By Michael Somerby EBS STAFF
BIG SKY – Too often, people decide the transition into adulthood is a
time to shelve talents and passions outside of their professional field. The
excuses mount: “I’m too busy with work,” “I’m too busy with my kids and
spouse,” “I’m just too busy.”
So at those school plays, youth recitals and performances for family
friends, children, nieces and nephews, we might feel regret. “Why hadn’t I
tried my hand at acting, or singing, or painting, whatever, when the
opportunity was omnipresent?”
“Her Gift, Her Creation,” hosted at the Warren Miller Preforming Arts
Center on Dec. 3, will allow a cohort of female Big Sky artists, both visual
and performance based, to tap into the prospect of adult public performance.
While several of the artists represented on the bill are established
and well known in Big Sky, such as Jill Zeidler, Stephanie Kissell and Lorri
Lagerbloom, others haven’t performed publicly for years. In some instances, never.
For chief organizer Klaudia Kosiak, this was by design, breaking these
talents into the public light.
“I realized we have so many talented women in this community and they
don’t have a chance to perform … So I called a few other women and moms,” Kosiak
said. “Some were pretty scared and were like ‘I don’t know If I can do this, I
only sing in the shower,’ but then they said OK lets do this, we need this, we
need to show our power.”
A co-founder of Big Sky Broadway and regular performer of notable
events in Big Sky throughout her time living in the community, Kosiak is
trained in elevating musical performance through 19 years of teaching piano in
the U.S. and her native Poland.
She moved to Big Sky with her husband, Mariusz, over 13 years ago, encouraged
by a trip Mariusz made in 2001—he returned to Poland with fantastical stories
of a beautiful and pristine mountain town, appealing to Kosiak’s dreams of
living in a “village surrounded by mountains.” Together, they ultimately
founded High Altitude Property Management in 2008, a business they still own
and operate.
With help from friends and colleagues from Big Sky residents, art
patrons and organizers like Sarah Mitchell and Jill Bough, Kosiak has assembled
a bill of artists that is well-rounded.
Aside from a variety of visual mediums, one can expect music by
artists from Mozart to Lady Gaga, including a performance by Kosiak: “Nocturne
of Questions” composed by Konstancja
Kochaniec, a close friend from the music academy in Poland, where Kosiak earned her
master’s degree.
After months of organizing and dreaming, the performance is just on
the horizon, starting at 6 p.m., with the visual art show kicking off an
evening that will go beyond the arts themself.
“We need to show our kids impossible things are possible,”
Kosiak said. “I think it will be a beautiful evening.”
