Arts on 817 coming to Strathmore

By Brady Grove, Times Reporter

Strathmore United Church is hosting a three-act concert series called Arts on 817. The church will be presenting three separate musical acts over several months and has been planning this series since the arrival of their grand piano in May 2017.
“When you’ve got a really nice instrument, you can invite musicians who will use it and want a better instrument,” said Strathmore United Church Reverend Pamela Jane Scott. “It’s an exciting thing to come to the church and to town.”
According to Carolyn Steeves, one of the church committee members behind the concert series, the organization wanted to add an arts or entertainment venue to open up opportunities for people in the community.
“We’ve brought this beautiful instrument into the church, and now we are opening it up to the community and anybody who wants to do a concert and needs a performing space,” said Steeves.
Having a diversity of acts for their first series was also important for the committee which didn’t want to have just one type of music or act for the concert series.
“We wanted from the beginning for it to be a wide-reaching series,” said Steeves. “We didn’t want it to be straight folk or classical musical. We wanted it to be a mixed bag.”
The first group to perform will be the Heebee-jeebees, an award-winning four-man a cappella group out of Calgary. According to their website, the Heebee-jeebees are “seriously serious about not taking themselves too seriously.”
Steeves describes the group as a blend of comedy and music. The Heebee-jeebees will play on Dec. 1.
The second band to play will be Latitude 49. The classical duo features Jani Parson on the piano and Steeves’s son Timothy on the violin. The duo wanted to play in 2015 but were unable to because the grand piano wasn’t available yet. Latitude 49 will finally get their chance on Mar. 10.
The third and final act is a brass quintet called the Foothills Brass. According to their website, the five-man Canadian band has been playing for over 35 years across a wide range of venues, from classrooms to cathedrals. Foothills Brass will wrap up the concert series on May 4.
Arts on 817 tickets will be available starting Oct. 29 after the church officially launches the concert series. Single show tickets are $25, and the entire series will cost $60. There are 175 seats available per show. For more information call 403-901-2797.