Melinda Minch Music

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April 27, 2026

RE: The Bald Eagles and Gilbert and Sullivan!

Whoops, I have a correction to make to this email. May 3rd is this Sunday, not this Saturday. Special thanks to those who pointed that one out, and I hope to see you there at Camas Day!

Thanks,

Melinda

Hi friends,

I am playing a ton of fun music on the next three weekends, so here I am in your inbox to tell you all about it. If you’re wondering why it’s hard to get me to come hang out with you at the moment, look no further.

May 3rd: Kwetlal Day in Uplands Park

The Kwetlal (Camas) is blooming right now and I’ll be out on Saturday with The Bald Eagles to celebrate it!

A poster with details about Camas Day, presented by Friends of Uplands Park. To the left, there are event details, like:

- it is the 80th anniversary of Uplands Park
- Camas Day is Sunday, May 3 2026 from noon-3pm
- It is at Beach Drive Field at the entrance to Cattle Point
- There will be live music with The Bald Eagles, displays from environmental organizations, guided camas meadow walks, free refreshments, family activities, and prizes of native plants.

To the right, there is a photo of a person standing in front of a meadow of blooming camas, and a lot of sponsor logos for this event.
Spring is officially well underway now.

Come to Cattle Point this Saturday afternoon for a free celebration of this beautiful and ecologically important plant, and listen to some sunny-day tunes from us while you’re there. You can read more about the ecosystem in Uplands Park and its history here.

May 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th: Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers

For the following two weekends, I’ll be in the pit for The Gondoliers, which is a very silly operetta. It’s my very first time being involved in a Gilbert and Sullivan production, and it’s every bit as goofy and fun as you might expect that it would be. It has all the things that I’ve missed about playing musical theatre - crazy key changes, fast page turns, silly jokes, a nonsense plot, and staying on your toes to accompany a live soloist who could do anything at any time. It also has dancing, star-crossed lovers, satire directed at aristocrats and the Grand Inquisitor of Spain shows up in Venice for… uh, reasons?

A poster for The Gondoliers, A comic operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan. Peter Butterfield is the music director and conductor; Rachel Moss is the stage director and choreographer; Elizabeth Sly and Linda Troke are the producers. The rest is ticket information that is elsewhere in this message.
Come get your Tra La La on, you know you want to

It plays the first weekend at the Dave Dunnett Theatre at Oak Bay High School; Saturday, May 9th at 7:30pm and Sunday, May 10th at 2pm. You can get tickets here. If you want to hang out with Eldan and my parents, they’ll be at the May 10th show.

The second weekend is at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney, and it’s two matinees, both at 2pm on May 16th and 17th. Tickets are available here, and they’re going fast - Sidney loves a silly operetta, I guess!

Either way, come lean over the side of the pit and say hi to me if you’re there.

But wait, there’s more…

May 30th: Civic Orchestra of Victoria

June 6th: String Quartet benefit show for Friends of Bowker Creek

And as always, thanks for listening!

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