Home : Plato's Words : December 2003

December 2003

Another year drawing to an end as Christmas fast approaches. Life is good and full of all kinds of activities, some of which involve music of course

I had several gigs to perform during November but the high light for me was my weekend in Regina Saskatchewan where I was able to perform two different concerts. I performed with The Jim Gallagher Trio at The Mackenzie Art Gallery to a sold out crowd. The trio absolutely cooked and made singing a real thrill. That was wonderful of course and the icing on the cake was the generosity and warmth of the audience. I have received such support from Regina residents over the past several years and I am truly grateful to have opportunities to perform there. I was also a featured guest for a Christmas concert at CBC Regina. That was such fun and I was able to meet some new up and coming Saskatchewan born artists including some lovely singer songwriters. Such great talent exists in this country! The CBC Regina team is absolutely superb and they have done much to further my career over the years. Thanks to all of you for your belief in me.

I am looking forward to performing some more Christmas gigs this month. I will be one of the artists that will take part in an extra early morning performance on CBC Radio Vancouver performing Christmas tunes and standards too for the CBC Foodbank Day on Friday, December 5th. The theme this year is "Light And Love". I will be singing alongside Denzal Sinclaire and Caroline Drury with a group led by Bill Coon. It will be interesting to see who is in a good mood and in full voice at 5:00 AM which is when we have to be there. Of course I will be smiling since that is in my nature but later in the day the fatigue and crankiness may hit. Ha! It should be fun if we can keep our eyes open…Ah.. Thank heavens for coffee! The CBC Foodbank Day is all about people giving their donations for those many people in need this time of year and throughout the year as well.

December 19th takes me to the Cellar Jazz Club here in Vancouver to share the stage with Kate Hammett-Vaughan and Jennifer Scott. We will be singing jazzified Christmas carols along with The Chris Sigerson Trio. Some of the arrangements are really challenging but that makes for interesting music of course. I have some more practicing to do before that performance. It really is fun to sing with those two girls. Even though our voices are very different we have been finding a nice blend so that the harmonies sound balanced which is so important in a vocal ensemble in my opinion. It should be a really special evening of music not typically heard at The Cellar.

Christmas Jazz Vespers is always one of my favorite experiences and this year should be no different. I have assembled such a lovely group again: Lou Mastroianni, Bill Coon, Darren Radtke, Jack Duncan and Dave Robbins. What a band! The afternoon Vespers performance always does help put me into the spirit of Christmas. It must be a combination of singing in the beautiful St. Andrews Wesley Church and then perhaps performing some of those timeless songs that help lift me into that Christmas zone. It will take place on Sunday, December 21st at 4:00 PM and is free for everyone to attend. Once again I have found a few lesser known and less often heard carols from other countries.

Early in the New Year I am very excited about travelling to Toronto for two performances. First I will be performing with three other vocalists including Denzal Sinclaire at The Glenn Gould Studio. We will be there with the all star quintet led by one of Canada's finest pianists, Mark Eisemann. The following evening I will be making my debut appearance at Toronto's prestigious Top Of The Senator on Sunday January 18th. What company I will be in with Phil Dwyer on piano, Neil Swainson on bass and Terry Clarke on drums!! Whoo hoo! How exciting. Yes, the New Year is looking pretty good indeed…

All the best to you for the holiday season. Here's wishing for a peace filled New Year.

Karin