The B.C. NDP caucus has several talented musicians, including pianist Bob D’Eith and cellist Nicholas Simons, who’ve both played professionally.
But it’s the minister of state for child care, Katrina Chen, who will be on-stage with multi-platinum singer-songwriter Tyler Shaw at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Friday (December 2) evening.
They’ll perform Shaw’s breakout song, “Kiss Goodnight”, at a Jade Music Festival concert.
Chen, who represents Burnaby-Lougheed in the legislature, plays piano and guitar and is also a talented singer. Last month, she told Pancouver that music helped her adjust to Canada in her late teens and early 20s as an immigrant from Taiwan.
“When I was in high school, I joined band, I joined choir,” Chen said. “Through singing, through playing music, that was how I made friends. Music is the universal language.”
Watch Katrina Chen sing “Keep Holding On” with colleague Bowinn Ma as Bob D’Eith plays the piano.
Shaw grew up in Coquitlam. In recent years, he has emerged as a role model for biracial kids.
In 2020, Shaw co-led the AristsCAN fundraising drive for COVID-19 in partnership with Fefe Dobson. It lured a long list of Canadian musical superstars to sing the Bill Withers classic, “Lean on Me”.
Video: Watch Tyler Shaw and some friends sing “Lean on Me”.
TD is presenting the Jade Music Festival. The Society of We Are Canadians Too organized the events.
Chen and Shaw share the festival’s objective of elevating underrepresented artists.
Also performing at the concert are award-winning “Vantopop” singer-songwriter Athena Wong, Taiwanese Canadian singer-songwriter Van Lefan, and Hakka singer-songwriter Yu Han Huang, who’s based in Taiwan.
After this morning’s sing-along with kids, we are now at @QETheatre with @TylerShawMusic at @JadeMusicFest! 🎶
Join us 7:30pm for this meaningful concert celebrating and supporting musicians from diverse and multicultural backgrounds! @PancouverMedia https://t.co/RcGg6UtI7Q pic.twitter.com/Po2C5T9VtE
— Kᴀᴛʀɪɴᴀ Cʜᴇɴ (@KatrinaCBurnaby) December 3, 2022
