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Victoria Film Festival celebrates 20 years of the Free-B Film Festival It’s baaaaaaack! Victoria Film Festival celebrates 20 years of screening free outdoor film with the return of The Free-B Film Festival this August at the Cameron Bandshell in Beacon Hill Park. Free-B is Victoria’s favourite summer film festival, bringing families and film buffs together to relive classic crowd-pleasing films that are sometimes kitschy, but always fun. Kicking off this year’s line-up is the 2001 romantic-comedy Legally Blonde starring Reese Witherspoon, followed by Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Sat Aug 10), Hook (Fri Aug 16), Jurassic Park (Sat Aug 17), Mrs. Doubtfire (Fri Aug 23), and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Sat Aug 24). Festival Director Kathy Kays says 20 years of screening free film for the public has been an achievement. "From the very beginning, Free-B was all about creating a playful line-up,"says Kay. "It's enjoyable picking a slate of films that can range from 1950s Flash Gordon to Harry Potter. We even screened a 3-D film once. For us, it's a favourite event at VFF and one of our longest-running, second only to the Film Fest in February." "It really is the coolest summer tradition in Victoria and we're so pleased to have created an event that appeals to such a broad audience." So, grab your family and some pals and bring chairs, blankies, flashlights and plenty of snacks! Screenings are all 'rain or shine' and start at 9 PM. A full schedule and more on this year’s Free-B Film Festival is available at freebfilmfest.com.

Hermann’s re-opens with Summer Funk Series Tuesday, July 16, starting at 7:30 pm, the Phatfunks offer the first live performance at Hermann’s Jazz Club, 753 View Street, under the management of Arts On View. The Phatfunks a dynamic young band of emerging musicians, are kicking off a new, bi-weekly summer funk series every other Tuesday night at Hermann’s all-ages venue. The Phatfunks are a collective of funky musicians Victoria. The band can be seen in multiple forms, such as a 4 piece busking group in the summers performing downtown, or the full band, a 6 piece with 2 horns and rhythm section. They play funk, soul and R&B, with rock, jazz, and fusion influences. “We are delighted to take this essential step in our journey,” said interim executive director Nichola Walkden. “Hermann’s Jazz Club is the longest continuously-operating jazz club in Canada and we are thankful that the community’s generosity has kept Hermann’s alive, vibrant and growing.” Hermann’s was voted “Best Nightclub” by Times Colonist readers earlier this year. In addition to making improvements to the two clubs, Arts On View is working to open the upstairs venues for its vision of a non-profit owned performing and visual arts centre. The Arts On View Society (AOV) was founded to save Hermann’s Jazz Club and open up the whole, purpose-built, downtown building for live performances and rehearsals, performer and student workshops, visual arts displays, arts incubation and office space for smaller arts groups that can’t afford Victoria’s steep rents. Information: hermannsjazz.com artsonview.ca

Opening Friday July 26th 7:00 - 9:00pm errant art space 975 Alston Street Victoria BC errantartspace.com 250-415-5480

Curator’s Talk: Myfanwy in Context Thursday July 25 | 7 p.m.Legacy Downtown | 630 Yates St. Lekwungen territory We invite you to join us and guest curator Patricia Bovey for a talk on our current exhibition Myfanwy Pavelic: Mirrored Selves Within and Without! This illustrated talk will address the significance of Myfanwy Pavelic’s art and situate her visual acumen and accomplishments with portraits within the context of several major Canadian artists including Emily Carr, Paraskeva Clark, Vera Weatherbie and Molly Lamb Bobak. No registration required. Learn more about the exhibition here. Image: Myfanwy Pavelic, Raincoat (Self-Portrait), 1987, Gift of Dr. Myfanwy Spencer Pavelic.

Baroque Meets ABBA The Victoria Summer Choir presents “Baroque Meets ABBA” directed by Maestro Simon Leung with guests, Die Mahler Quartet. Tickets: $20 each available at Russell Books, Victoria, Ivy’s Bookshop, Oak Bay, Tanner’s Books, S.H.O.A.L Centre in Sidney and at the door. Saturday, August 17 @ 3:00 pm St. John the Divine Church 1161 Quadra Street, Victoria and Sunday, August 18 @ 3:00 pm The S.H.O.A.L Centre 10030 Resthaven Drive, Sidney During the first half of the concert you will hear music by Handel and Vivaldi, accompanied by ‘Die Mahler String Quartet’. After an intermission, we will present a medley of popular music written and performed by the very successful Swedish group ABBA, and heard more recently in the film and musical ‘Mamma Mia’. The Victoria Summer Choir is sponsored by the Victoria Mendelssohn Choir Society.

Adrenaline An Evening of Theatre and Conversation Adrenaline : Theatre Mada Saturday, May 4 from 5:45pm – 8:00pm Metro Theatre, 1411 Quadra Street. Tickets $5 to $25 (pay what you can) A riveting performance recounting a man’s first New Year’s Eve in Canada after leaving war-torn Syria. The performance will be followed by a conversation with the play’s author, Ahmad Meree, and the director of Adrenaline. Light snacks provided by Saraya Hot Bread and Silk Road Tea. Wheelchair accessible. Click here to reserve your seats.

May 4th & 5th, 11-4pm Fairfield Artists Studio Tour Saturday and Sunday, May 4th & 5th, 2019 - 11:00am to 4:00pm The Fairfield Artists Studio Tour is an annual self-guided tour that provides art-lovers an opportunity to meet local artists, tour their studios and view their work while exploring the beautiful neighbourhoods of Fairfield and Gonzales in Victoria BC. This free community event is a celebration of the rich variety of art being created in Victoria. Established and emerging artists open their studio doors to the public to display their fine art including painting, pottery, glass, jewelry, textiles and photography. Visit https://www.fairfieldartistsstudiotour.com/about for maps, artist info and more. We look forward to welcoming you to our studio!

Vox Humana Choir: The Long Road On May 18, 2019, Vox Humana Chamber Choir, Victoria’s premier choir, will present The Long Road, featuring a cappella repertoire by Canadian composers, written in the last 40 years. The concert will feature “One Black Spike” by Jocelyn Morlock, a work that explores the theme of immigrant labour used to develop the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from 1914-1945. The last concert in Vox Humana’s 2018-2019 season, The Long Road, will feature two commissioned works: “Fire and Ice” and “Canadian Triptych”. “Fire and Ice” by BC composer David Archer is one of the first settings of poetry by Robert Frost since the poet’s work entered the public domain in 2019. David Archer says of the text, “Astronomer Harold Shapley claimed to have inspired “Fire and Ice” when Robert Frost asked him how the world will actually end. By the exploding sun or by freezing in deep space, came the reply.” “Canadian Triptych”, a three-movement work by BC composer Liova Bueno, includes poetry by Canadian poets Margaret Avison, Lorna Crozier and Jan Zwicky. The work speaks to “Who we are and how we see the world is shaped by our living environments. The history of Canadian literature is full of the exploration of urban/rural contrasts, with poets reflecting, yearning, celebrating, remembering or projecting change, and sharing tales of transformation.” The choir will present the world premiere performance of “Carpe Diem” by Victoria composer Nicholas alongside works by other BC composers Kathleen Allan, Kristopher Fulton, Rodney Sharman, Chris Sivak, and Tobin Stokes, as well as works by Ontario composers, Leonard Enns and Jeff Enns (no relation). The choir is proud to give the BC premiere performance of Jeff Enns’ “I Lost My Talk” commissioned by the National Youth Choir of Canada in 2018. With permission from her family, Jeff Enns set the poem “I Lost My Talk” by Rita Joe, a Mi'kmaw elder and poet,who speaks about her experience attending a Residential School in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, and being forced to give up her native language. Additional information, interviews and photographs can be obtained by contacting Artistic Director, Brian Wismath (info@voxhumanachoir.ca). Performances: May 18th, 2019– 8:00pm (doors open at 7:30pm) St. Andrew’s Catholic Cathedral (740 View Street, Victoria, BC V8W 1J8) Tickets: $20, Free (25 and under) Duration: About 1.5 hours Visit www.voxhumanachoir.ca for more information.

Linden Traditions: Choral Classics The Linden Singers of Victoria is pleased to present a selection of choral classics, old and new, with Emily Carr String Quartet and guest soloists Adam Dyjach, tenor, Kyron Basu, baritone, and Jessica Wagner, soprano. This concert presents the familiar, rich harmonies of Schubert's Mass in G, Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus and Brahms' Zigeunerlieder, along with the equally beautiful and lush haunting melodies of Ola Gjeilo. Tickets $20.00, under 25 years free. Saturday May 25th at 7:30 PM Lutheran Church of the Cross 3787 Cedar Hill Road www.lindensingers.ca/concerts-tickets https://www.facebook.com/LindenSingers

Café Suite The Westshore Community Concert Band, based in Langford, is a group of about40 amateur band musicians under the direction of Mike Dominy, who rehearseonce a week and perform about 10 times a year in various venues around thegreater Victoria area.On Saturday, May 25th, 2019 we will be holding our 12th annual Café Suiteevent, which is our major annual concert and fundraiser. The eveningfeatures a variety of concert band music, with lots of delicious snacks,desserts, and many door prizes, all included in the ticket price, and asilent auction featuring a wide variety of items donated by local merchantsall around the Victoria area.Café Suite will be held at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish Hall, 798Goldstream Avenue, Langford, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on May 25th.Tickets are $15. each, and can be obtained at the door (if still available)or in advance by calling Pauline Barnes at 250-477-0117. Westshore Community Concert Band (http://www.westshoreband.org)

My Soul is Escaped: Healing art of Patricia June Vickers at Christ Church Cathedral April 28 to May 11 One woman’s healing journey, expressed powerfully through her art, is the subject of the next exhibit to be held at Christ Church Cathedral’s Chapel of the New Jerusalem. Patricia June Vickers, an artist, psychotherapist and spiritual director, addresses the issue of sexual abuse and intergenerational trauma in her exhibit. Two years ago, Vickers underwent an intensive period of neurofeedback and psychotherapy to heal her dissociative amnesia, an involuntary response to trauma. As she restored her spiritual balance, she documented her journey in small paintings. There are more than 30 mixed media works in the show, pieces that use acrylic, watercolour and collage to create layers. These abstract images are coupled with written reflections on the artist’s healing process. “Life is a midden,” she said. “Truth can sometimes be underneath all these layers.” She began to paint out of an inability to find words to communicate the raw reality. “It came out of a need to express what I couldn’t say in words,” she said. She believes that continuing intergenerational and sexual trauma among First Nations, “is the root problem in our communities that we are still not facing.” Vickers, 63, is of British, Tsimshian, Heiltsuk and Haida First Nation ancestry and was raised in Hazelton and Victoria. She grew up with art all around her, learning traditional applique fabric designs and later, painting. Her brothers Arthur Vickers and Roy Henry Vickers are both well-known artists. Roy has partnered with her to create a potlatch screen that will be on display during the show. Having Christ Church Cathedral host the show is really significant, says Vickers, who always loved the words and music of the Anglican service. Christ Church Cathedral Dean Ansley Tucker said such an important exhibit creates valuable insights. “Long before we learned to speak, we learned to see,” she said. “In this exhibit we have the benefit of visceral visual images, as well as Patricia Vickers’s own words of reflection to guide and teach us. We are grateful for her courage and honesty.” Sunday, April 28, 5.30 pm. Opening reception (Chapel of the New Jerusalem) Sunday, May 5 at 3.00 pm, Connecting Hearts, artist talk on personal reconciliation. “People know the history. What isn’t being spoken about is our internal worlds and what connects our hearts,” she said. Hours: The show will be open to the public 10.00 am to 4.00 pm Monday to Saturday and 1.00 to 3.00 pm on Sunday. Patricia June Vickers is a counsellor and artist living in Vancouver. She is clinical director of mental health and wellness at the First Nations Health Authority and has a PhD. Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria stands on the traditional lands of the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia, which includes Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. The Cathedral also has a large and active parish community and contributes to the cultural, social and spiritual life of residents and visitors in the Capital Regional District. The gothic cathedral, one of Canada’s largest churches, was designed in 1896. Christ Church Cathedral 930 Burdett Ave, Victoria BC V8V 3G8 250.383.2714 x 228, cell 250-634-3696 www.christchurchcathedral.bc.ca

To The Movies and Beyond! With Meridiem Wind Orchestra Take advantage of a rare opportunity to hear symphonic wind band music performed by some of Victoria's finest musicians and music educators! Meridiem Wind Orchestra invites you to North Douglas Church on Wednesday, May 22nd for an evening of movie and television music, as well as a new thematic work for symphonic wind band written by acclaimed Canadian composer, Robert Buckley, titled Seas of the Moon. If you don't think you're familiar with Bob's work, think again - he has has recorded and worked with artists including David Foster, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, The Cult, Bryan Adams, Our Lady Peace, Jack Lemmon, B.T.O., Rita McNeil, Valdy, Randy Travis, The Irish Rovers, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, among many others! In the film and television world, Bob has scored numerous award-winning shows for Disney, Alliance, ABC, FOX, CBS, PBS, CBC and the Cartoon Network. Lucky for us, Bob also composes and arranges an array of music for symphonic wind band that is performed worldwide. The program on May 22 will also include theme music from favourites like Star Wars, Doctor Who, How To Train Your Dragon, Star Trek, James Bond, and more! And for your viewing pleasure, Stelly's Secondary School Media Class is creating accompanying visuals. Meridiem hopes to draw music lovers from across the CRD, as well as band and music students from across all local school districts to hear an exemplary performance of wind orchestra works both familiar and new. The program will be conducted by Meridiem's Artistic Director, Scott MacInnes, as well as two guest conductors - Dr. Steven Capaldo, director of the University of Victoria Wind Symphony; and local school teacher who you'll also find in Meridiem's clarinet section, Andrea Blair. It will be an evening of music to delight the senses! Meridiem Wind Orchestra presents TO THE MOVIES AND BEYOND! Wednesday, May 22 | 7:00 PM North Douglas Church, 675 Jolly Place, Victoria Scott MacInnes, Artist Director Andrea Blair, Guest Conductor Dr. Steven Capaldo, Guest Conductor Visuals by Stelly's Secondary School Media Class Admission by donation

Take It Down! Recent Films by Sabine Gruffat & Bill Brown Tuesday, May 14 @ 7pm Deluge Contemporary Art 636 Yates Street, Victoria BC | deluge.ca Admission by donation In this collection of recent film work by North Carolina-based media artists Bill Brown and Sabine Gruffat, celluloid film serves as both a material register and critical resource for interrogating the documentary image. Whether using discontinuous montage, handmade techniques for creating and processing images, or dramatic re-enactors, these five short films aim to extend the formal possibilities of non-fiction filmmaking as Brown and Gruffat attempt to describe and decipher life in the American South. Artists in attendance. Q&A to follow screening. Sabine Gruffat is a digital media artist and filmmaker with a special interest in the social and political implications of media and technology. Her experimental and essay films explore how technology, globalization, urbanism and capitalism affect human beings and the environment. Gruffat’s films have screened at festivals worldwide including Viennale, MoMA Documentary Fortnight, Cinéma du Réel at Centre Pompidou and CPH:DOX. Gruffat lives and works in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Bill Brown is a media artist interested in ways landscape is interpreted, appropriated and reconfigured according to human desires, memories and dreams. His research interests include haunted houses, UFOs, memorial architecture and outsider archaeology. Brown’s films have screened at venues around the world, including Rotterdam Film Festival, London Film Festival, Sundance and Lincoln Centre. A retrospective of his films was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Brown lives and works in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Take It Down (Gruffat, 2018, 12:30) Employing solarized colour positive 35mm film and animation of old postcard images of Confederate monuments in North Carolina, Take It Down documents how Southern identity continues to be bound up in the legacy of the Civil War and the Jim Crow Era. The film considers how these old memorials continue to be sites of conflicting politics and historical narratives. XCTRY (Brown, 2018, 6:18) Brown re-works 16mm footage that he shot years ago during a cross-country road trip from Chicago to Las Vegas. The spatial discontinuities of the road trip are rendered as visual continuities across three frames as Brown goes in search of the next town to fall in and out of love with. Life on the Mississippi (Brown, 2018, 28:13) A short essay film about a river and the limits of knowing it. Using Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi as a road map, Brown travels from Memphis, Tennessee to New Orleans and considers ways river pilots, paddlers, historical reenactors and civil engineers attempt to know the river through modelling, measurement and simulation. Framelines (Gruffat, 2017, 10:14) An abstract scratch film made by laser etching preset patterns onto the film emulsion of negative and positive 35mm film. The strips of film were then re-photographed on top of each other as photograms. The soundtrack is created by filtering and layering the noise made by the laser-etched 35mm optical track. Amarillo Ramp (Brown + Gruffat, 2017, 24:10) A portrait of sculptor Robert Smithson’s final earthwork. Employing filmmaking strategies that are both responsive to the artwork’s environmental context and informed by Smithson’s own art-making strategies, the filmmakers encounter the Ramp as an observatory where human scales of space and time are set against geological and cosmic scales.

FASHION MACHINE opens this week! Our well-loved show Fashion Machine is back in Victoria for May 2-5, make sure you get your tickets now before they're all gone! When is it? Thursday May 2 - 7:00pm (SOLD OUT) Friday May 3 - 7:00pm Saturday May 4 - 7:00pm Sunday May 5 - 2:00pm Where? SKAM Satellite Studio 849 Fort Street How much is it? $10 per person OR $30 for a Family Pass (up to 2 adults and 3 youths) Remind me, what's Fashion Machine? Part performance piece, part theatre, part fashion extravaganza, Fashion Machine invites you to witness the creative process in action: 20+ kids redesign audience members outfits and put on a fashion show. Don't worry, they know what they're doing - they trained with SKAM experts in preparation. Feeling brave? Pick an "I'm In!" sticker, and you might be chosen to get your outfit completely made over! We'll deck you out in a sweet robe while the children redesign your outfit. You'll get to see them work, watch videos from their training, see a constantly evolving photography slideshow, and get some coffee and snacks if you're hungry. Then you'll don the completed piece and strut your stuff in a fashion show with commentary from the kids. Don't want your clothes remade? That's okay! Wear a 'chicken' sticker and you can take part without anyone touching your clothes. BUY TICKETS NOW

DAVID STEWART & JANE COOP - Masterworks for Violin and Piano - May 5th, 2019 @ 2:30 pm Dear Friends, We look forward to seeing those of you who have purchased tickets for the final concert in our 2018/19 season on Sunday, May 5th, 2.30 pm, when we welcome two internationally renowned Canadian performers: Jane Coop, who gave a wonderful solo piano recital at Wentworth Villa in September 2017, and violinist David Stewart (Concertmaster - Bergen Philharmonic, Norway) for an exciting program of Masterworks for Violin and Piano by Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms. Waitlist Tickets for this concert are now SOLD OUT! You may join the waitlist for tickets by clicking on the button above, online at wentworthvilla.com/event/david-stewart-jane-coop, by contacting us at info@wentworthvilla.com or by telephone: 250-598-0760. Doors will open at 1.30 pm so come early to reserve a good seat.

Thursday, June 27 - 7:30 PM A concert celebration of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 70th Birthday and his acclaim as the most successful musical theatre composer of all time. Featuring Webber's most iconic theatrical music including selections from Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Sunset Blvd, and more! With an internationally-acclaimed professional cast, this parade of musical offerings is sure to overwhelm the senses. Sound the Alarm’s Music of the Night Concert Tour will remind seventeen BC audiences, from Courtney to Cranbrook, why Andrew Lloyd Webber is the musical phenomenon he is known to be. Tickets: Adult $40 | Senior/Student $35 Mary Winspear Centre 2243 Beacon Avenue, Sidney BC 250-656-0275 | marywinspear.ca