I hope everyone’s March break is going well. It's nice to have some sunshine and warmer temps to enjoy. I passed by the library yesterday and it looked like lots of families were taking advantage of its free activities and spaces to have some March break fun.
Last weekend we enjoyed two concerts. Friday night at Creative Nomad Studios, the Orillia Youth Centre presented Rebekah Hawker, Spencer Burton, and Ben Nichols and it was amazing. The concert sold out quite a while ago, also the repeat one on Saturday at the youth centre.
All the musicians were incredible, and the audience very attentive. Lots of big fans of Ben Nichols (Lucero) were there, some coming from as far away as Stouffville and Owen Sound. It was a really fun night. Congratulations to Kevin Gangloff, executive director of the Orillia Youth Centre, for his success in raising money for the centre through these wonderful series of concerts.
Saturday night, the Orillia Concert Band was in fine form at St. Paul’s Centre, with special guest, singer Christina Bosco. The theme was The Magical World of Music and there were lots of movie music medleys, which seemed very popular with the large crowd at St. Paul’s.
Christina Bosco wowed with an amazing version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, and When You Wish Upon a Star. The concert was short, ending in just an hour and a half with intermission, not a bad thing while still in winter darkness mode. The concert band’s next show is May 3, with a Canadiana theme, at St. Paul’s.
This Sunday at 2 p.m. is another fantastic concert at St. Paul’s. Dmytro Garbovskyi, a Ukrainian opera singer, will be performing an incredible concert in support of the children of Ukraine. He will bring with him special guest soprano Mary Ferrari from Italy, and Canadian pianist Sabatino Vacca.
You can read all about Garbovskyi and the concert here and you can get tickets in advance here or for $40 cash at the door.
This Saturday night, Mariposa in Concert presents School House and Amanda Rheaume at St. Paul’s Centre. These two were the most talked about at Mariposa last summer, so come out and see them again! Tickets at www.mariposafolk.com.
This Thursday March 13, the Orillia Museum of Art and History (OMAH) is having an opening reception for a new exhibition, Heritage in Hues: Orillia's Story Through Textiles', curated by a group of Museum and Gallery Studies students from Georgian College.
The exhibition showcases the Orillia community through a colourful display of textiles pulled from OMAH's collection. Viewers are invited to engage with the Sunshine City's history, identity and creative spirit from March 8 to April 8, 2025. The opening reception Thursday is from 5 to 7 p.m.
Wednesday, March 19 OMAH presents its History Speakers series on Zoom, and the guest speaker this month is Nathalie Bertin, whose exhibit Loup Garou and Mocassins is currently on at OMAH. This is in recognition of Women’s History month, and the talk will be on Loup Garou & Mocassins: A Search for Identity Through Culture, Kinship & Storytelling. Nathalie is a brilliant artist and storyteller, this will be an amazing Zoom talk at 7 p.m. To get the free link, go here.
Don’t miss In Spite of Ourselves, An Evening of John Prine, with Johnny Max, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Orillia Opera House. The show features two-time Juno-nominee Johnny Max, Kirsten Jones, Bill Craig (The Irish Rovers) and Blair Packham (The Jitters) as they perform and present their favourite John Prine songs. It’s going to be a really fun night. Tickets at www.orilliaoperahouse.ca.
St. Patty’s Day is coming up, and both the new and old locations of Brewery Bay are having shindigs in honour of this.
Upstairs at Couchiching Craft Brewery/Brewery Bay Food Co, Sunday at 5 p.m. Trad Session will be presenting a “foot-stomping, fiddle-flying St. Patrick’s Day Celtic Kitchen Party! The session will be in full swing with traditional Irish tunes and songs, played by a talented gathering of musicians on fiddle, bass, banjo, concertina, bodhrán, and more!”
So, sounds like quite the evening! Doors open at 4 p.m. and cover is $15 at the door, first come, first served!
The original location of Brewery Bay is saying goodbye to the old building with a St. Patty’s Day send off, Monday from 12 p.m. on. They will be draining the kegs, emptying the kitchen and celebrating over three decades in the OG Brewery Bay building. It will be an event for the ages.
Don’t forget to get your tickets for Mariposa Arts Theatre’s next play, A Streetcar Named Desire, first two weekends of April, at www.orilliaoperahouse.ca. And, St. Paul’s Centre’s production of Anne of Green Gables, first weekend of April, at www.stpaulscentre.ca. These tickets will be hot commodities so make sure you get them sooner than later!
One more note. On Friday March 21, Quest Art Gallery in Midland is having an art opening, “Living in Cities: Cityscapes by Murray Van Halem and Ross Skoggard.” I want to put this on your radar as these gents are both incredible artists and these oil paintings will be amazing. The opening is at 7 p.m. and Quest is on the main street in downtown Midland.
Have a great week and if you have arts news, send it to [email protected] by Tuesday at noon to be included.