Former Newmarket resident Sarah Parkin is taking the stage at Canada House in the U.K. as part of a virtual Canada Day celebration.
The event is hosted by the Canada-UK Foundation, a 50-year-old charity promoting Canada in the U.K. through education, awareness and fundraising.
“The event we’re putting on is at Canada House on June 29 featuring what we’re calling four of Canada’s freshest, most hard-working talents” the foundation’s chief executive officer Wanda Hamilton said. “Sarah is one of those and a singer that we really love and we’re looking forward to having her at Canada House.”
The building, located in Trafalgar Square is home to the High Commission of Canada in the U.K., however, the foundation is not connected to the government.
“I’m so excited!” Parkin said. “I’ve never been to Canada House and I’ve always wanted to go.”
The singer spent her early life in Newmarket, participating and performing in the community through things like Celebration of the Arts and the Newmarket Theatre.
“I performed a lot at the Newmarket Theatre. I feel like I grew up there to be honest,” she said.
Parkin also credited first singing teacher, Irene Ilic, for helping her get started.
“She is a community leader in Newmarket when it comes to singing and performing, and has run the Newmarket Voice Festival for 25 years, which is where my love of performing started,” she said.
The singer went to University of Toronto and then in 2012 moved to Manchester and later to London where she currently works in music education.
She said while it’s hard to earn money as an artist anywhere, she found the U.K. was her best chance to pursue her dreams.
“In London, I make my life entirely from music. From playing shows, or working with children, or doing outreach work or performance or recording, anything. You name it, we do it and then I can make a living from that,” she said.
The award-winning soprano will be joining Juno-nominated singer Storry, artist Cecilia Livingston, and dancer Cesar Corrales for the virtual event.
Like Parkin, all of the guests are Canadians but have connections to the United Kingdom.
Not only will they be sharing their talents but the performers will be speaking about their careers, their lives off-stage, and Canada-U.K. mobility.
“We’re really looking at how promoting ties between Canada and the U.K have been beneficial for the careers of some of the young Canadians that we’re featuring,” Hamilton said.
The event is taking place Tuesday, June 29, just days before Canada Day as part of what Hamilton called their “Canada Week” celebrations.
It takes place from 5 to 6 p.m. U.K. time, so it would be at noon for people in Newmarket wanting to watch, the live stream is free but there are a limited number of tickets, you are encouraged to register soon.
