Arts on 817 set to open

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

Entering its sixth season, the Arts on 817 Concert Series is excited to present its first performance on Sept. 29.

Arts on 817 will feature four concerts this season, the first of which will showcase multi-award winner Lizzy Hoyt. 

“This is my third time actually at the Concert Series which is always nice,” said Hoyt. “(It’s) nice when you get an invitation back.” 

Her latest album, The Parting Glass, which she released in 2022, is described as a collection of many traditional songs. 

In 2023, Hoyt won Singer of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards for her work on the album. 

“It’s a very meaningful award for me,” she said. “When I received that award, I was really, really honoured.” 

Growing up in a musical family, Hoyt’s first instrument was the fiddle; as she began to grow musically so did her passion for singing. 

“I did always know that singing to me felt like the closest connection with my insides,” she recounts. “The voice is such an unbelievable way of touching people. For me as an audience member as well, the voice is so powerful. That deep connection to literally somebody using their body as an instrument to share music with other people is endlessly fascinating to me. I feel a very deep connection to my singing.” 

Aside from singing and the fiddle, Hoyt also plays the guitar and Celtic harp. 

Recently Hoyt explored her passion for opera which she successfully showcased with the Manitoba Underground Opera when she starred as Cinderella in Rossini’s “La Cenderentola.” Opera is something she plans to explore more of in the future. 

For the concert, people can expect Hoyt’s traditional Celtic songs and some of her own music that she has written with deep roots in traditional music. There will also be some recognizable cover songs that will delight listeners of all ages. 

“It will be a nice variety within that umbrella of Celtic music,” she added. For more information on Hoyt, you can visit her social media and YouTube channel @lizzyhoytmusic. 

This season the Arts on 817 Concert Series is eager to announce a new initiative called Opening Act. Prior to each concert there will be a local act of upcoming talent both on stage and in the lobby of the United Church. The first Opening Act will be Danai Allan (23) who is in her fourth year at the Rosebud School of the Arts’ Mentorship Program. 

Allan graduated from Strathmore High School in 2018 and knew she wanted to pursue the arts in a musical aspect, either music composition or sound design related. 

Allan recently was in the Rosebud Theatre show The Sound of Music. This is one of Allan’s first performances outside of Rosebud Theatre. 

“It’s exciting. It’s a way for me to use all of the things I’ve been learning in my program and apply them to an outside environment,” she said. 

Allan’s musical set at the Arts on 817 concert opener will feature mostly folk and Indy style songs, and a couple songs that she has composed herself.

Allan has a message to young people interested in the arts as a career. 

“If you want to do it, you should do it and don’t let people convince you out of it,” she said.

Tickets for the concert are $35 for an adult, $10 for 17 and under. Season passes can be purchased starting at $40. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time by visiting the Vault Cultural Collective or online (www.smoreuc.com).