Imagine this.
Just over the Pacific’s horizon is a beautiful ship making her way to the Comox Valley. She appears and you begin to hear wafts of violins soaring, trumpets announcing and voices raised in song. As evening closes in you notice the lights: she radiates all colors of the rainbow.
You reach for your binoculars and they reveal groups of dancers in their warm up leggings limbering up. Others are working through their routines.
This, my friends, is the Good Ship CYMC and she will arrive at our shores July 2 and anchoring there during the month of July.
It has been a long voyage.
Many months of planning, scheduling, budgeting, procuring, securing, recruiting and collaborating have gone into her arrival. And now we invite you now to celebrate with us as students from B.C. and beyond, on the trip of a lifetime, share with you their passion for music, song, dance and drama.
It all begins with our musical theatre faculty — director Lori Mazey, co-producer and vocal coach Ashley Foot, music director Kris Epps and choreographer Lindsay Sterk.
They have planned a performance that will inspire you with their creative talents and have you lining up at the Sid Williams Theatre to make sure you reserve you tickets for A Chorus Line and Glee Club.
Yep! That’s right. Two musical productions this year.
The very next evening will be the first of two classical faculty concerts. They also will inspire you with the exquisite music of Beethoven, Martinu, Motari and more. The acclaimed Trio Accord,(Mary Sokol-Brown, Andrew Brown and Ariel Barnes) will be featured along with faculty members Keith MacLeod (clarinet), Steve Denroche (French horn) and Chris Mitchell (trumpet). Meanwhile the classical students under the direction of program director John van Deursen are in their element with peers who “love music as much as I do”, to quote a now famous operatic alumna, Nancy Argenta. They will perform a total of four concerts, half of them free to the public.
The Grande Finale on July 16 will feature the concerto completion where three young soloists will play their chosen concerto with the Festival Orchestra. With the faculty performing alongside of their students, this is a musical sight and sound you will not soon forget.
We are very happy to announce that after many years’ hiatus, the piano program is being revived. Sarah Hagen will lead eight very talented and eager students through master classes, seminars and private lessons. Please join us for a free recital concluding the program on Saturday afternoon July 9.
All the while, our musical theatre students have been stretching every muscle, vocal and otherwise to prepare for the opening night of the Broadway hit A Chorus Line.
You will marvel at what these kids can achieve in just over two weeks, thanks to a great artistic team and a whole lot of talent and youthful energy. And as if this isn’t enough, Glee Club a CYMC original work will follow for two performances.
The Festival of Summer Sounds is a huge collaborative effort shared by many who love kids and music: the board of directors, the office staff, all of great (and renowned) faculty, loyal members and volunteers. Special mention must go to our sponsors and donors who so ardently believe in CYMC and who, year after year, provide the support without which there would be no festival.
An ad elsewhere in this edition of the Record has the full listing of events.
— CYMC