2023/24 Performance Series Season Pass

Get your season pass to the 20th Anniversary of the RCAC’s Performance Series!

The Rossland Council for Arts and Culture (RCAC) is proud to present our 2023/2024 Performance Series: Something Old, Something New, Something Spicy! 

This season you will find familiar faces, a fresh dose of theatrical mastery, and a flavourful tango treat. Don’t miss the local and international talent spanning from Uruguay to Hungary and Canada in between. 

With your season pass you get to attend all three Performance Series events – one night of Amor De Cosmos, Andrew Collins Trio and Payadora Tango Ensemble! We will confirm with you your selection of Friday or Saturday night of Amor De Cosmos.

We appreciate your support in bringing more diverse and captivating performance art to the beautiful land of the Sinixt peoples also known as Rossland, BC! All ages and identities welcome! 

Each performance will take place at the historic Miners Hall between October 2023 and March 2024. Doors open one half hour before every performance. Email performance.rcac@gmail.com with any questions. 

The 2023/24 Line Up:

Amor de Cosmos: A Delusional Musical

Written by Richard Kelly Kemmick, Starring Cody Porter

One-man, Historic, Musical Theatre.

All ages
2h15 minutes with 20 minute intermission 

Friday, October 20, 2023, 7PM 

AND

Saturday, October 21, 2023, 7PM

Miners Hall, 1765 Columbia Ave, Rossland

Written in iambic pentameter and featuring a cast of one, Amor De Cosmos: A Delusional Musical depicts the contentious tenure of British Columbia’s infamous and astonishing second premier. Amor De Cosmos (born William Alexander Smith) was BC’s own Father of Confederation. However, in just a handful of years, De Cosmos was declared legally insane and went on to haunt the taverns of Victoria before dying in bankrupt obscurity.

Watch star, Cody Porter, hurl through different roles before your eyes in a two-act performance written by local writer Richard Kelly Kemmick, and accompanied by pianist and composer Lindsay Walker.

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Andrew Collins Trio 

Folk/Jazz/Chamber Music

90 minute performance; two 45 minute sets with 20 minute intermission 

Thursday, November 23, 2023, 7:30PM

Miners Hall, 1765 Columbia Ave, Rossland

The mercurial, 5x JUNO nominated/7x Canadian Folk Music Award winning mando maestro Andrew Collins finds himself – through no actual fault of his own – at the epicentre of Canada’s acoustic/roots music scene. He didn’t invent it – but he’s certainly a major contributor, having co-founded seriously noteworthy Canadian bands like the Creaking String Quartet, the Foggy Hogtown Boys and now, the Andrew Collins Trio.

As he gathers up innumerable awards and nominations by these various ensembles, Collins, who’s comfortable on mandolin, fiddle, guitar, mandola and mandocello – is zeroing in on the work he does with his beloved trio: fellow string guru Adam Shier, whose versatility shines through on guitar, mandolin, vocals, and in-the-pocket James McEleney, holding it down on the bass, mandocello and vocals.

Showcasing a popular collision of trailblazing roots, folk, chambergrass and jazz, not to mention a dizzying number and energetic interplay of instruments on stage, Collins and Co. appear to live by the old adage, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” likely keeping them just ahead of his grasp. Bending and blending genres, these musical shapeshifters land somewhere between the re-imagined worlds of Béla Fleck and Newgrass invader, David Grisman.

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Payadora Tango Ensemble

Argentinian/Uruguayan Tango & Folk Music

March 26, 2024, 7:00PM

Miners Hall, 1765 Columbia Ave, Rossland

All ages 

Payadora is an award-winning ensemble of vocalist, violin, bandoneon, bass and piano that performs its own arrangements of a core repertoire drawing from Argentinian/Uruguayan Tango and Folk music (tangos, milongas, waltzes, folk music such as Zamba and chacarera), as well as original songs inspired by that tradition; a group that’s endorsed by the Argentinian Consulate in Toronto for their adherence to the spirit of tango.  

Made up of a group of players who are each musical powerhouses in their own right, this “superstar group” has combined their deep knowledge of tango with their classical, jazz and world music backgrounds to create something entirely new. With Rebekah Wolkstein (violin, vocals), Drew Jurecka (bandoneon, violin, mandolin), Joseph Phillips (double bass, guitar) Robert Horvath (piano) and Elbio Fernandez (vocals), their performances convey joy, virtuosity, humour and their intense passion for the music that they play.