The Independent
Come explore Kane County’s past in a multimedia musical storytelling extravaganza, “The Canyon Peoples’ Portrait.” This Thursday and Friday, April 2 & 3, singers, songwriters, artists, dancers, musicians, actors and storytellers will be coming together to Kanab High School Auditorium to share their talents and unfold Southern Utah’s cultural heritage like you’ve never experienced it before.
Every county in Utah has its own special collection of people and events that laid the foundation for what that county has become; explorers, trappers, miners, Indians, pioneers, immigrants, farmers, ranchers and entrepreneurs all form the fabric that resulted in what we see today. That heritage makes us who we are and gives us history to inspire us and character to celebrate.
Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts, a nonprofit company based in Murray, Utah, is gathering the heritage stories of every county in the state and bringing them to life through the arts. They use world class local talent as well as a stable of some of the best that Utah has to offer and turn those stories into artisan artbook/CDs – keepsake quality collector’s item souvenirs. Each one includes the “Top 12” stories set to foot-tapping, entertaining music, then punctuated with visual art to make it even more memorable.
Each hard-bound, turned-edge artbook contains the CD, the stories, song lyrics and a wonderful mix of visual art by heritage and contemporary artists. A finely-crafted wooden collector case is also available.
Then, to introduce that collection to the public, they produce a live performance event – a “launch” concert – and Kane County’s will be the biggest yet.
There has been an exceptional amount of pioneering going on in Kane County from the very beginning; from the ancient indigenous tribes all the way to modern-day. One of those pioneering stories centers on Kanab’s own Symphony of the Canyons, which just celebrated its 30th anniversary. Made up of veteran and student musicians, this amazing symphony, augmented with guest artists from Salt Lake orchestras, will perform an overture written by world-renown film composer, Merrill Jenson. The sweeping strings and horns will take the listener back through time from the creation of these astoundingly colorful canyons and, with the able assistance of narrator Sam Payne, famed Utah singer/songwriter and host of KBYU’s “The Appleseed”, will introduce the rest of the stories of the concert.
“A Canyon Peoples’ Portrait” is the name of both the orchestral suite and Kane County’s Legacy Series Art Book/CD. This world premiere will feature a full cast of actors and dancers, the music and songs of a star-studded collection of area singers and songwriters including Cherie Call, Ryan Shupe, Clive Romney, Ryan Tilby, Doug Wintch and Kanab’s own Rachel Findlay. Visual art provided by Utah’s finest artists and photographers will be projected on screen while actors, dancers, singers and musicians portray each scene. It will all be woven together by a narration telling the stories of the Ancestral Puebloans of Kane County, the later Native American nations, and more famous stories about Levi Stewart, Peter Shirts, John Wesley Powell, Thomas Chamberlain, Mary Woolley Chamberlain, the All-Women Town Council, Isaac Black (or John Carling, depending on who you talk to), the Rollaway Saloon, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Jacob Hamblin, and others who have come to settle the area.
The concert will be presented at 7:30pm on both Thursday and Friday nights for $10 per person or $30 per family (age 8 and older, please). In addition, a pioneer-style Dutch Oven Dinner with the visual artists will be available in the High School Gym/Art Gallery at 6:00pm on both nights for $12 per person.
With all these activities converging in this once-in-a-lifetime event, we feel compelled to capture it in a video documentary worthy of a PBS special. Issac Goeckeritz, award-winning documentary filmmaker, is heading up the project. We invite you to visit www.upharts.org and sign up to pre-order one or more copies of this documentary, which will be completed by May 31. Your advance purchase will not only secure you a copy of a world-class keepsake, but your support will also help preserve Kane County’s heritage, help tell some of Utah’s greatest stories to the world, promote economic development and lay the groundwork for the Legacy Series in other Utah counties.
There is much more going on to celebrate the launch of “A Canyon Peoples’ Portrait.” The Inspirational Art Association will be conducting a plein-air (outdoor) painting contest and their works will be on display and for sale in the gym/art gallery. There will be tours of historic homes and buildings in and around Kanab, a photo tour where you’ll learn to photograph the area’s luscious landscape like a real pro, pioneer games and activities for the kids, and pioneer re-enactment performances at the Kanab Library. This promises to be an event to remember for the entire family.
For details and tickets, visit www.ACanyonPeoplesPortrait.com. All proceeds benefit The Symphony of the Canyons and the Mary Woolley Chamberlain Monument Fund.
