Entertainment

Zakery Simpson is a piano prodigy and that accomplishment alone would set him apart from many young people. But the 17-year-old Kelly Road Grade 12 student has composed his own music, a piece called Sunset Song. He was one of four musicians chosen to perform their original compositions just before the Prince George Symphony Orchestra performed their Messiah concert. There was also a CD made of their live music. Today (March 20) Simpson will perform in the annual Prince George and...

Get ready to have your funny bone tickled. The Banned Council made up of three First Nations stand-up comedy artists, will be on stage to make you laugh out loud at Artspace April 4. Joining emcee and local comic Brian Majore will be Vancouver-based stand-up comedians Colin Bird and Dustin Hollings. Majore says all three comedians have a style of their own and together they put on a hilarious show with First Nations humour in common. Bird is like an “Indian” Eddie Murphy, says Majore. “He...

The Prince George Travelling World Community Film Festival runs March 25 to April 2 at various venues in Prince George. Festival passes cost $30 and can be purchased at Books and Company and at the door. Day passes cost $5 and are available at the door only. To find out about the films an schedule, visit the Festival Facebook page PGTWCFF. The films scheduled for Saturday, March 28 as part of the Travelling World Community Film Festival are focused on activism and are very pertinent to...

The Northern Orchestra presents Jonathan Schultz on violin for its spring concert. “For only the second time in our history, our guest soloists will be one of our own, Jonahan Schultz on violin,” said the orchestra’s conductor Gordon Lucas. “He will be playing the first movement of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, the Bloch”Nigun” and some violin duos (with Gordon Lucas.) This is the first time I’ve ever played in public with a student of mine and...

From the moment she first stepped onto the historical homestead of Ada Annie Jordan – later known as Cougar Annie – Katrina Kadoski felt inspired to write about her life. Moving to the west coast of Vancouver Island, 33 miles north of Tofino, in 2007, Kadoski spent almost three years walking in the same places as her heroine did a century ago. She began writing songs and collecting information, locating photos, news clippings and letters. The result of five years of research (she...

Gabrielle Jacob of Prince George has been accepted into the 2015 National Youth Orchestra Canada. The announcement was made in an NYO media release. A highly competitive audition process is used to make the selection from among the nearly 500 applicants. Those chosen become part of the 100-strong professional training orchestra for emerging artists. Founded in 1960, the Orchestra was the creation of Maestro Walter Susskind and, according to the release, has since evolved into Canada’s...

Stuart McLean admits that the description of him as Canada’s favourite storyteller may be built on a bit of self-hype but as he pointed out Sunday, he was in good company “in a room full of liars” at the CN Centre. After all, doesn’t everyone in Prince George say they live in the North – when a quick look at a map of B.C. tells us otherwise? So he caught us in a little lie – but he found us in good humour. We had fun, we laughed out loud, mostly at the telling of the hilarious antics of...

As she was installing Rebirth, the new exhibit in Rustad Galleria, Maeve Hanna, assistant curator at Two Rivers Gallery, realized she had created her own private flower garden. “I grouped some of the artists’ work together and now I call it my flower arrangement,” Hanna said Wednesday as sun shone through gallery skylights, bathing the floral subjects in a natural golden glow. This setting with colourful artwork hung on stark walls has become a favourite place for her. However, besides...