Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 7, 2008

YELLOWKNIFE - Holly Darkes of Fort Smith will entertain audiences in Yellowknife and Hay River this weekend, and she's got more than half a lifetime of practice behind her performances.

Darkes began playing the piano at the age of 10, and with some encouragement from her parents, eventually turned her interest into something much bigger.

Holly Darkes will perform on piano this weekend in Yellowknife and Hay River. - photo courtesy of Northern Arts and Cultural Centre

"When I was about 10 or 11, my parents bought a piano and first I just started learning pieces on my own, and then I started taking lessons and I really loved it so I kept going," she said.

She eventually made her way into schools in Victoria, B.C., where she attained several qualifications as a musician including her bachelor of music. During her time away, she had many opportunities to perform, but she said she likes opportunities to play at home.

"It's always nice to perform to a home audience. I guess it's also kind of nice because a lot of the music I play up here people wouldn't hear it otherwise," she said.

Mainly, the type of music she plays is classical. She said she enjoys playing music by Brahms and Bach, and also enjoys chamber music.

"In chamber music, I really enjoy the communication between the players and just the level. You get to know the other players and interact with them," she said.

Her performances this weekend, however, will be solo. On Friday night, she will play at Northern Arts and Cultural Centre in Yellowknife starting at 8 p.m., and on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. she will perform at the Hay River Centennial Library.

"I've never performed in Hay River before," she said. "I'm looking forward to it a lot."

Holly Darkes' performances are the first of NACC's Northern Performers Series 2008. During the series, a few of the NWT's performers will bring their acts to different parts of the territory.

"Up until three years ago, there wasn't really so much happening in the communities," said Ozgur Culha of NACC. "This is part of our mandate to reach every community in the North."

In this particular series, five musicians - including Jesse James, Theresa Pamplin, Pat Braden, Tyler Hawkins and Darkes - will perform for audiences from Hay River and Yellowknife.

NACC's goal is to gradually expand the series into something much larger during the next few years.

For now, the first will begin with the classical music of one of the NWT's talented young musicians, Darkes.