Singing Barista raises more than $25,000 for Kids’ Water Spray Park

Sunny Shams, mild-mannered barista, used his formidable musical talent to raise more than $25,000 for a new Rotary Water Spray Park for kids. On July 26th and 27th, Sunny and his friends entertained near sold-out audiences at the Charlie White Theatre in Sidney.

Sunny—who is both a Lyric Tenor and a jazz pianist with a loyal following in Victoria—invited friends to help him put on one of the concerts of the year. Sunny’s first set of jazz standards, performed with Lukas Peladeau and Don Leppard, set everyone’s toes tapping. More than one attendee said they had “tears in their eyes” at the end of the concert, when they realized the depth and range of this young man’s talent. Also revealed was another up and coming talent, Adam Sakiyama. This recent graduate of Stelly’s Secondary sang, played the piano and left the audience wanting more. The opera duets and trios sung by Sunny and his friends, Sahara Sloan and Javier Gutierrez, soared and flew, thrilling the audience. A teen-aged attendee (who prefers to remain nameless) said she “loved the opera portion of the program!”

Chair of the Organizing Committee, Fraser Smith, expressed his pride in both Sunny and the community that came out to hear him. “Sunny is a consummate performer, who contributed every penny of profit to help build a water spray park for the children of this community. Sidney has produced a fine, talented young man who is selfless about giving back to the town that nurtured him.”

“Our service clubs contribute enormously to life on the Saanich Peninsula and I decided I wanted to help,” says Sunny. “I am so pleased that I was able to help the Sidney by the Sea Rotary club in its efforts to build a children’s water spray park in our town.”

The Water Spray Park will benefit local children and add to the tourism value of the Town of Sidney. The campaign to fund the children’s water spray park is almost complete.The Sidney by the Sea Rotary Club will hold a “reverse draw” in October, which will conclude the fundraising.

Sunny Shams and Coordinating Committee Chair Fraser Smith.

Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 32,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.

TICKET INFORMATION

SUNNY SHAMS and FRIENDS will be presented at the Charlie White Theatre in the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney, July 26th and 27th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available at the box office: phone 656-0275.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

THE PROJECT — "SUNNY and the KIDS" is a two-part effort to raise $30,000 for the Rotary Kids Water Spray Park whilst showcasing Sidney's own music sensation, Sunny Shams—operatic tenor and jazz musician. Three hundred Saanich Peninsula students will be guests of the community to listen to one of their own perform at the concert dress rehearsal.

THE EVENT —There will be two back to back musical concerts at the end of July featuring “SUNNY SHAMS AND FRIENDS” performing classical opera as well as contemporary jazz. The performance will include other local musicians and singers, including two peninsula students who may well be performing for a paid audience for the first time in their life. Six peninsula schools will select their musical “Idol” to represent their school, and these six nominees will perform for adjudicators prior to the concerts, at the dress rehearsal. The adjudicators will choose two students to be introduced to the audience by Sunny, and they will perform for you each concert evening.

THE FUND-RAISING —Saanich Peninsula businesses, families, associations and individuals will be approached to finance seats for the 300 students to attend the dress rehearsal for the concert. Every dollar raised will go in its entirety to fund the Rotary Water Spray Park for the kids. If you would like to support the water park and finance students into the dress rehearsal at the same time, please let us know at info@sunnyshams.com or phone LuAnn at 656-7077. The price is $100 per student, and a tax receipt will be issued for personal contributions.

SUNNY GETS LAUNCHED!

Mark your calendar now for the evenings of July 26 and 27 at the Charlie White Theatre where you will be enjoying for the first time in Sidney’s history, a dual-genre musical evening of classical opera and contemporary jazz. The program is unique because the operatic tenor who will sing for you and titillate your soul, is also the leader of the jazz trio that will charm your sensibilities.

It is unique yet again because the musician is staging the event as a fund raiser for the Sidney by the Sea Rotary Club’s new community project, a water park for the kids on the Peninsula. Perhaps most unique of all, the tenor and jazz pianist doing the fund raiser for the kids was, until this month, a Sidney teenager. He turned 20 on the 4th of June. You know him as Sunny, one of the baristas at Alexander’s Coffee in Sidney.

Sunny is a very quiet fellow with presence beyond his years. He is soft spoken, somewhat shy, very polite and just a real nice guy. The talent is deep. His jazz training has come at the hands of Victoria’s Gord Clements and Joey Smith at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. That Sunny has been their very good student is reflected in the fact that he is taking part in the Victoria Jazz Festival this month for the second year in a row. That he is a good student in Voice is evident from the fact that Sunny just received a mark of 94% for his public graduation concert at Camosun College where he earned his Diploma in Music. The concert program was in Italian, German and French. To top it off, he earned a 90% average this past year across all courses. Just days later, Sunny auditioned for and was accepted into the UBC music program in Opera.

Sunny is a graduate of Parkland Secondary School where he was under the guidance of music director Hilary Coupland. Ms. Coupland was instrumental in pushing Sunny towards the entertainment spotlight. Parkland Secondary has also produced another musical sensation, also participating this year in the Victoria Jazz Festival, jazz piano prodigy Michael Kaeshammer.

"I have admired the community work being performed by the service clubs in our communities, and it will be a pleasure to be able to provide some support to the efforts of the Sidney by the Sea Rotary Club as it works to bring a children’s water park into being for the benefit of all Peninsula families," said Sunny. "I am hoping that I can count on Peninsula residents and businesses to get behind the work of Rotary in aid of the children in the community. At the same time I hope all of you will come out and enjoy the music."

To volunteer, to donate or to get more information, contact info@sunnyshams.com.