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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, September 5, 2014 | 24 Artscene "Connected to your Community" Inaugural Kerr Fest is Saturday The tagline for the inaugural Kerr Fest is there will be something for everyone -- and from the looks of the activities planned, it may be right. Presented by the Kerr Village Business Improvement Area (BIA), the free event is set for Saturday (Sept. 6) and will have food, live music, street performances and other activities running from noon-10 p.m. Along Kerr Street, from Lakeshore Road West to Stewart Street, the day will feature two main stages, face-painting, jugglers, stilt walkers, a yoga demonstration, magicians, a vintage car show, carnival rides, games, a magic show and bouncy castle, among others. The 10th annual Beaver Has Landed skateboarding competition is also scheduled for the festival on Kerr Street between Rebecca Street and Lakeshore Road West. Those looking to settle into a day of musical performances can catch the numerous headlining acts scheduled, such as Darren Evorglens, Cowboy Junkies, Wide Mouth Mason, Bill Durst, Practically Hip, Vanessa Maria Carter, Pyro Bell, The Beat Heathens, Eclectic Revival, and Ferguson Young Band. There will also be a Kerr Village merchant sidewalk sale available to festival-goers. Kerr Fest is set to take place rain or shine, so organizers advise to check the local weather forecast before heading out and dress accordingly. For more information, visit www.kerr-village.ca/ events/upcoming-events/fall-festival. Canadian Ambassador Choir, which includes members of Oakville's Tempus Choral Society, photographed during a practice for the Rhythms of One World 2014 musical festival in Geneva, Switzerland in July. The choir is holding a free concert in Mississauga, Sept. 28 at Eden United Church. | photo courtesy of the Canadian Ambassador Choir Canadian Ambassador Choir concert Sept. 28 by Joseph Chin Metroland Media Group Peel Just back from performing at the Rhythms of One World 2014 music festival in Geneva in July, the Canadian Ambassador Choir (CAC) -- comprised of 20 singers from across the GTA, including members of Oakville's Tempus Choral Society and Christ Church Chancel Choir in Mississauga -- is holding a free concert this month. It will be held Sept. 28 at Mississauga's Eden United Church in Meadowvale, where CAC will share the stage with the Mississauga Festival Choir and Eden's Chancel Choir. Hectic, exciting year It's been a hectic -- and exciting -- year for the CAC, which was formed in the wake of a CD recorded late last year by five United Nations ambassadors, including Canada's own permanent representative in New York, Guillermo E. Rishchynski. Titled Ambassadors Sing for Peace, the album is a compilation of songs promoting world peace, such as Bob Marley's One Love, Michael Jackson's Heal the World, John Lennon's Imagine and What a Wonderful World, written by Bob Thiele and first recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1967. "In honour of our ambassador's participation, we call ourselves the Canadian Ambassador Choir, although we are not formally associated with the ambassador," said CAC director Shawn Bausch. "There's something unique about choral singing," said the Mississauga resident. "People who are soloists or sing in a band are good in their own right, but when there's more than one person to make that sound, and together you produce a sound that really resonates with an audience and for yourself, it's a great feeling of togetherness." Rhythms of One World is an annual concert that unites singers from across the globe to celebrate the creation of the UN in 1945. This year, choirs from six continents took part. The CAC performed three times: once at the Geneva Conservatory, once at the famous Victoria Hall, and the final show at the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations, where it performed to an audience of international ambassadors and representatives. "The entire festival spanned only five days, which meant a constant rehearsal schedule," said Bausch. "Touring was limited for the most part to before and after the festival. Days would begin promptly at 7:30 a.m. for rehearsals that would last four to five hours. With two massed pieces in which all 300 singers in the festival performed together, hours of co-ordination were needed to ready each concert for audiences with performers who had never met before arriving in Geneva." Canadian repertoire The CAC performed only Canadian songs, including some by Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen and the Rankin Family, to music created by the late notable conductor and Order of Canada recipient Diane Loomer. The choir was accompanied on the trip by Vancouver composer Larry Nickel who wrote a special piece to premiere at the festival. Besides Bausch, other members with Mississauga ties are Ruth Collins, Bob Land and Jane Wamsley, the choir director of Christ Church United. Bausch says Geneva was the perfect setting for a festival dedicated to the idea that music can build the foundations of peace. "With organizations like the Red Cross, the UN, and the Council on Human Rights located in the city, the spirit of the festival was a living concept, not just an ideal," he noted. Showtime for the Sept. 28 concert is 7:30 p.m. Admission is free; instead, the church will be asking for donations. Eden United Church is located at 3051 Battleford Rd.