Edie Daponte will honour veterans with a special musical tribute called "We'll Meet Again" on Remembrance Day in Parksville.
Daponte will return to Knox United Church (345 Pym St.) for an afternoon concert that begins at 2 p.m.
The concert’s title comes from Vera Lynn’s version of ‘We’ll Meet Again’, written by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles. The song was one of the most popular of the Second World War and encapsulated the feelings of many soldiers separated from loved ones.
The show includes version of songs by Lynn, Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, whose voices cheered up Allied soldiers fighting overseas far from home.
Daponte sings in multiple languages, including French, the language of Piaf, another person whose voice is emblematic of the era.
When the war broke out in Europe, Piaf was 25 years old and within a year her country was occupied by Germany.
She was instrumental in helping a number of Allied prisoners of war escape, during performances at POW camps in Germany, according to an account by her secretary Andrée Bigard, a member of the French Resistance.
The show is dedicated to veterans, including Daponte’s father-in-law, who served in the Second World War with the Canadian Army as a young man.
Daponte is joined by her band which includes celebrated musicians Attila Fias on piano, Joey Smith on bass and Damian Graham on drums. Together they will transport the audience back to the 1940s with a captivating afternoon of music and storytelling.
Tickets are available in advance for $30 online via Eventbrite and with cash at Parksville retailers Close to You Ladies Fashions and Fireside Books and Edge Outdoors in Qualicum Beach.
