An Early History
OF THE GOLD CANYON ARTS COUNCIL
Many people do not remember the first season of the Gold Canyon Arts Council. It is often overlooked by those who were not around at that time. During that first season (1997-1998) the fledgling arts council presented four concerts. The first concert was a part of a much larger international choir festival Jack and Sara were presenting throughout Arizona. The first GCAC concert presented children’s choirs from Hungary, Argentina, Canada and the United States. The final two songs on the concert featured festival choir singers from Ireland, Finland, Mexico, China, Hong Kong and the Rolnička Praha Youth Choir from Prague, Czech Republic. Festival choir singers who attended the festival were 4-8 of the best singers of choirs that could not bring their entire group.
At the end of the first season, a meeting was called on March 16, 1998, to officially seek 501 (c) 3 STATUS for the council. During that meeting, Jack Kukuk discussed the process for establishing a Gold Canyon Arts Council to elect officers to serve as the Founding Directors of the Gold Canyon Arts Council. This board would adopt Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws and approve a budget for the year and seek non-profit status. Following that, the Board would oversee the business of the corporation and promote and support the series.
GOLD CANYON CONCERT SERIES
1997 – 1998
(Initial Short Season)
August 5, 1997
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INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S CHOIR FESTIVAL, Choirs from Hungary, Argentina and Canada; with festival singers form Ireland, Finland, Mexico, China, Hong Kong and the Czech Republic
January through March 1998
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THE PHOENIX BACH CHOIR, Vocal Jazz Octet,
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ZHAO RONGCHUN, Erhu Virtuoso
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JAMES RUSSELL HUNLEY, Classical Guitar
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4 School Residency Activities, 2 Audience Talks & 3 Public Performances
The first official concert of the Gold Canyon Arts Council was presented on August 5, 1997. It was presented in what is now the education building of the Gold Canyon United Methodist Church. This concert was before GCAC received its 591 (c), 3 status. Nevertheless, this was the first official concert of GCAC. The church served as our fiscal agent so we could accept tax exempt donations. All artist fees and production costs for the season were paid for by Sara and Jack Kukuk. Sara and Jack are the Founders of the Arts Council. Jim Mosier was elected GCAC’s President at the next meeting making him the first president of GCAC after it received its corporate status.
Immediately following this season, on March 16, 1998, we held what we erroneously called the “Founding Meeting” at Sara and Jack Kukuk’s home on Whitetail Road to begin the process for the council to receive its status as a tax exempt, non-profit organization. The minutes of that organizational meeting are shown below.
The First President of GCAC, Ed Weiand, was a member of the church choir. He passed away two years later. The founding members are listed in the above minutes with the exception of Sara Russell who was a Founder of the council. Many of the founding members have been long forgotten. We owe them a debt.
There have been many artists in our season.
Here is a list of all who have performed in past seasons.
DATE | PROGRAM |
|---|---|
CANYON SOUNDS 2010-2011 SEASON | |
November 5, 2010 | QUARTETTO GELATO Virtuosic showpieces, romantic tenor arias, gypsy pyrotechniques and a World Accordion Champion – this is Quartetto Gelato. |
January 14, 2011 | DAVID HICKMAN, Trumpet Virtuoso and Miriam Hickman, Accompanist. |
January 22, 2011 | CANYON ARTS FESTIVAL with 80 Visual artists’ booths and featuring, The Desert Sons, Mariachi Pasion, and the Yellow Bird Indian Dancers. |
February 4, 2011 | GINGER GRACE portrays Emily Dickenson, the Belle of Amherst an inspiring biographical portrait of a famous and eccentric spinster, |
February 25, 2011 | The HUTCHINS CONSORT plays on the eight scaled violins of the violin octet designed and built by famed luthier Dr. Carleen Hutchins. |
March 25, 2011 | PHOENIX VOCAL JAZZ is a six-voice ensemble that has delivered exciting performances with tight harmonies for the past twelve years. |
CANYON SOUNDS 2011-2012 SEASON | |
Friday, November 18, 2011 | THE MASK MESSENGER is an engaging mix of monologue, physical comedy, and theatre, a tour de force solo performance that explores the artistic, cultural, and theatre, a tour de force solo performance that explores the artistic, cultural, and psychological use of masks throughout history. |
Sunday, December 18, 2011 | The Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus celebrated its 70th anniversary during the 2009-2010 season. |
Friday, January 20, 2012 | JEFFREY SIEGEL, Pianist, Jeffrey Siegel presents Keyboard Conversations®, a unique, concert-plus-commentary format in which he speaks to the audience about the music before performing each work in its entirety. |
Saturday, January 28, 2012 | with nearly 100 visual artists and performing artists. |
Friday, February 24, 2012 | THE BOREALIS WIND QUINTET, nominated for a 2006 Grammy Award in theTHE BOREALIS WIND QUINTET, nominated for a 2006 Grammy Award in the Chamber Music Category, is acclaimed as one of America’s preeminent chamber ensembles |
Friday, March 9, 2012 | AMERICA CHAMBER PLAYERS - Among today's most exciting and innovative chamber music ensembles, |
2012-2013 CANYON SOUNDS SEASON | |
November 16, 2012 | LA CATRINA STRING QUARTET - Hailed by Yo Yo Ma as wonderful ambassadors for music, the La Catrina String Quartet is one of the most sought after ensembles on tour today. |
Friday, January 18, 2013 | SPANISH BRASS LUUR METALLS – Brass Quintet - The ensemble tours all over the world and are considered to be one of the top brass quintets along with the Empire Brass and Canadian Brass. |
Saturday, January 26, 2013 | CANYON ARTS FESTIVAL with 87 visual artists, food and community group vendors and parforming artists. |
February, 15, 2013 | “TOGETHER AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME” - This two person show offers music from Broadway and beyond and features Broadway stars, Jeri Sager and Franc D’Ambrosio. |
Friday, March 8, 2013 | "CHARLES LINDBERGH: THE LONE EAGLE" - This one man show by Steve Carroll offers new insight into the life of Charles Lindbergh. |
Friday, April 5, 2013 | CLARINET AND ALL THAT JAZZ - Richard Stoltzman, a two-time Grammy Award winner azzles audiences with his masterful performances in all genres of music |
A LOOK BACK AT THE PAST TWELVE YEARS OF THE CANYON ARTS FESTIVAL
By Jack Kukuk, Artistic Director, Gold Canyon Arts Council
Ruth Johnson and Jack Kukuk first presented the idea of the Canyon Festival to the Gold Canyon Arts Council Board at one of the regular meetings held at the home of Abe and Ingrid Dye. We encountered some initial concerns that we would not be able to find enough volunteers to present the festival. The festival was a free gift to the community for their support of the arts council and its Canyon Sounds Artist Season.
The first festival was originally scheduled at Apacheland and was to include gunfighters Apache Basket Weavers and food provided by the San Carlos Apache Cultural Center, and hay wagon rides. Festival coordinators were Ruth Johnson and Jack Kukuk. Unfortunately, on Friday, the day before the festival was scheduled, it began to rain and Apacheland became a sea of mud. We quickly arranged to use the Gold Canyon Elementary School gymnasium for the performances. The only event that was held at Apacheland that year was a seminar on cowboy poets with Warren Miller, Director of the Prescott Cowboy Poet Roundup. All other performances were moved to the school. As a result of the change in venue, we decided to use the school courtyard for the second year and have the gymnasium for a rain date venue. In 2011, we moved the festival to the parking area of the Gold Canyon United Methodist Church.
Following the first festival a wonderful thing happened. Kay Olsson suggested that she would be willing to arrange for visual artists to present their art works in the school courtyard as a part of the festival. With the coming of Kay Olsson the festival, as we see it today, was off and running.
The original concern about having enough volunteers has long since passed. We are very grateful for the dozens of volunteers that show up each year, rain or shine. Following Kay’s chairmanship, we have had several visual arts chairs including Becky and Larry Roth, Skip Cary, Marilyn Barton, and Bob Homann. Each has put their own stamp on the festival and each deserves great credit for the work they have done.
As the chairman of the music and dance performances for the festival, it has been my pleasure to present many fine performers on our stages. Always, the aim is to present top quality performers and to maintain as great a variety as possible. As I prepared to write this article, I decided to look back at the history of the festival and see who the performers have been. I believe we have had some wonderful groups in the past ten years. Since we are looking back I thought you would be interested in seeing which groups have performed. I am quite pleased with these artists. I hope you have been as well.
Past Canyon Arts Festival performers
2001
Desert Sons Western Music
Yellowbird Indian Dancers
Nosotros, Latin American musicians
2002
Roughstrings Western Music
Yellowbird Indian Dancers
Nosotros, Latin American musicians
2003
Houser Family Band
Pro Arts Trio
Mariachi Corazon de Phoenix
Yellowbird Indian Dancers
2004
Arizona Ragtime Dixieland Jazz Band
Native Spirit, Brian Hammill
Pioneer Pepper & the Sunset Pioneers
InFolkMotion Dance Ensemble
2005
Pioneer Pepper & the Sunset Pioneers
Yellow Bird Indian Dancers
Arizona Ragtime Dixieland Jazz Band
Caribbean Zone
2006
First Arizona Banjo Band
Pioneer Pepper & the Sunset Pioneers
Yellow Bird Indian Dancers
Vista del Camino Ballet Folklorico
In FolkMotion Dance Ensemble
2007
Pioneer Pepper & the Sunset Pioneers
Mariachi Los Rebeldes
Yellowbird Indian Dancers
2008
Pioneer Pepper & the Sunset Pioneers
Houser Family Band
Native Spirit, Brian Hammill
The Mountain Chordsman
2009
Flamenco del Sol, Spanish Dance
Yellow Bird Indian Dancers
Arizona Ragtime Dixieland Jazz Band
Pioneer Pepper & the Sunset Pioneers
2010
Primavera Mexican Ballet Folklorico
Mariachi los Rebeldes
Sonoran Desert Brass Quintet
Pioneer Pepper & the Sunset Pioneers
2011
Mariachi Pasion
Desert Sons
Yellow Bird Indian Dancers
AJUSD High School Jazz Lab and Color Guard
2012
The 52nd Street Dixieland Jazz Band
Leisure World Chordsmen Nick Manson/Mike Crotty Quartet
Un Corazón Flamenco
Mariachi los Rebeldes
Native Spirit - Brian Hammill
2013
Rained out