The 25th year of the Premiere Performance is cause for celebration.
Starting as a music-only performance on May 10, 1995, it has grown to be a widely anticipated event to showcase the talents of the Fine Arts students at Kwalikum Secondary School.
Encompassing a wide range of the arts, this event has included both band and choral music, a wide variety of visual arts, photography, media arts, fabric, wood and metal art over the past years.
The event will take places April 24 at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre. You will enjoy a sampling of these talented and hard-working young people.
There will be music from KSS concert bands, concert choir, the brass ensemble and a one-act play title Cheque Please.
“Twenty-five years ago budgetary challenges were resulting in school fine arts programs being severely curtailed and or eliminated throughout the province,” said Diane Kellas, KSS director. “Premiere Performance was created to let the community hear, see and feel the passion that the students had for the Fine Arts program. What started out as music only has grown to include an amazing array of creativity and talent. From music, to visual arts, drama and media arts. As the event grew donations came in and a charitable Society KSS Fine Arts Society was formed. Its mandate is to encourage and foster the Fine Arts experience for students at KSS.”
Kellas said the evening will entertain and challenge you.
The evening would not be possible without the financial sponsorship of several local groups and businesses, some of who have done so for all of the 25 years. The Rotary Club of Qualicum Beach, and Waypoint Insurance (formerly Thwaites Norris, John Briuolo through Qualicum Foods and now the Qualicum Beach Inn. Mid Isle Vet Clinic and Pharmasave Qualicum Beach and Cathie Kanani, Royal Bank Mortgage Specialist have all been sponsors for between 10 and 20 years. Through their continuing support and the support of the patrons at all the previous Premiere Performances, the KSS Fine Arts Society has funded more than $43,000 to students through bursaries, workshops, performances, field trips and for materials to display their work.
The KSS Fine Arts Society is a group of local individuals who felt strongly that the fine arts in the schools must be maintained in the face of possible reduction in the arts programs. So in 2001, the society was registered as a non-profit and then in 2006 became a registered charity. The mandate is to assist students to expand their horizons outside of regular school curriculum and then come back and share what they have learned and experienced with their peers.
If anyone wishes to know more about the society, or make a donation, please contact Kwalikum Secondary School Fine Arts Society on Facebook or through # 2 707 Primrose St. Qualicum Beac,h V9K 2K1. Donations made to the KSS Fine Arts Society.
Tax receipts are available for donations over $20.
— NEWS Staff, submitted
