When award-winning singer Sean Robinson dreams of being a star, he is a bit more literal than most.
He is already on a meteoric line through the area's music ranks, winning first place honours at this year's Limelight Quest singing competition, then getting a string of feature appearances after that (a solo spot at the First Nations art gala at the Civic Centre and opening for blues pianist David Vest). But at 13 years of age, he also relishes the idea of winning a science fair, especially if the project pertained to the heavens around the earth.
This weekend, his name is up in lights for both his aptitudes. Tonight he is the featured lecturer at the Prince George Observatory where he will lead a discussion on the planet Jupiter. Then on Saturday night, he is on stage at Shiraz Caf where he is the headline music performer.
Robinson's vocal training is in classical and opera, with coach Melanie Nicol.
"She's honed my voice and she's the big reason I won the competition," he said. He brought the house down at the finals, held at the B.C. Northern Exhibition, with renditions of Adele's When We Were Young and Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud. It was his first hesitant but triumphant step into power-pop, and he likes it there.
His dual-track interests are not unprecedented and his hero is someone who blazed that trail - a trail more than 100 million kilometres long, and singing all the way.
"One of my huge idols - the biggest, for me - is Commander Chris Hadfield," said Robinson.
Hadfield commanded the International Space Station for five months, the only Canadian to ever do so. He also performed music as part of his time in orbit, dueting with the likes of folk band Trent Severn and Barenaked Ladies member Ed Robertson and getting millions of hits on his solo version of the David Bowie classic A Space Oddity.
"I know I could maybe pursue music as a potential career, but I feel I should keep my horizons open because I have many more interests than just music," said Robinson. "You have to shape yourself into the person you want to become. I like how Commander Hadfield achieved so much in life with science and astronomy, but he always used music with the science. He sees music as an interesting hobby and an important part of life, but it's not his job. That's how I see it, exactly. I'm especially passionate about science."
This passion burbles to the surface in a particular fissure. He is in strong touch with his aboriginal roots, as a member of the Nisga'a First Nation and the son of two highly academic parents - father Andrew and mother Rheanna - who instill in him a personal pride, an obligation for learning and a regard for the land.
"I call the Nechako and Fraser Rivers 'fallen giants' because they are so huge and vital to the environment but people have hurt them a lot," Robinson said.
"I consider it my duty as a native person to think about the health of the environment, but non-native people can do that, too. It's an important aspect of being a Canadian."
The national culture also puts a heavy emphasis on getting a deep education.
To see the results for Robinson, so far, visit the observatory tonight on Tedford Road at 7:30 p.m. then shift gears and go on Saturday to Shiraz at 7 p.m. to see the double-bill of Robinson and Olivia Kozoris.
If you miss those affairs, Robinson will be on the bill at this winter's Cold Snap festival and the next edition of the Robson Valley Music Festival. He also has some studio sessions pending, so a recording will be coming soon.
