CIAS Launches Online Arts Courses

Cochrane Integrated Arts Society (CIAS) has relaunched their website and is rolling out their first online arts courses!

CIAS is the society that organized Cochrane Culture Days last September. Choral Waves, Band on the Bow and Riverside Jazz all performed and many members volunteered much time and effort to make the weekend a success. CIAS is planning another great CCD weekend September 11-12, 2021 and the CMS ensembles are invited again.

Starting the first week of May, they are offering a selection of Youth and Adult online courses in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and creative writing. Youth courses run 4-5pm and Adult courses 7-8pm weekly for 4, 6 or 8 weeks. Check out their website, browse through the courses and discover something to spark your interest.

Inside scoop: Charlotte Nixon, the instructor of the creative writing courses, Pick up the Pen and Weaving Words – A Writers’ Workshop, is CMS Music Director Adam Mailman’s wife! She is an accomplished playwright and high school English and Creative Writing teacher. Read more about Charlotte and about the other engaging, professional instructors.

Class sizes are limited to ensure a great interactive experience, so you need to register right away!

To be the first to know as new courses come online, subscribe for Updates over in the sidebar of their website and they will send the news to your Inbox.

Messiah/Complex Is BACK!

Against the Grain Theatre’s daring new interpretation of Handel’s Messiah is a truly cross-Canada performance — in Arabic, Dene, English, French, Inuktitut, and Southern Tutchone, and accompanied by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

The outpouring of support from audiences across the globe has been so incredible, they have decided to bring this pan-Canadian film back for a limited time.

All of the CMS members participating in the Music Meet Ups know how moved we were by the taste of the Messiah/Complex that Aurora gave us!

Returning for a limited time from April 1st-13th, 2021.

Register to Watch: Messiah/Complex

“National scope, cinematic ambition, bold diversity in interpretation —the soloists sing in half a dozen languages—and a frank meeting between ancient art and the tough questions it raises in today’s world.” – Maclean’s Magazine

Get Ready – Get Set – Register for CMS Spring 2021!

Socially Distanced – Musically Connected!

Spring is coming and we can hardly wait to begin! Register Now to receive music and program notes, and participate in rehearsals and concerts.

We had such a wonderful experience with our Performance Series last summer that we are repeating it this spring and have included TWO new series of virtual classes in the registration.

The Virtual Creative Music Workshop starts February 23 and is a fun series of four classes playing music-making games and creating music in a jamming/contribution fashion. No experience required. No theory required. No classical style notation. Just bring your voice or instrument and some curiosity and excitement to make music.

The Music Meet Ups – Building Concert Repertoire series starts March 10. It is a run of seven classes that will explore the many facets of selecting repertoire for a concert program. Each participant will build a concert program to share at the final session.

In the Performance Series, starting April 28, the members will download sheet music and over five weeks the Music Directors will email the program notes – all the musical technique and style they would teach during rehearsals – to guide the musicians as they practice individually. As weather and COVID-19 permit, we will schedule rehearsals and performances throughout the summer.

To choose repertoire and prepare, the music directors need to know voice/instrument numbers now. So, dust off your instrument or warm up your voice and join in the fun! Go to the CMS Spring 2021 page for all information and to register.

 

Come Celebrate Cochrane Culture Days!

Come on out to Cochrane Culture Days September 11-13! There are so many venues to enjoy –  a Sculpture Garden, Visual Artist Demonstrations, Film Industry Presentations, Movie Days, Outdoor Performance Stages, an Artist Studio Drive and a Cruise Cochrane Drive By (aka The Culture Cruise)!

The event is planned with multiple concurrent attractions so that people can enjoy one and move on to the next without forming large audiences. Volunteers will be on hand at each site to encourage social distancing, ensure boundaries are respected, provide hand sanitizer and clean surfaces as needed.

It all starts on Friday with a Family Movie at the Cochrane Movie House! The feature film is Secret Life of Pets, followed by some short films by Alberta film makers. Two theatres are designated to our special event, each with three showtimes. That adds up to six screenings! Email president@cochraneartsociety.com to reserve your tickets. 

On Saturday, the fun really takes off!  The Saturday morning Movie showtimes continue and three outdoor performance stages – Front Stage, Upstage and Centre Stage – open up packed with folk bands, bagpipes, jazz bands, dancers, and our very own Choral Waves Choir,  Riverside Jazz, and Band on the Bow!

Stop by Route 22 Artist Collective Gallery where the artists have set up outside to demonstrate their techniques.

At 12pm the Back Stage in the Lions Club Event Centre opens with locally produced short films (two of the filmmakers grew up in Cochrane!), presentations about the film industry, and musical theatre appreciation by our very own Aurora Borin.

After taking in a presentation, wander through Cochrane’s very first  Sculpture Garden of awesome bronze, stone, wood and steel art forms.

 

Venture out on the Artist Studio Drive to visit remarkable studios where the artists demonstrate their techniques in glass, paint, bronze and pottery. Get your Guide here. 

 

To top it off, Cruise Cochrane members gather at Cochrane Town Square and hit the road at 2:30pm for the “Culture Cruise” as they pass by all of the venues and artist studios.

On Sunday, the Front Stage, Back Stage and Sculpture Garden carry on with more great music, films and 3D art.

Cochrane Culture Days is a perfect opportunity for the residents of Cochrane and area, who have lacked so many activities since March, to enjoy a variety of visual and performance arts during this time of social distancing.

This event could never have happened without the incredible support of Cochrane Music Society – our music directors, accompanist and all of our members –  many of whom are contributing huge volunteer hours. CMS enthusiasm is unique and amazing!

 

 

 

Band on the Bow Pop-Up Concert

Cochrane Music Society’s Band on the Bow concert band will play a 30-minute concert in the Cochrane Town Square parking lot (312 5th Ave W) Sunday, August 2nd at 2:00pm.

COVID just can’t hold us down for long! We languished for a bit but now we are busy practicing individually with soundtracks and practice notes so that we can come together, socially distanced, of course, to entertain our Cochrane community.

Wind ensemble concerts have been approved in Alberta’s Relaunch Strategy. We are so excited!

Come by and enjoy some community music on your Sunday afternoon!

Socially Distanced – Musically Connected!