Land and Sea and French Connections Concerts
Funded by: Music Matters Fund
The Music Matters Fund was established in 2016. Distributions from this fund support the presentation of concerts of classical and contemporary music in professional concert halls (for example the Main Stage of the Kay Meek Theatre) in West Vancouver and to subsidize the attendance of youth at such concerts through reduced cost or complimentary tickets. This impact report was from a project that received a grant from this Donor Advised fund.
Project Objectives:
- Bring high caliber chamber music performances directly to West Vancouver audiences.
- Continue to address the problem of underrepresentation of women musicians in leadership roles in the classical music scene.
- Encourage and support young people to experience high caliber and exciting live performances of classical chamber music.
Projects’ Accomplishments
Vetta presented Land and Sea at West Van United Church, on Sat, Nov 16th 2024; and French Connections – at the Kay Meek Arts Centre on Sat January 25th. Both concerts were very well received by enthusiastic audiences primarily from West Vancouver, but also from other municipalities on the North Shore and beyond. The Land and Sea performance was immediately followed by a talking circle with the performing artists, composer Jeffrey Ryan, who composed Seasons of the Sea – the centerpiece of this program – and Rosemary Georgeson, Coast Salish/Sahtu Dene storyteller. French Connections, at the KMC, was a celebration of excellence with renowned Vancouver artists, Jane Coop, Joan Blackman, Hung Wei Huang, and Henry Shapard.
Reach
While both performances attracted very enthusiastic audiences, it is still proving difficult to build consistently large audiences for Vetta presentations on the North Shore. The French Connections program brought in a larger audience thanks to the efforts of two well-connected people in the community and to Vetta, who invited many who were not aware of Vetta’s presentations in West Van. All who attended were thrilled with the concert experience and some of these new audience members are already purchasing tickets for future presentations.
Successes
Land and Sea explored a combination of mentorship, Indigenous storytelling, contemporary Canadian music, as well as music from the traditional European canon. All of these elements worked together to explore the relationships of the land and sea throughout time and space. The audience response to this program, as well as their reflections and questions at the post-concert talking circle were enlightening for both performing artists and audience alike.
French Connections brought together 4 of Vancouver’s finest chamber musicians to West Van in a program of great trio literature. The audience comments after the performance were unanimously positive and many were thrilled to know that more quality performances were scheduled in their community.
We are seeing growth with many new people attending at recent presentations thanks to the efforts of some people closely connected to Vetta and the West Vancouver community.
