to become a prizefighter. Performances are in February and March. Director is Candy O’Brien.

Five women and six men are needed. Anyone interested may contact O'Brien at 538-3967 or ecoastobs@yahoo.ca.

Base celebrates Christmas

December 2, 14 Wing Greenwood's annual community Christmas concert takes place at the Annapolis Mess, beginning at 7 p.m. and lasting to 8:30 p.m.

The show features the Wing Band, Pipes & Drums, Rachel MacLean and the Kingston Elementary School choir. All are welcome.

Help War Child

The third Annual War Child Benefit Concert, featuring The Hupman Brothers, Caleb Miles Band, Ian Sherwood, Resisting Gravity, Cuckoo Moon, Rural Delivery, Tracy Nasson Fritz; will be held Dec. 4 at the Al Whittle Theatre, Wolfville.

Concert starts at 8 p.m.; doors open at 7:30 p.m.. Tickets are $20 at Just Us Cafe, Wolfville.

Sanctuary concert

The Acadia Performing Arts Series presents Sanctuary, performing its Concert of 100 Candles at Convocation Hall Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The Acadia Vocal Ensemble will add choral selections appropriate to the season.

Sanctuary is a musical trio based in Halifax. They have established a unique form of contemporary music that is rich, intense and lyrical. Much of their music is based on Gregorian chant but that is merely a point of departure - they transcend these ancient materials using improvisation, contemporary music atonality and extended techniques, to create a new form of contemplative plainsong for the 21st century.

Sanctuary started in 1998 as an informal series of concerts at St. Mary's Basilica in Halifax. Since then the three members have performed over 100 concerts playing in every type of music festival across Canada and Europe.

Tickets ($26/ $17 students) are available at the Acadia Box Office or by calling 542-5500 (1-800-542-TICK).

Save the date

The Amadeus Guitar Duo is coming to Manning Memorial Chapel, Wolfville, Jan. 3, 3 p.m. Admission: free.

N.S. country music’s best

The Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame announces the 2010 nomination process is now open for inductees.

Forms can be obtained at www.nscmhf.com and submissions must be received by February 15, 2010. Nominees must have been born in Nova Scotia.

Past inductees include Hank Snow, Wilf Carter, Carroll Baker, Rita MacNeil and Joyce Seamone to mention a few.

Any person who is interested in supporting country music is invited to become a member of the NSCMHF. Details can be obtained via info@nscmhf.ca.

Coming up

Until Dec. 10

Kingston Prize exhibition, Acadia Art Gallery, Wolfville

Until Dec. 12

Bingo: The Musical, CentreStage Theatre, Kentville

Send arts news to welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca