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Artists finding new energy By Susan Lagsdin
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t’s always a pleasure talking with artists about their projects, but it’s especially nice to check in after a few years and hear about continuing growth and new directions. The current professional lives of these five, profiled in The Good Life in 2010 and 2011, remind us that successfully making art in the Wenatchee Valley area takes a combination of love, labor, luck and a whole lot of creative talent.
Nancy Zahn
(From our first interview: “We were singing two-part harmony in the car when I was two!” With vocal and instrumental lessons through childhood, Nancy was 13 when she first heard Ella Fitzgerald “and I knew that smoky, emotional, seductive, athletic voice was the exact way I wanted to sing.”) Local chanteuse Nancy Zahn has enjoyed singing for three years at Caffe Mela’s Live Jazz night, expanding beyond her classic jazz repertoire. She appreciates the “mega talents” that join in, and said, “There are some nights when I realize — this group could play anywhere in the world!” Last summer, she had a role in Rocky Horror Picture Show at
Nancy Zahn: Bringing her own brand of blues-y jazz to every performance, like this one at the Holiday Spice concert.
the PAC, and had a great time working with talented producer/ directors Jamie Donegan and Don Fox. “It was certainly the most exciting theater experience of my life,” she said, “and fulfilled a craving for a certain freedom on stage … Now I want more!” When Rocky closed, Nancy took on her new role as director of the Holiday Spice Show, the grand opener of the PAC’s Numerica Festival of Trees. This year, there were 147 performers, with, she said, “the absolute finest voices in north central Washington.” She’s already planning next year’s production, hoping again for another sold-out show. When Nancy returned to singing in 2002 after a hiatus, her first venture out was a performance at the Merc Playhouse in Twisp, her original hometown venue. The Merc holds a special place in her heart, she said, so she’s planning another concert there soon.
Charley Voorhis
(From our first interview: Leavenworth filmmaker Charley Voorhis knows that art is sometimes discovery, not invention.
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| The Good Life
“My favorite moment is when I finally say I GOT IT! — when something I’ve envisioned, planned and plotted comes to life through my lens. OR even better, when a magic moment happens that I didn’t plan on.”) Charley Voorhis was busy coaching his students at the Technology Center to win national videography competitions when he was last interviewed. This June he left that teaching job to pursue fulltime production with his own company, Voortex Productions. That big step lead to hiring four team members to assist him, as well as a move from his home studio to a space above Arlberg Sports in the Grand Central Building in downtown Wenatchee. It’s been a busy season with recent videos created for Wine Yakima Valley, Centricity Software and Alatheia Riding Center. A Wenatchee Chamber of Commerce piece will be completed in March. Charley said, “I feel lucky and blessed to be able to do what I love.” And here’s an enviable birthday present. This September Charley celebrated his 30th
www.ncwgoodlife.com
| January 2014
Charley Voorhis: Now running his own video production company.
birthday in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons; while he was there he shot a film for himself called Primordial. He describes a surprisingly rapid claim to fame for the personal project: “It has since been awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick, been posted to over 200 blogs and viewed almost 100,000 times. Also the Discovery Channels show The Daily Planet soon will be highlighting it in one of their episodes.”
Luke Boyce
(From our first interview: Unabashedly, he admitted, “I love making other people happy,