Anne of Green Gables opens July 6th

It’s been several months since I’ve written a blog. However, now that I’ve finished a major music project, I’ve found some time to return to dabble in my online scribbles. The project I’d been working on the last couple months involved reducing the orchestral score of Anne of Green Gables to a five-piece instrumental combo to accompany Oceanside’s Bard to Broadway’s production of the musical this summer. Using a computer program called Sibelius, I arranged my instrumental choice of piano, bass, drums and woodwinds so I could hear the music played back to me before I actually printed the parts for the musicians to play from. A far cry from the days where I’d plunk out my ideas on a piano followed by a rehearsal with the musicians to check for any wrong notes. And to think I was one who thought computers would never amount to a row of beans when they first appeared. Now I don’t know how I’d exist without this wonderful musical tool.

If you’re interested in taking in the B2B production, which opens on July 6th at the Village Theatre in Qualicum Beach, I’ve attached the show’ poster below. Also part of the summer series is the comedy murder mystery spoof Murdered to Death. Full details for both productions can be found online at http://www.b2btheatre.com/

Biking in the Okanagan

The last two weeks I’ve been in the Okanagan with my wife Pat as she adjudicated piano examinations for the Toronto Conservatory of Music. I hauled along my mountain bike and spent many days riding various sections of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. The most scenic part of the trail is the Myra Canyon section which is located high above the City of Kelowna and is classed as a must ride for bike enthusiasts from around the world. In 2003 a disastrous forest fire swept through this area and sadly most of the historical railway trestles went up in smoke. However, through the efforts of the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society, supported by major government and local funding efforts, all the trestles have been rebuilt to historical specifications.

Andrew McCulloch was the chief engineer who designed the Kettle Valley Railway which ran from Hope through southern BC to the West Kootenays. Starting construction in 1910 at Hope, in Myra Canyon McCulloch literally hung the railway on the steep canyon walls, taking some seven miles of track to reach across a chasm of less than one mile. It took 20 wooden trestles of various lengths and heights to do it. 

After a disastrous forest fire in 2003 the wooden trestle of Myra Canyon have all been rebuilt to historical specifications.

Several tunnel dot the Myra Canyon section of the Kettle valley Rail Trail. 

Note the wooden railings that have been added to the trestles keep cyclists from 

riding off into space.

On the western bench beyond Penticton at Summerland a 10-mile section of track of the Kettle Valley Railway was saved when the railway was shut down in the 1970’s. Now a popular tourist operation, a steam locomotive hauls trains along the historical roadbed throughout the summer.

Splendidly maintained Loci #3716 on the Kettle Valley Railroad at Summerland. The locomotive was built in 1912 and worked for many years in the Crowsnest Pass area of BC. Saved from the scrapper’s torch at the end of the steam era, #3716 was restored back to operating condition in 1975. Fondly remembered for its trips hauling the Provincial Museum train in the late 1970’s and as the backup locomotive to the Royal Hudson excursion train out of North Vancouver, #3716 looks magnificent working the tourist trains through the upper bench orchards above Summerland.