The final Picnic at the Piano concert of the 2024 season takes place tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept. 18) at the Okotoks Art Gallery.
The Prairie Belles Trio, which includes Madeline Bailey, Amberly Steed and Karen Dees, will perform a free outdoor concert beginning at noon.
Bring a picnic lunch and a blanket to enjoy the family-friendly concert sponsored by the Town of Okotoks and the Okotoks Arts Council.
In the event of poor weather, the event will move inside the art gallery.
Bailey has played violin for over 25 years, including 14 years as a violin educator. She has performed with a variety of ensembles and orchestras, including the University of Lethbridge Conservatory Orchestra, Coulee Fiddlers, the Calgary Civic Symphony, Symphony of the Kootenays and Calgary Jazz Orchestra, among others.
In 2022, Bailey founded the Wild Rose Youth Strings orchestra with friend and colleague Dees.
Steed began her piano studies at age five, and progressed through the Royal Conservatory program through Grade 10. She then attended the University of Lethbridge and completed a bachelor of music in piano performance. She continues to teach piano, and she accompanies the Foothills Philharmonic Chorus.
Dees has been playing cello since the age of 10, taking lessons and playing in a variety of junior orchestras until 18 when she passed her Grade 9 RCM exam with honours. She continued to play even after getting married and starting a family.
These days, she is busy with several initiatives, including a private cello studio in High River, a lunchtime string group at Brant Christian School and together with Bailey, she runs the Wild Rose Youth Strings program. She is also principal cellist of the Foothills Philharmonic Orchestra.
