Choral fans, take note.
The Amabilis Singers are back for spring with a concert on Saturday, April 18.
The choir is performing The Elements: Earth | Water | Air | Fire, at 8 p.m. at New Westminster Christian Reformed Church (8255 13th Ave. in Burnaby).
"Not just a musical guide to the elements, this concert promises to fundamentally deepen your appreciation of the substances that make up our world," a notice from the choir says.
The concert includes pieces in a diverse range of styles that embody each of the elements. Earth includes such works as Lydia Adams' Mi'kmaq Honour Song and Alan Raines' choral reworking of Richard Strauss's Morgen.
Water comes to life in Eric Whitacre's Water Night and Mack Wilberg's Deep River, while air is depicted by Rihards Dubra's Stetit Angelus and Donald Patriquin's arrangement of J'entends le Moulin.
For fire, audiences can expect to hear such pieces as Patrick Wedd's Veni Creator and Stephen Paulus's Hymn to the Eternal Flame.
(Yes, yes, it's confession time: I am indeed part of Amabilis, and if you come, you can find me in the alto ranks.)
Tickets are $20, or free for children under 11. Call 604-503-2074 or see www.amabilissingers.org.
CREATING A CRAFTY YEAR
Burnaby Public Library is helping to mark 2015 as Craft Year.
The library is holding a special event on Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. at the Metrotown branch (6100 Willingdon Ave.): Meet Your Makers - An Evening of Fine Craft and Fine Literature. Three Burnaby craftspeople - a ceramic sculptor, a jeweler and a computer-aided tapestry weaver - will be on hand to talk about their ideas and processes. The session will also introduce those in attendance to the resources they can find at the library to help them feed their own crafty creativity.
The session, a co-presentation with the Craft Council of British Columbia, is free, but space is limited.
Register at www.bpl.bc.ca/events, pop in and register in person at the first-floor information desk, or call 604-436-5410.
VINTAGE BOOKS WANTED
Are there any book lovers out there with vintage books they can lend to a good cause?
Royal City Musical Theatre is on the hunt for books: "lots and lots of vintage or vintage-looking books," as the group notes in an email.
The theatre company needs the books for the set of its upcoming spring musical, My Fair Lady, which opens April 9 at Massey Theatre in New Westminster. If you have any books you can lend or donate, get in touch with the theatre company by email, [email protected].
Check out www.royalcitymusicaltheatre.com for all the details and tickets to the show.
KIDS GET ARTY
Do you have any artistically inclined youngsters in your house?
The Burnaby Art Gallery offers Art Afterschool programs starting April 22.
The six- to nine-year-old set can take part in Art Builders - using basic sculptural techniques and a variety of recycled and repurposed materials to create small, colourful three-dimensional artworks.
For the seven- to 12-year-old crowd, there's also Mixed Media Photo Art, in which students can draw inspiration from the gallery's exhibition and explore the theme of "capturing moments" to create their own photo-based mixed media art.
Both programs run for four sessions on Wednesdays, starting April 22. Art Builders runs 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., and Mixed Media Photo art from 5 to 6 p.m.
There's a second session for both programs as well, running May 20 to June 10.
Check out www.burnaby.ca/webreg to register, or check out the spring/summer arts programs guide - you can download it at www.burnabyartgallery.ca.
Got an item for Lively City? Find Julie on Twitter, @juliemaclellan, or send arts and entertainment ideas to [email protected].
