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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, August 15, 2014 | 14 Oakville girl highlights jazz fest by Michael Gregory Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene "Connected to your Community" Oakville dance company joins forces with talent agency Canadian Dance Company (CDC) and Stars Academy Talent are joining forces in a partnership to provide access to some of the top training and talent representation in the performing arts. The Oakville-based CDC is celebrating 30 years in the GTA while Burlington's Stars Academy also recognizes a 15-year milestone serving the area. "Stars Academy and CDC both believe that something as simple as quality lessons in dance, music and drama, can enhance the quality of one's life," said CDC owner and director Allain Lupien. The partnership pools the expertise of two major companies in the Canadian entertainment industry to provide "new services while continuing the integrity and legacy of all of their core existing programs." "Our two companies have worked together for some time now, CDC has been very hands on supplementing the training of several of our most advanced artists and we manage and represent their top talent for Film/TV and other work," said Laura Hartnett, Stars Academy's assistant director/ operations manager. The public is invited to an open house at the Burlington location at 1160 Blair Rd in Burlington, on Sunday Aug. 24 between 1-4 p.m. A 12-year-old performer from Oakville got her big break at the downtown jazz festival last weekend as she performed a pair of Top 40 hits for hundreds of spectators at the main stage. Backed by the musical talents of the Merriam Music All Stars, Kathleen Kovacs showcased the range of her voice by singing Adele's Rollin in the Deep and One Republic's Love Runs Out. Kovacs said she enjoys singing along to One Republic on the radio while her bond with the English singer-songwriter Adele is much closer. "Rollin in the Deep, I've always loved that song and I love Adele," said the shy Grade 8 student at St. Mildred's-Lightbourn. "Funny enough, when I was younger, I found out I have the same birthday as her, so I've always liked singing Adele pretty much for that." A product of the Merriam School of Music, Kovacs has been singing since she was six and only started performing more seriously to crowds within the last year. Her talent for music and performing came from watching her dad Jim play the piano while she was growing up. The father-daughter duo has now recorded more than a half-dozen songs together including those by Sheryl Crow, The Cranberries and a version of U2's Running to Stand Oakville's Kathleen Kovacs performed with the Merriam Music All Stars at the TD Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival last weekend. | photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver Still. "Her voice ts in with certain songs and she's pretty good with Adele and she's pretty good with bluesy stuff and that's how she got into jazz," Jim said. It was a performance of Bill Withers' 1971 hit Ain't No Sunshine that prompted Merriam's producer/ master band coach to book Kovacs in the jazz festival. "He heard that one and he thought, `you know what, you need to be in the jazz festival' -- that was sort of the song that tipped him over," Jim said And while many budding artists her age might look to the Internet as their launch pad to being discovered, Kovacs has her sites focused on more long-term success. "I want to go to a performing arts school actually," she said. She's also a competitive dancer, training around 16 hours a week, and more recently started taking songwriting classes at the Merriam School. The day of a performance, Kovacs said her routine includes sleeping in, drinking orange juice and avoiding milk "because it makes your voice all gummy." "I'm usually pretty chill before a performance. I don't try and stress before it. I just practice the songs a few times," she said. The Downtown Oakville Business Improvement Area's (BIA) musical weekend has been running for more than 20 years. Kovacs celebrated her performance with family and friends, and by taking in a bit of the atmosphere. "I love just walking around the festival and just listening to everyone -- it's a good experience," she said. L I T T L E K A N D I N S K Y Michelle Wedel touches up a painting she's created as part of an arts program at Whole Foods in Oakville. The Little Kandinsky Fine Art Program is for 5-9 year olds and PicARTso Fine Art Program is for ages 10 and up. | photo by Eric Riehl­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or www.facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) New style, New life, New you 905-582-3933 Oakville Place Lower level, Next to Sears (Walk-ins and Appointments) NOW OPEN! 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