Vernon Proms’ 2020 motto. (Vernon Proms)

Vernon Proms’ 2020 motto. (Vernon Proms)

Classical music festival going ahead in the Okanagan

The fifth annual Vernon Proms Classical Music Festival has modified programming to keep people safe

  • Jul. 9, 2020 12:00 a.m.

Vernon and Kelowna residents are about to experience uplifting live music, as the fifth annual Vernon Proms Classical Music Festival goes ahead, albeit with safety modifications.

This year’s Vernon Proms will run from July 10 to August 6.

With many music festivals and concerts cancelled, organizers of the classical music festival were able to find another way to keep concert-goers and musicians safe with a variety of indoor and outdoor venues in Vernon and Kelowna.

All events will be limited to 50 people, as required by the province’s health officers. All audience members are also encouraged to wear masks or face shields, with masks and face shields provided at the venue for those who don’t have their own.

The festival will feature classical music, jazz and easy-listening pieces. Okanagan musicians will perform, including contralto LLYnn McMurtry with All the Wild Worlds, a newly-commissioned song by Penticton composer Nicholas Ryan Kelly, a string trio rendition of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations by Cvetozar Vutev, Ashley Kroecher, and Martin Krátký, Medieval and Renaissance music with soprano Tracy Fehr, a recital by pianist Alison d’Amato featuring Brian Martin as narrator, an Opera Kelowna concert, and Vernon Proms’ traditional all-Bach concert.

This year’s festival features impromptu concerts at parks and beaches, with the Singers’ Club meeting for weekly masterclasses with various vocal teachers.

For more information on the festival’s schedule, visit Vernon Proms’ website.

READ: Building to begin on Okanagan Rail Trail washroom


Twila Amato

Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan

Email me at twila.amato@blackpress.ca

Follow me on Twitter

Lake Country Calendar