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About this Season

Welcome to a new season! A few notes about our concerts.

We are thrilled to welcome back Cheng2Duo. Sylvie and Bryan are always charming, entertaining and are spectacularly great musicians. They have both relocated to Europe to continue their careers, so this may be the last time we see them for a while.

The Kelowna Big Band will have us dancing in our seats with our favourite jazz, swing and big band tunes. They may even throw in a few great pop songs. The featured singer is Dan McClelland. For these musicians, it’s all about the fun of performing as a group and entertaining audiences.

Matinees or evenings? I love a matinee show on a cold, fall Sunday, or in the dark days of January. I see it as an opportunity to enjoy a great concert, then maybe have another treat of Happy Hour or an early dinner out. Having said that, we don’t always have a choice. We have to juggle the availability of the musicians and the theatre. Weeknights or weekends? Again, availability is the key.

Making their debuts with NOCCA is the Aurora Piano Quartet, the fellows from JoyRide, and the Sycamore String Quartet.

Aurora Piano Quartet is on tour in BC in January. We catch them between performances in Revelstoke and Creston. They are well known musicians in the Vancouver community, and have performed together both internationally and locally.

Mark Camilerri and Colin Maier call their show JoyRide! It will be a high energy, highly fun show. I encourage you to take a look at their website: joyrideconcerts.com to see all that they do and perform. Colin, by the way, is a member of Quartetto Gelato, another favourite group for NOCCA. JoyRide is performing the night before for the Kelowna Community Concert Association.

As you know, NOCCA owns the beautiful Steinway piano that is kindly housed by the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre. Pianos need to be played often to stay in peak condition, and four of our five concerts will make good use of it. The pianists who come to perform for NOCCA always comment on how much they enjoy being able to play it. It brings out the best in them.

The final concert of the season will feature the Sycamore String Quartet at Trinity United Church. Why the church? We do not need the piano. Trinity gives us a more intimate environment to get closer to the musicians, and we don’t need the fancy lighting or amplified sound to enjoy the fine musicianship. Sycamore String Quarter will be performing mostly music by Beethoven. They would like to retain the right to perform another selection by another composer if they choose, and when we’re programming shows a year or more out, that’s ok. Changes in repertoire are ok right up until the program goes to press, and even then, I don’t mind minor changes if the group has something they really want to share with us.

There are a few people I would like to thank for their support this past season. Matt Arnott is our piano tuner and technician. He keeps the Steinway sounding amazing. The staff at VDPAC and Ticketseller have been very supportive and encouraging as I navigated my first year as president and programmer. And of course, the hard working members of the NOCCA board who volunteer their time and skills for the love of a great show. 

I also want to thank Vantage One Credit Union and the Regional District of the North Okanagan for their sponsorship this past season. We hope to see you again this year.

Notice a theme in the season? It’s all Canadian. You’re welcome.

Thanks for joining us.

Sincerely,

Deb Martin, President

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