I was honoured to be directly involved in creating work for two performances in the 2025 Celebrating Gaia Series in partnership with Gail O’Riordan Climate and the Arts Legacy Fund.
The first included a collection of my personal images shown at Christ Church Cathedral as a part of a fabulous concert by the Emily Carr String Quartet and the second being the creation of Beyond VIMY, a creative remembrance that premiered to a sold-out audience at the Mary Winspear Theatre.
This 7-minute video features highlights from the premiere performance of Beyond VIMY, a 110-minute live stage production presented October 25, 2025 by the Creatively United for the Planet Society in honour and remembrance of the importance of peace and the sacrifices made by incredible individuals to ensure our sovereignty, freedoms and democracy remain intact.
More than 600,000 Canadians served in WWI, almost 10% of Canada’s population at the time. Of those, 60,000 Canadians were killed, most under the age of 30, in a war that became known as “the war to end all wars.” Despite it all, WWII occurred and Remembrance Day followed.
This creatively Canadian remembrance is anchored by the Juno-nominated band The Fugitives and includes letters and songs written by WWI Canadian soldiers with the melody and arrangements re-written by Brendan McLeod and Adrian Glynn with the original lyrics remaining intact.
Visit CreativelyUnited.org to learn more about this production and the cast.
Beyond VIMY
Presented by the Creatively United for the Planet Society
Producer: Frances Litman
Co-producer: Blair Ketcheson
Featuring:
The Fugitives
Brendan McLeod and Adrian Glynn (songwriters)
Chris Suen (banjo), violinist Carley Frey
Pipe Major Roger McGuire
Voice overs by:
Jason Geddes, Dean Kalyan, David Schwab, Barbara Parker, David Shaw
Vimy National Memorial monologue:
Blair Ketcheson
Dancers: Andrea Bayne and Peter Starr
Cellist: Amy Laing
Members of the Victoria Philharmonic Choir:
Peter Butterfield (Choir Director)
Alex Chen, Flori Ens, Robin Hine, Shelley Hordiyuk, Aidan Johnston, Valerie Kuehne, Sherry LePage, Graeme Linton, Holly Melville, Hannah Nickel, Rachel Nield, Jon O’Riordan, Christon Smith
A 2025 Celebrating Gaia Series Event sponsored by the Gail O’Riordan Climate and the Arts Legacy Fund/Victoria Foundation
With support from:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Lifestyle Markets
InternationalPeaceCharter.org
Barbara Armstrong, Ray Harris
Horne Coupar LLP
McAvoy Rule & Co.
@2025 Creatively United for the Planet Society
