The Cowichan Valley Naturalists monthly coffeehouse will be all about fossils.
There will be two sessions on March 4 rather than the usual one, with the first at 9:30 a.m. at the Fish Health Building at 1080 Wharncliffe Rd. in Duncan. It will feature a presentation by Pat Trask, curator of the Courtenay Museum on fossils of the Comox Valley, and the 1988 discovery of the Puntledge River elasmosaur in particular.
Then at 7 p.m. there will be a special Zoom presentation by Trask who will take folks on a virtual tour of the Courtenay Museum. Email cvns@naturecowichan.net for the Zoom link.
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A group called Clayoquot Action is hosting a film premiere at the VIU Cowichan Campus on March 6.
Salmon Secrets will be on screen as part of the Fish Farm Medicine Revival Road Show.
Organizers promise a “rabble-rousing evening of music, film and guest speakers.”
Musician Luke Wallace will be there, along with guest speaker Gisele Martin, cultural education and tribal parks guardian of the Tla-o-qui-aht.
Doors for the event open at 7 p.m., with the show starting at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at the door or on Eventbrite, where they are $17.31 each.
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Cowichan Consort’s next concert on Saturday, March 9 will feature a very special guest.
The Featuring Our Youth event will see Elana Lin, a 17-year-old violinst from Victoria and winner of the 2024 Cowichan Consort Concerto Competition, play her submission with the orchestra.
She will perform Saint Saens Violin Concerto #3 and will receive her bursary from the Consort, which goes to help her further her music education.
“This year’s competition was once again at a high level and was very keen, but the judges were unanimous in their decision,” said a press release from the Consort.
The competition is open to musicians living on Vancouver Island, 26 years old and younger, and this year there were 10 contestants.
Lin has been playing violin for a decade, and studies with Simon MacDonald and Müge Büyükçelen at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.
She has won numerous awards for her music and has been a part of the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra since 2019.
Lin is a Grade 12 student at Mount Douglas Secondary School and hopes to pursue a music performance degree following graduation, with the aspiration of becoming a professional violinist.
The orchestra, led by Pippa Williams, will also perform Rossini’s overture ‘The Thieving Magpie’, and Cesar Franck’s ‘Symphony in d minor’.
The show takes place at the Christian Reformed Church at 930 Trunk Rd. in Duncan, starting at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at Volume One Bookstore in Duncan or at the door. They are $20.
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And there’s more music coming on March 10.
The Cowichan Camerata String Orchestra is presenting Musical Reflections at the Providence Farm Chapel starting at 2:30 p.m.
“For the spring season, the Cowichan Camerata String Orchestra is performing a programme of their favorites,” the orchestra said in a press release for the show.
Concert-goers will hear pieces by Bach, Handel, Mozart and Schubert, as well as selections from Samuel Barber’s Simple Symphony, Sibelus’s Valse Triste, and Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1.
There will be two special performances, with guest soprano Valerie Masuda singing Giovani Pergolesi Ariette ‘Se tu ma’ami’, and viola/accordion duet Elisabeth Jahren and Chris Redsell.
“Under the direction of Redsell, the Cowichan Camerata is a small string orchestra that brings enthusiasm, heart, and hours of rehearsal to their performances. The orchestra also brings their music into the community and to those unable to attend concerts. Nothing beats the atmosphere of a live performance,” the release said.
Tickets are $20, with those under 19 getting in free and they are available at the door or by contacting the Camerata at info@cowichancamerata.org
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Imagine That! gallery in downtown Duncan is featuring new artists in their display windows for the month of March.
One window will feature works billed as Carved from Nature by Todd McAneeley.
“Todd enhances his furniture pieces by adding carved sculptural elements which capture nature in a distinctive way,” said a press release. “His work comes to vivid life with bears, otters, birds, whales, and more. His artistry celebrates the beauty of our local woods.”
In the other window Lynn Bisset’s paintings and prints will be featured.
“Lynn Bisset fondly paints local harbours, marinas, boats, and sea birds on Vancouver Island,” the release said. “Some of her favorite scenes are found at Cowichan Bay and Genoa Bay.”