If you want high level musical entertainment, Gord Oppen is your man.
Oppen moved to the North Island approximately two and a half years ago after living in Edmonton for 10 years, and he said music has always been a huge part of his life since he was just a young kid with a snare drum.
Over the years, Oppen has continually been involved in organizing live music, with the first annual Hyde Creek Music Festival last summer being the most notable for the North Island.
“Myself and my co-conspirator, Randy Wilson, were able to get a sense that there’s a huge appetite for music up here,” said Oppen when asked about how the music festival came to be. “The more musicians we connected with, it really seemed the communities would get behind this and wanted it. The festival had so many people pitch their skills in and it became this wicked little community army.”
The festival turned out to be a hugely successful endeavour, one that is still talked about to this day.
But the Hyde Creek Music Festival isn’t the only thing Oppen has had his hands in when it comes to live music.
He has been instrumental in bringing various forms of entertainment to the Gate House Theatre, with one of the most notable events being an open mic night.
“We try and deliver a safe haven environment,” noted Oppen, “and it has been rewarding due to all the young people who get their first opportunity to be on the stage. It’s been a great success and we’re really happy people have been coming out and supporting it.”
As far as being recognized by the community for all of his hard work, Oppen stated he’s “grateful, but to be frank, this little community has done so much for me in helping my family get our legs back under us. The little bit we’ve given pales in comparison to what we’ve been given. Moving here was the first time in my life I moved somewhere I didn’t know a single soul. But this town has been so good to us.”
Catch Oppen playing live this year with his band at FILOMI Days in Port Hardy.
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