Grammy-winning guitar virtuoso Jason Vieaux is the feature performer at the 19th Annual Fraser Valley Acoustic Guitar Festival.
The festival gives music fans a chance to learn from various experts and culminates in a public concert. The Feb. 27 show is at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Langley campus auditorium starting at 7 p.m.
Vieaux’s most recent solo album, Play, won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.
His program at the Langley Auditorium will include selections from his Grammy-winning album Play, plus other favorites by a wide range of composers – from J.S. Bach to Pat Metheny.
In 2012, the Jason Vieaux School of Classical Guitar was launched with ArtistWorks Inc., an unprecedented technological interface that provides one-on-one online study with Vieaux for guitar students around the world. In person he teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Music and performs around the world.
Students from Grade 9-12 as well as post-secondary students have a chance for expert teaching during the festival which runs from Thursday through Saturday and is hosted by KPU.
Other experts include lutist Konstantin Bozhinov and guitarist James Devon.
Tickets for the Saturday concert are available at all KPU bookstores as well as online at Brown Paper Tickets event 2432819.
The cost is $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors in advance. At the door, tickets are $35 for adults and $30 for students and seniors.
The challenge
Six years ago, 18 contemporary artists – each with their own personality and artistic style – put on a rather unusual show at the Fort Gallery.
It began as a challenge.
Each artist was tasked with making a piece of art with $40 or less worth of merchandise purchased from a hardware store. The receipt was required as proof of purchase, and posted next to the completed work of art.
The assignment took each artist out of their comfort zone and the creations that resulted were amazing, said artist Kristin Krimmel.
“It was the show that gave me the idea to join the group. I wanted to be part of that creative energy,” she explained. “We need to step outside of our norm to move forward and discover new ways of thinking.”
Two years later, the Fort Gallery revisited the challenge, and the process was so much fun and the results were so “extraordinary” that they decided to do it again in 2012 and in 2014, and in what has become a tradition as the gallery artists prepare for the fourth Hardware Biennale.
The players have changed.
Some artist have moved on, and new members have come to make up their number.
That means there will be new visions and the synergy will be different, Krimmel said.
“Be prepared for cleverness, a great deal of humour and for interesting contemporary work which steps outside of the box.
The show opened to the public Wednesday, and runs until March 13, with an artists’ reception Thursday, March 3, from 7 to 9 p.m.
She’s ‘Simply the Best’
A tribute queen is coming to Langley tonight.
Rock n’ roll legend Tina Turner (a.k.a. Luisa Marshall) is performing at Cascades Casino’s Summit Theatre Thursday, Feb. 25.
The Vancouver-based artist and impersonator has received international acclaim for her tribute show, travelled the globe, appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show last October, and even had 25 seconds spot on Oprah.
Now she’s in town for an 8 p.m. show at Cascades. Tickets are $42.50 and available at 604-530-2211 or www.ticketweb.ca.
Oz with a twist
The curtain goes up this weekend on the Imagine That! production of Wizard of Oz, and artistic director Faith Toronchuk has added a futuristic twist.
PHOTO: Langley’s Arianne Thompson plays The Tin Man That! production of Wizard of Oz. (Tonia Martens photo)
Oz meets steampunk.
She describes it as a “fast moving play” based on the original novel by L. Frank Baum, not the movie musical version.
“As we were working on our production, we decided that we’d focus on the visuals of Steampunk (rather than the mechanics); so if you can imagine the Victorian era meeting the Industrial Age, meeting the future – only fun can come of the results,” Toronchuk said.
“I am very excited for audiences to come out and enjoy some great story telling, spiced up with fabulous costumes, stunning make-up and a eye-popping set backdrop.”
The play runs weekends starting Feb. 26 through March 6 at The Venue, 5708 Glover Rd., with two evening shows Feb. 26 and March 4 at 7:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. matinees on the Saturdays and Sundays.
Tickets are $15 and available from cast and crew members, at the door 45 minutes prior to showtime, or online at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2495789.