Melina Schein. (submitted photo/Melina Schein)

By Kevin Rothwell

22 artist series

Performing Arts Centre launches online series

Jan 4, 2021 | 12:21 PM

Music is returning to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre (VDPAC), albeit virtually.

The Arts Centre Society will launch its FOCUS online series on Thursday, January 21 2021, an extension of VDPAC’s live SPOTLIGHT season presentations, the series will stream online local and Okanagan Valley artists every two weeks for free to introduce VDPAC’s development of online programming.

Twenty-two artists will be featured in this first series, including local Julliard-trained opera singer Melina Schein; singer-songwriter Shaughnessy; singer, multi-instrumentalist performer and producer Jodie B; classical guitarist Manfred Harter; fashion designer Jill Setah; and new wave artist HaidenLaird.

Creative digital performance is becoming the new normal for theatres across the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the performing arts industry, one of the most affected by the suspension of live performance.

Two digital PTZ (pan tilt zoom) cameras were purchased along with state-of-the-art live-streaming and audio console equipment in preparation for recording professional HD-quality videos with digital sound for the FOCUS series. Over 35 Okanagan artists submitted audition videos in response to an initial call for artists in August. Those chosen by the adjudicators for this first wave were invited to record in the newly upgraded Marie Fleming Studio, with larger groups performing socially distanced on VDPAC’s main stage. Recordings began in November and will resume in January 2021.

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“When COVID kiboshed my performance career, I didn’t know when I’d see the stage again,” Schein said. “The arts have been one of the hardest-hit industries and we still can’t see the light.

“During COVID we had to pivot from working artists from around Canada and the world – to focus into a purely local lens,” Artistic Director Erin Kennedy said.

The Okanagan is such an artistically rich and diverse community.

The series will be streamed for free on the performing arts centre website and Facebook.