Lars Kaario, conductor, singer and educator, has a great love and commitment towards the choral arts.   He has a special ability to inspire singers and instrumentalists and effectively communicate the enjoyment and subtleties of music to his audiences.  His tremendous energy coupled with his excellent organizational skills and programming abilities have helped to characterize his concerts as “unforgettable, delightful, beautiful, and deeply satisfying musical experiences.”

When he comes on the Venables stage with the Capilano University Singers Friday, February 5^th at 7:30 pm we can expect an unforgettable evening of choral music.

Mr. Kaario is an ardent supporter of young musicians and composers and regularly commissions new works.  He is the Director of Choral Studies in the music program at Capilano University.   He directs both the Capilano University Singers and the Capilano University Festival Chorus.   He is also the head instructor in the University’s Conducting Certificate Program.

Lars is founder and director of the acclaimed professional chamber choir, Laudate Singers.   Other ensembles he has directed include Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, CBC Orchestra, West Coast Symphony, West Coast Summer Music Festival Orchestra and Chorus, Vancouver Cantata Singers, Greater Vancouver Operatic Society and Theatre Under the Stars.  He himself has performed leading roles in opera, light opera and music theatre.  In oratorio, he has been tenor soloist in such works as Bach’s B minor Mass , Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Mozart’s Requiem with many of BC’s major choirs and orchestras.

The Oliver and District Heritage Society is proud to announce that they are the recipients of a Documentary Heritage Communities Program grant from Library and Archives Canada. The funding, $10,300, allowed staff to undertake a special four month project which began in late December 2016.

The funding will be used to properly archive and record almost 800 maps and plans that were donated to the Society as part of the South Okanagan Land Irrigation District fonds in 1997. A previous project provided for the proper storage and numbering of each item, this is the next and final step to completing this portion of the fonds. Each map/plan will be properly photographed and have a digital record created within our special artifact management software. These records will make accessing, copying and researching the material much easier.

Please come visit us to see how the project is progressing and learn more about the services of the Oliver Archives.

www.oliverheritage.ca

Photo: Some of the maps and plans that will be a part of this project.

The Women of Oliver for Women announce that entry forms are available for the “Mainly for Women” Trade Show.  Download them here, at the bottom of this article, or on their website located here: wowoliver.org 

The trade show began in 1993 as a fundraiser for Soroptimist International of Oliver. When that group disbanded in 2003, the Trade Show continued through the work of the WOW Club. Its title “Mainly for Women” reflects their mission statement, with funds raised going to support projects which focus mainly on women and children within our community.

Trade show displays feature everything from beautifully handcrafted jewelry to pottery, wood crafts, fibre art, health products and services, real estate and investments, home improvement, fashion, food, and many more themes. It occurs every February, on the third Saturday of that month.  Forty to sixty individual vendors showcase their wares in the Oliver Community Centre.  A lunch and snack area is available.

If you would like to be part of the next Trade Show, please download the

WOW Trade-Show-Entry-Form

and the

Trade-Show-Info-Sheet2

Slamming doors and jamming doors.  Crashing props.  Brandished  axes.  Bottles of whisky.  Dropped trousers and dropped plates of sardines. Prat falls and brawls. Farce is all about noise and sight gags, and SOAP’s upcoming comedy promises to be jam-packed with hilarious action. Noises Off by Michael Frayn runs three evenings, Thursday January 21 to Saturday January 23, at the Frank Venables Theatre, at 7:30 p.m. One matinee, on Saturday January 23 is at 1:00 p.m.

Noises Off takes its title from a stage direction for sounds coming from behind-the-scenes. This backstage farce follows a hapless company of actors as they limp through the final dress rehearsal of an English sex comedy (and play-within-a-play), Nothing On.  Muddled lines, collapsing set, love triangles, artistic temperament, and one clueless blonde in lingerie are driving the cast’s bullying director, Lloyd Dallas, to madness. In this case, the “noises off” are the unplanned crashes and screams of the actors as the play-within-a-play slowly disintegrates into chaos.

Lloyd (played by Trevor Leigh) directs a bumbling cast: diva Dotty (Carrie Lyle), tongue-tied Garry (Craig Bjornson), dim-witted Freddy (Nathan Linders), reliable Belinda (Penelope Johnson), alcoholic thespian Selsdon (Michael Ryan) and ditzy ingénue (Robin Stille). Lloyd is aided by his stage managers, love-lorn Poppy (Jen Jensen) and overworked Tim (Brohm Dason).

The audience is treated to three versions of Nothing On (the play-within-a-play).  Act 1 immerses the audience in the disastrous dress rehearsal, with director Lloyd shouting last-minute instructions from the seats, and other actors making their arrival onstage from different points in the theatre. After an intermission when the set is revolved, Act 2 reveals a brawling backstage view of their touring performance.  Act 3 is the riotous closing night, when all lines are abandoned and cast of Nothing On must improvise their way to the final curtain.

The revolving set, a 16^th century millhouse, is as much a character as the cast. Designed and built by Shawn Henderson  and Craig Bjornson, the two-storey set revolves twice during each performance, to reveal both the onstage and backstage action.  Director Ted Osborne holds the reins on this careening comedy, aided by stage manager Diane Gludovatz. Aimee Grice makes her debut as producer with the help of countless volunteers.

All performances are at the Frank Venables Theatre in Oliver, due to the complexity of the set.  Noises Off advance tickets are $18 at Sundance Video in Oliver and Your Dollar Store with More in Osoyoos. Tickets at the door are $20. More information at www.soplayers.ca and info @ soplayers.ca

Pictured from top: Brohm Dason, Craig Bjornson, Nathan Linders, Penelope Johnson, Trevor Leigh, Jen Jensen, and Robin Stille collapse through the mill door in SOAP’s Noises Off

If you are a woman who needs to return to school to better your life, the Women of Oliver for Women (WOW) would like to help. The WOW Education Award ( $1000) is presented to a woman who is needing to upgrade her education in order to return to the workplace and support herself and her family.  Applications are due by January 31st.  An award is presented in March.

Not all applicants will be selected for awards, but you may be eligible if you:

• Provide the primary financial support for your family.
• Have financial need.
• Are currently enrolled in a vocational/skills training program or an academic degree program, and have successfully completed one semester.
• Provide an official transcript copy from your current educational institution showing a listing of your educational record.
• Are motivated to achieve your education and career goals.
• Reside in the South Okanagan.
• Do not have a graduate degree.

In order for applicants to be fairly judged, forms from two references must be sealed and submitted with each application. Your application will be reviewed by a committee comprised of members of the Women of Oliver for Women organization (WOW), but all information will remain confidential and will not be shared without your prior permission.

You can download an application form and reference forms here:

WOW-Education Application

WOW Education Reference Form

Visit our website at wowoliver.org for more information about Women of Oliver for Women

Left to right: Janet Montgomery, Michelle Weisheit, Janis Silverfox (2015 recipient of award), Cathy Gushalak and Diane Worth

WOW is a member group of the Oliver Community Arts Council.