Community Cabaret

The New People are partnering with The Fergus Grand Theatre and the community to bring you an incredible night of Community Cabaret! This Pay-What-You-Can, all-ages event is accessible for community members of all ages and will feature amazing talents of:

CxViolet & The New People
Peter Piper
Just Sing Choir
Kara Shaw
Michele Mercer

Tickets will be available at the door. A portion of the proceeds will go to the non-profit organization, The Awesome Music Project who uses music to help start important conversations around mental health, and The Groves Health Hubs.

Community Cabaret Poster

About The Workshop Before The Show

On top of this incredible night of Cabaret, The New People are offering a free workshop for artists looking to develop their online and in-person audience, run by The Lost Chair Society's Creative Director, Stevie Tea, who helped multiple theatres and artists across Canada grow connections to their fans and communities.

The Workshop begins at 5:15pm - attendance is free - arrive between 5:00pm and 5:15pm. You can also reserve your spot by emailing stevie@thenewpeoplemusic.ca

About Stevie Tea

Stevie is a former Director of Marketing at Weavik - a web2 and 3 product house. He has businesses and theatres, via Trimmed Creative, how to create campaigns and content to target younger demographics/tracking leads to retarget. He has led workshops for presenters and artists at local theatres and events like Contact OnTour/Ontario Presents.

Stevie is also a co-owner and producer of Lost Chair Society, an indie publishing and production house launched in late 2022, working with Video Game companies, Music Directors, and Digital Creatives.

About the Line-Up

Peter Hummel

Peter is a local resident and Piper in our community. He is a member of the Guelph Pipe Band and competitive piper, official piper of Riverfest Elora, and has played for 3 years at 7:30 in Support of Frontline works during the pandemic - he has also been seen on the CBC!

Kara Shaw

From Kara herself:

"I was born on August 18^th, 1989 in Hamilton Ontario in the neonatal unit of Chedoke McMaster Hospital. I was born at 23 weeks gestation and weighed 1 lb. 4 oz. As a result of life saving intervention, I am totally blind and I have Asperger’s Syndrome.

I was adopted at the age of 10 months and became the youngest of five children. I have three older brothers and an older sister. My oldest sister sadly passed away from Cystic Fibrosis in August of 2021. I grew up on a farm near Arthur Ontario. My mother is a music teacher and she began to teach me to play the piano when I was 2 ½ years old. I attended Arthur Public School. My first public performance occurred when I played “Pomp and Circumstance” at my own kindergarten graduation. The following year, I played for my kindergarten teacher’s wedding. I have played for many graduations and weddings since that time.

After graduating from Arthur Public School, I attended Wellington Heights Secondary School in Mount Forest Ontario, where I learned to play the flute. In grade 11, I chose to go to the W. Ross MacDonald School for the Blind in Brantford Ontario. I lived in residence for three years while I finished high school and took advantage of many courses designed specifically for blind people. During this time I was active in the school’s excellent music programme. I had the privilege of studying piano and vocal with Tim Boyd. I was a member of the school’s choir and performed locally and as far away as Ohio and West Virginia. I graduated from the W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind in June 2010.

During my life I have performed at many schools, churches, retirement homes and fund raisers. I have performed at the Rogers Centre; Toronto Ontario, The Kitchener Auditorium; Kitchener Ontario, The River Run Centre; Guelph Ontario, the Invictus Games in Toronto and the Grand Theatre in Fergus Ontario. I have performed on 570 News Radio, Rogers and Cogeco Cable T.V. and am currently co-hosting a show on Radio Waterloo.

I have released three C.D.’s and have composed several pieces of music. I have composed a sound track for “The Prince and the Pauper”. This play was performed in Cambridge Ontario on May 27, 28 and 29, 2011. I played the music for all performances. I was a music director for Anne and Gilbert in 2014 at the Fergus Grand Theatre. I am currently employed as the music director of St. John’s United Church in Belwood."

Just Sing Choir!

Just Sing, is a warm and welcoming lady's choir that sings for the sheer joy of singing.

It is directed by Beth Becker and the choirs sing a large variety of music. There are two branches, one in Guelph and the other that rehearses in Breslau.

An incredible fact about the group is that no prior experience is needed as we learn our music from recorded tracks. We are always welcoming new members. We rehearse once a week and love to sing out in the community for charity events!

Michele Mercer

Michele Mercer is from Newfoundland and has been living here in Fergus since 1994. She has been performing in nursing and retirement homes for the last 14 years as well as Community events.

CxViolet & The New People

Canadian Alt-Pop artist, CxViolet, blends Pop melodies, Hip Hop rhythms, Classical composition, and Punk aesthetics to create a one-of-a-kind experience.

In 2022, Violet teamed up with The New People Collective (TNP). Together the team has been producing new tracks and performing concert cuts from their immersive mini-musical story (debuting in VR and in theatres across the country in 2023-2024).

As Violet + TNP continue to release new music (including The Hackerboy Archives in September of 2023) and connect with their growing audience, they are working hard to embrace an authenticity-first mentality based on meaningful connections with their community.