Youth delegates selected Jake Vaadeland and The Sturgeon River Boys to help celebrate the Lloydminster Concert Series Association’s 20th anniversary with an upcoming performance at Vic Juba Theatre on Jan. 18. The series began in 2003-04. Supplied Photo
Cue the applause for the return of the McDades and the Lloydminster Concert Series Association at the Vic Juba Community Theatre.
Christmas with the McDades at Vic on Dec. 1 is a fitting way for the concert series to celebrate its current 20th anniversary season.
“We’re looking forward to our show at the Vic Juba. Our family has a long connection to the Lloydminster area as our mom grew up near there,” said Solon McDade.
“We’re looking forward to celebrating our new release, A Winter Collection with the audience at the Vic.”
The first concert series in the 2003-04 season featured performances by Terry McDades and The McDades, Pavlo, Martini Sisters, Sons of Maxwell, Rita Chiarelli, and Bill Usher.
Brian Stevenson, the association’s president, said they looked at doing a “best of” for the anniversary but settled on the McDades and the rest of the series to keep the celebration simple.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating our 20th anniversary and look forward to many more years of presenting a variety of performing arts events,” said Stevenson in an email.
“We hope we can grow the public’s trust in what we present in a series package that cannot be beaten for quality and value.”
The inaugural performance took place on May 13, 2003, featuring pianist Lee Pui Ming. The association has gone on to present more than 120 shows from music to theatre dance, comedy and magic.
“We feel the longevity of the series is due to the trust we have built with the community,” said Stevenson.
“In the future, we will continue our mandate to present acts with musical and theatrical diversity to expose the community to acts they would not normally get to see here.”
Christmas with the McDades will be the third of six concerts this year.
The McDades are winners of the Juno Award for Best Roots Album (group) and three 2023 Canadian Folk Awards.
The McDades will be followed by the ever-popular Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys on Jan. 18 thanks to a new youth initiative by the association.
The organization invited three youth delegates to attend a performing arts conference in Saskatoon last year to select one of this year’s performances, with Vaadeland and his band the top pick.
“The Vic Juba is a beautiful centre that is an absolute honour to play. I feel fortunate that I was selected to participate in this concert series to create the opportunity to play to new and engaged fans,” said Vaadeland in an email.
The youth delegates also have the responsibility to market the event to attract students to attend.
Vaadeland played at the Juba this past February to rave reviews.
The concert series association offers tickets at $5 for all students, including post-secondary students.
This season, the organization is also working with a local dance studio.
They have invited nine to 12 local dance students to perform with Ballet Jorgen on March 8 in their performance of Anne of Green Gables – The Ballet.
Stevenson noted they are slowly rebuilding attendance to 93 per cent of pre-pandemic levels this year since the new series kicked off in September and wraps up on March 26.
“We are proud to support performing arts in our community, and over the years we have made donations to Vic Juba Community Theatre and Lloydminster Region Theatre Foundation for technical equipment and special projects,” said Stevenson.
“We are also happy to say we have presented performances in our local schools and hosted a three-day circus camp.”
