Calgary Pro Musica & Green Fools Puppet Theatre Present 2024 Family Concert
Iceland has its elves and trolls and Ireland its leprechauns. According to award-winning Calgary-based storyteller and musician Samantha Whelan Kotkas, the Canadian Rockies has its fairies. These mythical creatures appear in “More Rocky Mountain Fairy Tales” along hiking trails when the seasons change: from Summer to Fall (Fallmer), Fall to Winter (Finter), Winter to Spring (Spinter) and Spring to Summer (Spummer). If you listen very carefully, Samantha will tell you about them. You can hear them, too.
It is no accident that Samantha wrote “More Rocky Mountain Fairy Tales” during an extended residency at the Banff Centre. Each line she reads places you on a mountain trail at a different season of the year. You can hear the animals and sounds of the forests, feel the warmth of the sun and the chill of the wind and cross over from the majestic experience of hiking in the Rockies into the supernatural realm where the Rocky Mountain fairies live.
An accomplished trumpeter, Samantha’s poetry is abuzz with musical imagery. She worked closely with Calgary-based jazz composer Tyler Hornby to create an original score that brings the magic and grandeur of Rocky Mountain hikes to life. Each of the five fairies that flit about her stories are identified visually by colour but also by a signature instrument and melody. The Yellow Wind Fairy flies to the sound of electric guitar; the Blue Water Fairy swims to the accompaniment of double bass; the Green Forest Fairy marches to the beat of her own drums; the Red Fire Fairy rises from the earth as a piano; and the Purple Fairies camouflage themselves in the resonant tones of the baritone, tenor, alto and soprano saxophones.
Samantha’s Rocky Mountain folklore dates back to 2000 with her original “Rocky Mountain Fairy Tales” recording. Her musical fairy tales have now been performed by the Vancouver, Winnipeg and Edmonton Symphony Orchestras. The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra last year recorded Samantha’s “Winter Solstice” and distributed it to classrooms throughout Canada. This spring, a new generation of Calgary’s families can fall in love with Samantha’s Rocky Mountain folktales and jazzy melodies at Calgary Pro Musica’s Family Concert on April 28. In addition to a live orchestra featuring the work’s composer and Samantha herself as narrator, Green Fools Puppet Theatre Artistic Director Dean Bareham and his crew have created puppets to represent the fairies on their hikes through the Canadian Rockies.
A National Arts Centre teaching artist who spends most of her time in elementary school classrooms throughout Calgary and beyond, Samantha uses her original fairy tales to capture children’s imaginations and help them to understand the world around them and their roles within it. As Albert Einstein said, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Banff-based artist Lynne Huras infuses her local knowledge of the mountains into colourful maps of each of the hikes and images of these Rocky Mountain fairies. Samantha’s stories teach children the concepts of forest bathing as well as courage and resilience. If kids pay attention to all the sensory experiences of being out in nature, maybe they, too, will see, hear and learn from the Rocky Mountain fairies.
Both Samantha and Dean reach thousands of grade school students annually through school residencies and community performances. They are leaders not only in Calgary; they have also been recognized nationally and internationally for their outstanding work sparking the imaginations of young children through music, theatre and the performing arts. Calgary Pro Musica’s Family Concerts offer a unique opportunity to learn from Calgary’s premier performing arts educators at an affordable price for the whole family.
“More Rocky Mountain Fairy Tales” takes place at the University of Calgary’s Rosza Centre on Sunday, April 28 at 1:00PM and 3:30PM. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students/children/seniors and can be purchased online at calgarypromusica.ca with a limited number of tickets available at the door. Come an hour early for family-friendly arts and crafts. Stay after each concert for a juice and cookies reception with the artists.
Click here for more concert information about “More Rocky Mountain Fairy Tales” and to buy tickets.