Talented lineup joins Crowe in annual show

The Daily News   December 10, 2009

Count on joy, thrills and more fun a few days later when recording artist
Allison Crowe and guests present Tidings at St. Andrew's United Church on
Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

This annual concert brings some aid to the Woodlands Secondary School
basketball and band programs -- well-springs of a new generation of athletes
and musicians.

An inspired partner to Tidings is The Mind's Eye. Published since 1998 by
Nanaimo Youth Services Association with sponsorship from Nanaimo Daily News,
The Mind's Eye is a platform for young people to express their knowledge,
opinions, and ideas in print media and on the NYSA website for the world to
see.

This year's line-up of musical talent includes:

Emily Blake, currently starring in the musical, A Very Sticky Christmas with
Theatre BC. In February, she's off to compete as a soprano vocalist at the
Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho. Blake is a Grade 9 student at
Woodlands Secondary School where she's involved in student council and
improv, although she spends most of her time in the band room playing sax or
flute in jazz and concert band and is also in choir. For her Tidings concert
vocal performance, Blake is accompanied by Laura Wishart on piano.

Pianist Chelsea Peckett, official accompanist for the Andrea Bertram Studio
will join Hayley Read, an experienced festival and musical theatre
performer, currently studying the role of The March Hare in the Kirkwood
Academy production of Alice in Wonderland for May 2010. A Grade 12 student
at Wellington Secondary School, Read is a member of the indie-rock duo
Emanate.

Kiana Smith, a triple-threat performer who just recently won the Regional
Finals of the Legion Talent Competition. A Grade 8 student at Dover Bay
Secondary School, Smith is another Kirkwood performer and will be playing
The White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.

Mathew Walker, a Grade 11student at Dover Bay Secondary School. Walker has
just concluded a role in the Dover Bay Theatrix Production of The Boy Friend
and is an experienced performer in concerts and music festivals. Like Crowe,
he is a former VIEX Songbird winner.

Taylor Manns, a Wellington Secondary student in Grade 10. As well as being
another triple-threat performer, she's been awarded top honours at numerous
jazz festivals for her vocals. Taylor will be lending character to the
Cheshire Cat in Kirkwood's Alice in Wonderland.

Brynn Newman, now in her first year at Vancouver Island University, is
studying business. Newmann was a gold ticket finalist at the last Canadian
Idol and she's a veteran of festivals, competitions, dinner theatres and
concerts including several Tidings shows.

Tickets for this year's Tidings concert celebration are at: Andrea Bertram
Studio, Lobelia's Lair, The Mind's Eye-NYSA, House of Indigo, Thrifty Foods
(Longwood Station and Port Place stores), Woodlands Secondary School and
online at: http://www.allisoncrowe.com/shoptickets.html

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service