A special concert takes place Friday, February 28, as part of the 81st qathet Festival of the Performing Arts.
St. George’s Senior Concert Band will perform with qathet Symphony Orchestra and qathet Concert Band beginning at 7 pm. Doors open at 6:30 pm and the entry is by donation.
“The group is excited to embark on a tour of the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island this year,” said Dean Markel, who co-directs the Vancouver-based band with his teacher partner Rob Murray. “This tour will include our first collaboration with community groups in Powell River, further extending the school's tradition of fostering meaningful musical exchanges both locally and internationally.”
Markel reached out to contacts in Powell River with dates of the planned tour between February 27 and March 2. Recognizing there would be an overlap with the festival, the board chairs for both qSO and qCB got in touch with festival organizing committee chair Mel Munroe and coordinator Theresa Hargrave. Both showed strong interest in collaborating with the two local groups with a special offering at the festival.
"This collaborative concert showcases the incredible talent in our community along with the visiting band,” said Munroe, “uniting three unique performances into one unforgettable event that captures the heart of qathet Festival of Performing Arts."
Some of the band musicians will be playing with qSO in one segment of the program.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming these fine young musicians to play with us,” said qSO music director Kevin Wilson. “We love having more string players involved. This concert will be a showcase for our community ensembles, as well as a treat to hear St. George’s band play.”
Wilson said he hopes to see more of this kind of collaboration with the qSO, qCB, Saint George’s and the festival.
“It’s great to be part of it,” he added.
St. George’s School has a well-established music program, with its ensembles consistently ranked among the top in Canada. The Wind Ensemble, Senior Concert Band and Junior Concert Band have each earned the Dal Richards Award for Best Band in BC at the Vancouver Kiwanis Festival. All ensembles have also garnered Gold Standards and numerous invitations to the National Festival, MusicFest Canada.
The senior concert band has a rich history of touring internationally, performing in Canada, the United States and Europe. A special highlight of these tours is the school’s long-standing relationship with the town of Aichach, Germany.
Since 1994, the small Bavarian town has hosted St. George’s students, who perform joint concerts with the Stadtkapelle Aichach every three years. After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the band returned to Europe in 2023, performing concerts in Italy, Austria and Germany.
The annual festival, which begins Wednesday, February 26, and concludes Saturday, March 8, with the Grand Concert, has been supported by the Rotary Club of Powell River for 21 years. It is organized by a committee made up of Rotarians and community members interested in performing arts.
More festival information is available on its Facebook page or at musicfestivalreg.com/qathet.
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