For those about to rock, why not strike a chord in your own community.
North Vancouver Recreation & Culture is seeking applications from performing, visual and multidisciplinary artists to take the stage in the upcoming indoor and outdoor concert series this year.
This year, the call has expanded from musicians to “everything,” says Neil Scott, theatre and events supervisor with NVRC.
“We’re looking for a lot of diversity, both in terms of performers, and genres,” he said.
That includes artists who can facilitate family-friendly activities and crafts, as well as conventional acts like bands and comedians, Scott explained.
While the call extends to emerging North Shore talent, Scott emphasized the talent featured over the past year in the inaugural Artists (originally “Aspiring”) & Musicians Performance Series (AMPS) has been very well received.
“We found that the word aspiring gave some people the impression that it would be a very low bar,” he said. “But the performers that we have had in the AMP series have been extremely high-calibre.”
Last year there were 35 applicants for eight performance spots in the AMPS series, which was extended to 10 spots. This year, there have been more than 60 entries, and the application period is still open until April 15.
Scott said acts should apply because the series is a great opportunity to showcase their work to the community.
“The nice thing about all of the performances, either the AMPS series or the [outdoor] Live & Local series, is they’re either free or very low cost,” he said. “So it encourages some really great community connections … and it’s a really good opportunity for artists to get paid to show their work.”
This year, Scott said he’s hoping that a more diverse cast of artists apply.
“One of the things that we feel strongly about at NVRC is that we need to represent all of the population that lives in and around the North Shore,” he said. “We have a strong Indigenous community, we have a strong Persian community – there are all kinds of various backgrounds here on the North Shore... We didn’t have as much of a response for applicants last year from those communities. And we would really like to be able to represent those communities in our programming."
The effort to recruit more diverse artists includes outreach through a NVRC staff member in charge of relationships with local Indigenous communities, he said.
The AMPS series runs from October to June, with two more performances to come in the concert run that started last year.
Live & Local events ramp up in June with the majority happening through the summer months, a few more in September and a final bonfire in December.
For more information on the concert series, and how to apply, visit the NVRC website. For upcoming AMPS concerts, check Centennial Theatre’s events calendar.
