The sun is scheduled to appear, and so is president Bill Clinton. Hopefully both keep their dates with Sarah McLachlan's heavy hitting Voices in the Park tomorrow, an outdoor concert fundraiser for her school of music that sees Stevie Nicks, Jann Arden, Bryan Adams also joining the Canadian singer.
"One of the reasons for putting on a fundraiser like Voices in the Park, is to not only raise awareness, but raise much needed funds to fund the school and to give more children the opportunity to expand and give more kids the chance to come and take music lessons," she explained from the stage at sound check in Stanley Park this morning. "And also, certainly, a long term goal is to take the model we've created here in Vancouver and bring it to other cities."
McLachlan says pulling together her all-star lineup, which also includes local acts Hey Ocean! and Chin Injeti, was simply a matter of asking. But how does one ask a former US president to come to Canada during the middle of a heated election year?
"I've been doing a number of fundraising events for the president over the years, and I had the opportunity to sit down and have dinner with him at an event a number of months ago, and he was talking to me about what I was doing and I told him all about the school.
"He was very kind and said, 'If there's anything, I can help with, you've been very good to me...' Before I could stop myself I said ' Can you come? To my event?' He said yes. It was that simple."
But fresh off one of the most impassioned speeches in recent political history, at the Democratic National Convention Sept. 5, his presence is still a coup.
"I think perhaps he said yes in a microcosm, all those months ago, without realizing he was going to be the most popular man in the world. So we're ever thankful that he decided to grace us with his presence," McLachlan added, a smile creeping into her voice.
Students from the Sarah McLachlan School of Music will also be performing, which plays at the heart of why McLachlan founded the non-profit: to give local children the opportunity to experience the life changing benefits of music education.
"I think they're pretty excited. This is a great opportunity for all of us as musicians to perform together and hear some, perhaps, new music that we're not familiar with. And for the kids themselves to perform in front a big audience."
Now that the school has a permanent home off Main on 7th, the focus turns to continuing to develop the music programs, and the singer has plans to hold events like Voices in the Park in the future, to continue raising funds for the school.
"I did one of these kind of events three years ago in Ambleside, called the Summer Sessions, and at that point I decided I would like to do something like this every three years. When the opportunity to perform and have a venue like Stanley Park as the place," she continued. "Three years came around and this opportunity presented itself, and here we are. And I plan to do it again in 3 years."
The singer was tight-lipped about any surprises planned for the crowd on Saturday, quipping only "Yes!" when asked if she had something up her sleeve.
Voices in the Park kicks off at 2pm at Brockton Fields in Stanley Park. Tickets are still available online and for purchase at the gates. Go to VoicesInThePark.com for more details.
You can follow lifetyle reporter Kelsey Klassen on Twitter @kelseyklassen.
