Performing close to home

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

Rayanne Laycock is about to graduate university, start her first major post-secondary role, and step into a new chapter of her life – but first, she’s coming home to Strathmore.

On May 1, Laycock will perform in the inaugural Strathmore Performing Arts Festival (SPAF) alumni concert at the Strathmore United Church, something she admits even she didn’t quite realize was a “first” at the beginning. Now she says it feels significant.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “And I hope people who come to this alumni concert know that it’s happening because of the impact that SPAF has had on me. Lots of the people who come to see it (alumni concert) are a part of that, and I would like to express my gratitude.”

That sense of gratitude runs deep. Before heading to Brigham Young University for her Bachelor in Fine Arts (BFA) in Music Dance Theatre, Laycock credits festivals like SPAF with giving her the foundation she needed.

“It definitely was the thing that prepared me,” she said. “All the classes, performances, everything, it gave me the only experience I had before entering this (university).”

Five years later, she’s wrapping up her degree, something she describes less as school and more as a full life experience.

“It was a five-year life experience. I learned a ton,” she said. “I felt like it helped me learn a lot about myself and a lot about how I can learn quickly. I hadn’t taken very many dance classes before going there and was interested to see how heavy of a dance major it was. It was kind of a triple discipline, because it had all three.”

That challenge, and everything happening around it, Laycock said changed her.

“I would say tremendously,” she said. “More life experience helps you become a better artist and helps you become more sure of who you are. You can always draw from your own life experiences. I think I’m more drawn to songs or themes where characters are confident. I didn’t use to really like doing those kinds of performances. I was always a little more drawn to shy ingénue characters.”

That shift didn’t happen overnight. In fact, she says a big part of it was learning how to perform something she didn’t always feel.

“I have learned to perform confidence, to find more confidence as a performer by performing this huge amount of confidence that I sometimes feel like I don’t necessarily have on my own. I think that’s really what fuelled me growing up. Doing things that were really outside of my personal comfort zone and realizing, ‘Oh, okay, this is just another experience where you can widen your range.’”

At the inaugural concert, audiences will get a glimpse of that range. Laycock plans to bring selections from her recent senior recital, leaning into contemporary musical theatre and some pop-influenced pieces.

“There’ll be lots of contemporary musical theatre songs (and) maybe songs that lend themselves to read a little more dramatically,” she said. “I’ll be singing and playing from the piano for some of it.”

She won’t be alone on stage either. Laycock welcome accompanist Terrah Harper and also notes that the concert will also feature some special guest performers from the 2026 SPAF. 

“It’ll be fun to have some collaborators and visibility for them,” she said.

Not long after the concert, Laycock will head to Rosebud Dinner Theatre for the lead role, Anne, in Anne of Green Gables, marking her first major role after graduation, and one she can hardly wait to begin. 

“I’m genuinely so, so over the moon about it,” she said.

For now, though, she’s focused on returning to Alberta, reconnecting, and figuring out what comes next. 

“It will be kind of coming back, getting myself reoriented, settled, and then figuring out where I’m going from there.”

Tickets for the May 1 concert can be purchased ahead of time at The Vault Collective or online (thevaultonline.ca).