Well, not exactly, but that’s how it feels when we see the sold-out numbers for the upcoming Gertrudes concert at Wintergreen. Our Facebook event and posts, our Tweets, and our excellent word-of-mouthing has really paid off and we are expecting more than a full house on May 11th. We have a wonderful meal planned which will include and not be limited to: a three bean and coffee chilli (vegan), a chicken chocolate chilli, corn bread, a big green salad with oranges, pumpkin seeds and red onion, quesadillas, and fruit crisp for dessert. Hooah! So what else will guests experience on Saturday? Well, the incredible sounds of The Gertrudes, of course. They are planning a mainly mellow show to complement the beautiful environment that Wintergreen provides. The sun will be streaming in the window as the end of the days are growing lighter and softer. Crickets will be accompanists as well as the sound of “spring peepers” from the small pond outside the kitchen window. The leaves, blossoms, tulips and wildflowers will be bursting into life next weekend, and the aroma of freshness will permeate the main lodge from the wide open windows. At Wintergreen, we believe that all of these natural elements are part of your experience, and we are sure that you will be as seduced by the woodland paths and fresh lake breezes as you are by the delicious food, delightful company, and uplifting music.

At 6pm on Saturday, April 27th, Lawrence Hill will be finishing up his residency and writing workshop at Wintergreen Studios. He will read from The Book of Negroes following a gourmet dinner from our cookbook, A Taste of Wintergreen. To fully set the stage, you need to imagine a celebratory atmosphere. Emerging and established writers will have spent a week thinking, writing and exploring new and better ways to express their experiences and ideas. Amidst the clink of glasses and cutlery, guests who attend the dinner will catch glimpses of faraway looks on the faces of workshop participants. They will still be dreaming of poems that need better endings, stories that need stronger openings, and personal essays that call out like sirens for more research, clearer language, better structure. The creative energy in the air will be palpable by the time dessert and coffee arrives and Lawrence Hill himself takes centre stage.

Lawrence Hill is the son of American immigrants — a black father and a white mother — who came to Canada the day after they married in 1953 in Washington, D.C. On his father’s side, Hill’s grandfather and great grandfather were university-educated, ordained ministers of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His mother came from a Republican family in Oak Park, Illinois, graduated from Oberlin College and went on to become a civil rights activist in D.C. The story of how they met, married, left the United States and raised a family in Toronto is described in Hill’s bestselling memoir Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada (HarperCollins Canada, 2001). Growing up in the predominantly white suburb of Don Mills, Ontario in the sixties, Hill was greatly influenced by his parents’ work in the human rights movement. Much of Hill’s writing touches on issues of identity and belonging.

And belonging is just what you will experience at Lawrence Hill’s reading. The words of an author hail a listener, inviting you to enter into the world of their creation. As more than one author has said, hearing a writer you love read from their work is much like attending a live concert. “Yes, it’s true you could enjoy listening to your favourite music in the comfort of your own home but there’s something special about being in the presence of the artist as he/she performs”. (Daniel Olivas, The Book of Want).” At Wintergreen Studios, on several occasions this year, it will be the music of words that accompany our evening gatherings.

To register for this Dinner & Event, click here. For more information about our Dinner & Event series, click here.

Join us for a splendid evening on Saturday April 13 (the freezing rain will be all gone by then!). Dinner is served at 6:00 pm, Triola plays at 7:30 pm. To secure a spot and purchase tickets online, click here.

After a tasty hot meal, you will enjoy an unusual evening of live music, as Triola becomes a “live” iPod shuffle, playing from a song list provided at each table and with an incredible range of genres including Baroque, blues, jazz, show tunes, opera, classical, waltzes, and Irish airs — you name it, they’ll play it! The Triola players — Gisèle Szczesniak(violin), Eileen Beaudette (viola), and Melinda Raymond (violin) — are professional musicians, and principal players of the Kingston Symphony. Collectively, they have trained at the Universities of Yale, Queen’s, Toronto, and at le Conservatoire de Montréal. Their individual performing credits include CBC broadcasts, work in the National Arts Centre, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Peterborough, Mississauga, Quinte Orchestras, commercial recordings, solo, and chamber work in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

.

Our initiative, to raise funds through Indiegogo to bring talented youth out to Wintergreen to take Lawrence Hill’s or Helen Humphreys’ writing workshop, brought us into contact with our first fantastic nominee. Hannah Ellsworth is the young person we all wish we’d been! A self-starter, Hannah’s dedication to the literary arts began early. She attended the LEAP program at Calvin Park Public School in grades seven and eight, and graduated with the Subject Award in English and the School Award for Literacy. At La Salle Secondary School she often delivered pieces of spoken writing at assemblies, and presented a poem dedicated to the class of 2012 at her graduation. She received the Kenneth Campbell Memorial Reward for Writing and the Domino Theatre Award, the Subject Awards for English, Graphic Design, Philosophy, Drama, and Writer’s Craft, as well as two Jeremy Hicks Salt of the Earth Awards for citizenship. She is currently enrolled in the Theatre Complete Focus Program where she studies playwriting and acting. She attends a weekly Dual Credit class at the St. Lawrence campus in Brockville to study Musical Theatre, and is completing her co-op placement with Kingston This Week four days a week after school. She is currently the Managing Editor of YAP, a Youth Arts Anthology project which is publishing the work of young local artists and writers and will be released this summer. In her spare time, she volunteers in the divisions of the Youth Diversion Program (YDP) and the Limestone District School Board (LDSB), delivering brief lectures about the importance of mediation processes and performing in community theatre projects with the program. She also freelances as a photographer, writer, and editor. Next year, she will be attending Trent University for her double major in Journalism and English.

She says of Lawrence Hill that he ”is a role model to so many writers; not only for his international acclaim, but because of the topics he chooses to write about. Hill addresses social issues that are difficult to put into words, and the fact that he does so is not only skillful, but brave. As a young writer who also seeks to tackle social issues in my writing, the opportunity to work with and gain insight from him is a once in a lifetime opportunity. As a writer and actress, I would also be honoured to work with a recipient of the Bob Edwards Reward for curiosity and expressionism, granted by Alberta Theatre Projects. I am a huge fan of his work, and view this opportunity as the chance to learn from him as a teacher. Hopefully this can become a reality!”

We have almost raised the full amount to send Hannah out to Wintergreen. If you are as inspired by this young woman as we are, please click here to get to the Indiegogo campaign where you can add anything from $10 to $1000 to our growing total.

Rena Upitis, our fearless leader of all things Wintergreen, formidable editor, excellent chef, musician and mother, is receiving the highest research award that Queen’s University offers for her work with, among other projects, the iSCORE project she initiated last year. The Queen’s Award for Excellence in Research will be proffered to the professor at a ceremony on Thursday, March 7th at 7pm in the Chernoff Auditorium. For many years, Rena’s work has been focused on the impact of music on the development of youth both in and out of the classroom. There are many studies exploring how learning a musical instrument improves cognition scores in maths and languages, and that the discipline required to learn technical skill serves students well in other areas of their life as well. Rena goes further, however, with her study of music in child and youth development. She sees connections between, for example, a child’s decision-making process following years of music training.

In her own words: “It is hard work being an artist, for our disciplines require a high level of technical skill and judgment. One of the things we learn from the arts is how to make judgments in the absence of clear rules. I am sure that every important life decision I have made has been done so in the absence of clear rules.”

Which is why Wintergreen Studios functions so fluidly and organically. Each member of the Wintergreen community functions like a member of an orchestra, and each contribution is recognized as being unique and important. We are so proud of our accomplished pianist this week, and every week!