When Stacey Kay takes to the Victoria Hall stage on Friday for the sold-out Christmas Jamboree, it will cap a busy and exciting year for her.

Kay perfomed at the VPP in Women of Country, toured Europe with her acappella group, made it deep into the US competition America’s Got Talent and been recruited by famous Canadian producer David Foster to be on the same stage as Stevie Wonder and Gordon Lightfoot.

Kay returned to Petrolia after touring Germany, Austria and Venice with Eh440 – a Canadian take on a “nerdy” music term according to Kay. The group performs everything from Top 40 to Hip Hop to Soul.

They’d also spent a hectic time touring the US, playing in every state except California.

When she returned, David Foster – who wrote the theme to the movie St. Elmo’s Fire and songs for groups like Chicago – called her record label, Slate, asking if she would be involved in a Toronto concert. She didn’t know until the day before the event she’d be part of a skit where Foster pulled her from the crowd to see if she could sing. She was also floored to learn the event would feature Stevie Wonder, Michael Bolton, Peter Cetera, and Gordon Lightfoot.

“It was so exciting,” she says. “It just lights a fire under me.”

And then Kay returned to the VPP to star in The Christmas Jamboree. Artistic Directors David Hogan and David Rogers invited her to bring whatever guests she wanted on stage, so her acappella group will join her on stage.

She’ll also be joined by her good friend, Leah Grandmont and the Starbright orchestra.

And there’s likely to be a few surprises; Kay loves improv and dreams one day of being on Saturday Night Live. She plans to showcase a bit of her nuttier side with comedy sketches.

After a full year of touring, Kay says it is great to be back in Petrolia.

“It’s wonderful to be back among familiar faces. There is no judgement here,” she says adding Hogan and Rogers allow her to “be myself” instead of meeting the demands of the US music industry. “They let me do every single thing I want,” she says, smiling widely. “They want me to be who I am.”

Kay says it’s great to end the year surrounded by positivity. “I know they have confidence in me so when they throw all this work at me, I know I can because they have confidence in me.”