One of the greatest pianists Canada has ever known visits ArtSpring on Tuesday, March 20 for a 7:00pm concert.

Quebec pianist André Laplante has been honoured in almost every major competition over the years, from the International Tchaikovsky Competition to the Sydney and Long-Thibaud Compeitions. He has won several Juno awards for his recordings and has performed around the world from Carnegie Hall to China. In 2005 he was awarded the Order of Canada in recognition of his contributions to classical music.

He is known widely as a specialist in the music of Franz Liszt and Maurice Ravel. At his ArtSpring concert M. Laplante will play Liszt’s monumental Les Annees de Pelerinage, as well as works by Bach, Mozart and Ravel.

“In recent times,” says ArtSpring Executive Director George Sipos, “we have presented some amazing young pianists near the beginning of their careers – Joyce Yang, Di Wu, Mariangella Vacatello. This time we get to hear from one of the world’s seasoned virtuosos, someone whose talent has been compared to Ashkenazy, Horowitz and Rudolph Serkin.”

The 7:00pm start, unlike the more customary 8:00, is to allow for a reception with the artist after the concert in the ArtSpring galleries. Country Grocer will host the food and drink at the reception to allow Salt Springers get to meet M. Laplante informally.

Tickets for the recital are available from the ArtSpring Ticket Centre 537-2012 or online artspring.ca

Very big thank you to everyone who participated in our recent survey about the performing arts on Salt Spring. Over 250 people shared a bounty of feedback and ideas about the arts on the island and the ArtSpring experience. This has helped provided us with invaluable feedback to guide how we offer programming and engage with the community.

And of course those that took the time to complete the survey were entered into a prize draw to have a chance to win one of 50 bags of Salt Spring Coffee’s Organic Holiday Blend, and also be entered to win our grand prize of a day trip from Salt Spring to see Don Quixote by the National Ballet of Cuba in Vancouver.

Without further adieu, here are the winners!

Kathy Page is our grand prize winner!

And here are the winners of a 1 lbs bag of Salt Spring Coffee’s Organic Holiday Blend!

Jennifer Barrio, Tanis Beaver, Kim Benson, Rasma Bertz, Eric Booth, Hannah Brown, Heather Cameron, Brenda Dixon, Cameron Esaryk, Susan Evans, Nixe Gerbitz, Jeff Goguen, Therin Gower, Rob Grant, Leonard Greig, Janet Halliwell, Anna Haltrecht, Scott Harris, David, Nancy Holcroft, Shannon Joyce, Bly Kaye, Laura Kreissl, Karen Laidlaw, Philip Lake, Letitia Lane, Marguerite Lee, Julia Lerner, Jo Logan, Mary Rose MacLachlan, Robin McLean, Jim Meadows, Jack Medd, Andrea Metzger, Helene Narayana, Judy Nurse, Laura Patrick, Lyn Perry, Florence Roberge, April Russell, Patsy Siemens, Holly Slaney, Julianna Slomka, Janet Smith, Dennice Stambuck, Philippa Tattersall, Ida Marie Threadkell and Gerald Tibbits.

Congratulations to all and thank you again to all those who took the time to share their feedback. All prizes can be claimed at the ArtSpring ticket box office.

ArtSpring wants to know what you think about the performing arts on Salt Spring. Fill out our easy online survey and you’ll have a chance to win one of 50 bags of Salt Spring Coffee’s Organic Holiday Blend, and also be entered to win our grand prize of a day trip from Salt Spring to see Don Quixote by the National Ballet of Cuba in Vancouver. It takes apx. 7 minutes to complete and you have a good chance of winning a prize as a thank you for your time!

There’s an opportunity for you to help fund the Salt Spring Arts Education Centre, a place for workshops and classes to happen on our faire isle. And it won’t cost you anything! All you have to do is go to the Aviva Community Fund website and vote for the idea!

You can vote every day, a total of 15 times. Start NOW. This could happen if we all participate.

Voting in this round is only open until Nov. 9, so don’t put it off!

http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf11181

In a 160 acre lot atop Mount Tuam sits this new dwelling. With breathtaking views over the Southern Gulf Islands to the San Juan Islands and Mount Baker beyond, the house is built in the style of a period Scottish tower house, using similar materials and ensuring extraordinary longevity and ease of maintenance.

External walls are constructed of very durable metamorphic random rubble ledgestone sourced from Port Renfrew on Vancouver island. All dressings such as quoins, window surrounds, corbels, copestones, etc. are carved from imported yellow sandstone.

Seven gargoyles collect rainwater from the roofs and discharge it onto the rock outcrop on which the building perches and the roof itself is clad in Vermont slate with code 6 lead flashings and watergates.

Stone is used liberally inside for flooring, wall components, two staircases (one straight and one spiral), fireplaces, balusters and other architectural features.

Where rainwater conductors have been used, these are of cast aluminium imported from Britain.

Read more at Inveresk Design Build.

CBC One Day on Salt Spring video by Rob Lowrie

About the project

1 Day. 24 Hours. 34 Million Lives.

On any ordinary day in Canada, extraordinary things happen. Canadians have remarkable stories to tell. And for the past 75 years, the CBC has enabled us to share those stories with each other.

This year, we celebrate this rich heritage with 1 Day, a special CBC/Radio Canada documentary and online project that invites all Canadians to help create a unique 24 hour portrait of Canada, from midnight to 11:59, coast to coast.

The two hour documentary, to be filmed on April 30th, 2011, is a joint project – between us and you. For 24 hours, our crews will span the country. We’ll follow some of Canada’s most fascinating figures as their day unfolds – from emergency physicians to cops, cultural icons to sports stars.

But 1 Day will also draw on videos and photos sent in by Canadians who seize this unique opportunity to provide a glimpse into their lives, their families, their communities.

What Will You Be Doing April 30?

Are you running in a marathon? Walking on the beach? Working the night shift? Dancing till dawn? From a baby’s first steps to a bartender’s last call, the seemingly everyday moments in our lives are rich snapshots of the Canadian experience.

We’d love to know what you’re up to in the wee hours of the 30th. If your day begins between midnight and dawn, show us and tell us why you’re awake!

We’ll capture the events that make up a day in our lives, whether that means tagging polar bears, performing in front of thousands, giving birth or simply making pancakes for breakfast.

By the end of the show, Canadians will have learned something about their country and witnessed moments of tension, triumph, loss and love.

The documentary special will launch the CBC’s anniversary programming on August 21st.

So on April 30th, get ready. We’ve got 34 million stories to tell.

Read more on CBC.ca

Cabins are an integral part of Canadian culture. Spending summers on a dock or in the woods is a rite of passage for our neighbors to the north, who even mark the return of warmer weather with an unofficial but widely celebrated weekend holiday (May Two-Four) to kick off cottage season.

On a four-acre site on Salt Spring Island, just southwest of Vancouver, Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects crafted a cabin—modest in size yet bold in design—on the site where another cottage once stood. Inside the walls of rammed earth and steel, the 191-square-foot space is a cozy nook warmed by the caramel colors of the cedar on the floor and ceiling, which was milled from salvaged timbers, as well as the heat produced by the wood-burning stove. “The small size creates an intimate, protected refuge within a larger landscape,” architect Tom Kundig says. “It forces you to engage with the bigger landscape yet still provides a sanctuary from the elements.”

Read more at Dwell.com:

A sixteen acre farm located on Salt Spring Island, an island in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, the site of this house is bisected from east to west by a long row of mature Douglas fir trees. There is a gentle slope falling across the site from south to north. The south half of the property is an orchard containing a variety of fruit trees; the north half of the property is a hay field.

There was an existing cottage on the site which has been sold and relocated to a neighbouring property. The existing barn, garage and studio buildings remain. The new house, called Villa Klaathem by the owners, extends 276 feet in a straight line along the south side of the fir trees. The orchard has been made more regular with the addition of further fruit trees so that the clarity of the juxtaposition of cultural landscape to the south, and natural landscape to the north of the new house is reinforced.

Full story and photos at Daily Icon.