Festival of the Performing Arts
The speech arts section of the Lakes District Festival of the Performing Arts takes place today, adjudicated by Susan Bertoia.
The piano section of the festival will take place Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 16-18, 2017, adjudicated by April Smith. The vocal section of the festival will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, March 22 and 23, with Fiona Blackburn as the adjudicator.
The festival will wrap up with the ‘Gala honours concert,’ which will take place on Saturday March 25. All Festival events take place at the Island Gospel Fellowship. Watch for ads in the Lakes District News for more information, or visit http://www.ldfestival.com.
Verdi’s ‘Nabucco’ live from New York
The third 2017 co-presentation by the Lakes District Arts Council and The Beacon Theatre of Met: Live in HD opera broadcasts, takes place on Sunday, March 26 at 1 p.m. in Burns Lake at the Beacon Theatre.
The legendary Plácido Domingo stars in Verdi’s Nabucco, bringing another new baritone role to the Met under the baton of his longtime collaborator James Levine. Liudmyla Monastyrska is Abigaille, the warrior woman determined to rule empires, and Jamie Barton is the heroic Fenena.
Dmitri Belosselskiy is the stentorian voice of the oppressed Hebrew people. The success of Verdi’s third opera, a stirring drama about the fall of ancient Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Nabucco), catapulted the 28-year-old composer to international fame. The music and Verdi himself were full of patriotic fervor. The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (“Va, pensiero”), in which the Israelites express their longing for their homeland, came to stand for Italy’s aspirations for unity.
Tickets are $12 each, and are available at the door the afternoon of the broadcast. Look for ads in the Lakes District News.
Scholarship applications open
To be eligible for the Lakes District Arts Council (LDAC) scholarship, a student must be attending Grade 12 in the Lakes District, demonstrate an involvement in the arts and a commitment to pursue post-secondary education in the arts. For more information, phone Hilda Earl, scholarship committee chair, at 250-691-1793 or email hilda.13@telus.net.