MEDIA RELEASE: Fundraising Concert June 3 to Support Kelownians Experiencing Homelessness
Metro Community and Chamber Music Kelowna Partner on Special Event
Kelowna, BC – As part of its “Concerts in the Community” Series, Chamber Music Kelowna is partnering with Metro Community on a concert to raise money in support of Metro’s programs to help those who are experiencing homelessness.
Metro Community has been a partner in downtown Kelowna for the past 14 years, often serving people experiencing profound material poverty, including homelessness. Metro runs a 5-day-a-week drop-in program as well as hygiene services, which includes laundry, showers, breakfast and lunch, and day storage. Currently, the drop-in has recorded over 1000 visits over the last four months, and the hygiene program over 400 people accessing this specific service each month. Metro’s other crucial offerings include advocacy and treatment referrals, wound care, and personal ID applications, as well as a mailing address for those without housing.
In seeking to broaden the reach of its music, Chamber Music Kelowna is currently offering a series of “Concerts in the Community,” with the help of funding from the federal Department of Canadian Heritage. Series organizer and Chamber Music Kelowna board member, Andrew Stauffer, says the Society is especially delighted to partner with Metro Community for this concert. “With this event, we are excited to bring beautiful music to the Kelowna community in an accessible way, while working to support the work that Metro does for those in our community who are currently experiencing homelessness. In my mind,” says Stauffer, “this concert is one of the main highlights of Chamber Music Kelowna’s community concert series.” The June 3 Metro concert will be the largest event of the series, and will be a lively, fun, and informal evening featuring a wide range of musical styles.
The artists and programming have been brought together by Nicholas Denton Protsack, a Kelowna cellist and composer whose classical music education and career are bringing him international recognition. The concert, titled “Expect the Unexpected,” will feature Protsack on cello, Patricia Tao on piano, and Nicola Everton on clarinet. The musicians will play a variety of traditional and contemporary chamber music in what promises to be a wonderfully entertaining evening.
The concert will be held in Metro’s venue, The Hub (1265 Ellis St.), at 7:30 pm on Friday, June 3. Tickets are $15. All ticket proceeds will benefit Metro Community’s work among those experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness in Kelowna.
Purchase tickets online by visiting the link below:
https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/cf74671d-6573-4109-bad9-df5f52869925
About the musicians:
Nicholas Denton Protsack is an emerging composer and concert cellist, originally from right here in Kelowna. His creative work often explores connections between music and the natural world, and he is one of the few musicians who is as comfortable in a classical music setting as he is in an improvisational one. Nicholas’ compositions have received increasing recognition over the past few years. Most recently, he was the recipient of two 1st place prizes from the 2021 SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers and was one of six international recipients of the 2021 BMI Foundation Student Composer Awards. He studied cello and composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and will be relocating the New Zealand in the coming months to pursue his PhD in music composition at the Victoria University of Wellington.
Dr. Patricia Tao, a recent Kelowna transplant, leads an active life as performer, teacher, and concert organizer. As a pianist of the Guild Trio for ten years, she performed internationally and served as Trio-in-Residence at the Tanglewood Music Centre as well as the University of Virginia. As a soloist, Patricia has toured the United States for Columbia Artist’s Community Concerts series and as an “Artistic Ambassador” for the USIA. She has performed across the world, including in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, China, and Hong Kong.
Patricia holds degrees from Harvard University, Indiana University, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She has given masterclasses in Europe, China, the United States, and Canada. She taught at Western Washington University and the University of Virginia, and since 2002, has taught piano and chamber music at the University of Alberta, where she is Professor of Music.
Clarinetist Nicola Everton has made the Kootenays home after a career spanning over twenty years as a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Her post secondary music studies began with a full scholarship to Arizona State University followed by a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. As an avid chamber musician and concert presenter, Nicola has been involved with the Kootenay Gallery concert series, is a founding member of Selkirk Pro-Musica in Nelson and is the coordinator for the Kootenay Chapter of the Health Arts Society, a professional concert series for seniors in care. Currently, Nicola is a member of the Okanagan Symphony and Nelson’s Klezmeridian ensemble. She has served on the faculty of the Vancouver Academy of Music and has performed and taught at summer festivals in Sun Valley Idaho, at the University of British Columbia, in the Slocan Valley, at the Valhalla School of Fine Arts and in Smithers, at Orchestra North.
Friday June 3, 7:30 – 9:00 pm: Expect the Unexpected!
Metro Hub, 1265 Ellis Street
Tickets $15, all ticket proceeds will benefit Metro Community’s work among those experiencing hurt, hunger, and homelessness in Kelowna.
https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/cf74671d-6573-4109-bad9-df5f52869925
Full details about Chamber Music Kelowna’s Concerts in the Community series are available on the Chamber Music Kelowna website at chambermusickelowna.ca.
About Chamber Music Kelowna
Chamber Music Kelowna presents an annual classical chamber music concert series featuring acclaimed Canadian and international artists. It also facilitates youth outreach programs and provides scholarships for young aspiring musicians, supports emerging artists, and showcases the work of Canadian composers. Support for the organization comes through municipal, provincial, and federal grants, from sponsors, series subscribers, and private donors. Information about Chamber Music Kelowna, the subscription series, and upcoming concerts can be found at chambermusickelowna.ca
For further information contact:
Andrew Stauffer
778-363-9196
Email: [email protected]
www.chambermusickelowna.ca
Graham Ord
250-469-4564
Email: [email protected]
https://metrocommunity.ca/
Full details at www.chambermusickelowna.ca