It has been another tough week in the Arts and elsewhere due to COVID-19, so we'll update a few things here this week along with a few collected thoughts on what we're going through at the moment.
The only arts-related announcement to cross my desk this week was from the Niagara Symphony, which announced, not surprisingly, their annual Summer Camp is cancelled for this year due to COVID-19. That will be tough for all the musically-inclined kids who look forward to the musical education they receive in the summer months, but really, the NSO really had no other choice. As with most arts organizations this year, planning for the future is very difficult right now.
The Niagara Symphony also announced this week the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre will be in touch with subscribers about refunds and/or possible donations in light of the now-cancelled season, and will put on hold the new season announcement for the time being. So stay tuned and I'll pass whatever information I get when it becomes available.
In other matters, life continues along in some way or another for most people, although it is much different now and likely will be for some time to come. I have enjoyed a week off from work this week and other than my daily walks I rarely leave the house. I have been cleaning out the basement and the garage and both are almost done now, so that gives me a feeling of accomplishment.
Yes, it is tough to do without so much of our daily routines right now but we simply have to for the greater good. We will all benefit in the near future if we simply follow the directives from public health and the government and get this over with in relatively short order.
But the toll in the meantime is mounting here in our country and indeed in our community, further magnifying the importance of practicing social distancing and using good common sense. Just yesterday we heard of the passing of Wilma Morrison in Niagara Falls, who was still sharp and active at the age of 91 when she passed away due to Covid. It struck me as so sad as I had long known and respected this local giant of the Black community in Niagara, as I had often spoken to her on the phone to book her for interviews on the CKTB radio programme I used to produce.
Wilma was a leader in so many ways and I know the Niagara community will greatly mourn her loss. Even at 91 I feel she still had much to contribute to the betterment of our society as a whole. Hopefully in the future we can come together as one and honour her and her great work in Niagara and beyond.
Her passing is just one of many, of course, and we should be careful not to put more importance on one at the expense of others. We all have a roll to play in this world and all our contributions are important. So every life lost is a great loss not only to the family involved but to the community as a whole. Let's never forget that.
So, that's it for this week. Perhaps a bit of fatigue is setting in at this point for me, so I will leave it at that and wish you a good week, good health and best wishes to you and yours. Take care and be good.
Have a good weekend!
April 25th, 2020.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Creative souls are getting creative during COVID-19
There appears to be no end in sight to the cancellations, postponements and such in the arts community, hit hard by the current COVID-19 pandemic. We will get through this and rebuild our lives to some extent, but one can't help but wonder what life will be like "on the other side" as it were, especially regarding the Arts.
I know some businesses and indeed some arts organizations might not survive this current shutdown, but every one of us can and should show our support any way we can both now and afterwards by patronizing the businesses and organizations we have relied on beforehand once things are returning to some semblance of normalcy. It could be awhile before we get there, but we will get there...
Three updates to pass along today that crossed my desk this past week.
First off, Suitcase in Point Theatre, the artistic force behind our celebrated In The Soil Arts Festival, announced this week they have "reimagined" their plans for the 12th annual In the Soil Arts Festival.
The original three day celebration was set to take place in downtown St. Catharines June 5 to 7, with a programme to include a large roster of artists presenting innovative work in genres including live theatre, music, comedy, film, interactive workshops, site-specific installations and much more. It is always a popular draw in the downtown core every spring.
The originally planned three-day Festival has now been cancelled, but the release from In the Soil this week emphasizes they have reimagined the Festival as what they refer to as "In the Soil: A Multi (p)Arts Festival over the next several months. There will be an online series through the spring and summer as well as a variety of public events to be scheduled once it is safe to do so. There is no firm time line on when that will be, of course, but the best guess at this point is perhaps between September of this year and March of next year.
Artists originally booked for the three day Festival will be incorporated into the new reimagined series as much as possible, which is good news for all of them, as so-called "gig" work is at a total standstill at the moment during the pandemic which means, of course, they have little or no income at all.
Suitcase in Point hopes to announce the new list of artists and schedule in the coming weeks.
Just yesterday the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines announced a new online performance series to shine a spotlight on Niagara artists. #NiagaraPerforms will provide a platform and professional artists fees for local artists to share performances with online audiences as sort of a home-grown take on Ottawa's National Arts Centre's #CanadaPerforms series.
The first batch of local artists were selected by the programming team at the PAC from previous editions of the popular Hear! Here! Niagara Music Series as well as existing partnerships with local arts organizations. The new online series will be announced two weeks at a time as the current pandemic continues.
The first online performance of #NiagaraPerforms kicks off this Sunday, April 19th at 4 pm with a performance from the home studio of local musician and producer Mark Lalama, to commemorate what would have been the final Hear! Here! Niagara Music Series performance of the current Hot Ticket season.
Right now the lineup continues with a performance at 7 pm on Thursday, April 23rd by Gordon Cleland, principal cellist with the Niagara Symphony and Music Department instructor at Brock University's Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts. Next Sunday the 26th at 4 pm Laurel Minnes and Taylor Hulley will bring their vocal harmonies to the online series, and on Thursday April 30th at 7 pm, Suitcase in Point Theatre will bring some quarantine comic relief to the series with more of their familiar sketch comedy cabarets.
It was also announced this week the PAC Film House will provide virtual cinema experiences with simple screening options every Wednesday. That series kicked off this past week with CatVideoFest 2020, which I am personally hoping to check out this weekend!
For more details on how to view any and all of these online events go to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre website.
Finally, the Stratford Festival announced this week they are launching a film festival during this period, offering free streaming of 12 Shakespearean productions captured as part of its Stratford Festival On Film series. This will be the first time the full-length versions of these productions have been available for free.
The online series launches on April 23rd, Shakespeare's birthday of course,, with King Lear directed by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and featuring Colm Feore in the title role.
The choice of this production of King Lear is not just because of the undeniable draw of actor Colm Feore, either. Cimolino noted in the press release from the Festival this week the Bard was himself in quarantine in 1606 while writing King Lear, due of course to the plague.
The roll-out of the the films has been scheduled around four themes that seem pertinent during this difficult time: Social Order, Isolation, Minds Pushed to the Edge, and Relationships. Each film will debut with a 7 pm viewing party and remain available for free for a three week period on the Stratford Festival website.
The list is as follows:
Social Order and Leadership:
King Lear - April 23 to May 14; Coriolanus - April 30 to May 21; Macbeth - May 7 to 28.
Isolation:
The Tempest - May 14 to June 4; Timon of Athens - May 21 to June 11; Love's Labour's Lost - May 28 to June 18.
Minds Pushed to the Edge:
Hamlet - June 4 to 25; King John - June 11 to July 2; Pericles - June 18 to July 9
Relationships:
Antony and Cleopatra - June 25 to July 16; Romeo and Juliet - July 2 to 23; The Taming of the Shrew - July 9 to 30.
Each film is captured live with a full audience at the Festival during a single performance, with additional "pick-up" shots of key performance elements captured on stage immediately following the performance, again with the audience present.
In all the films, produced by Barry Avrich through Melbar Entertainment Group, have received four Canadian Screen Awards and 16 nominations, including Best Performing Arts Program for King Lear, which kicks off the series on April 23rd.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the Arts online during this period of self-isolation!
April 18th, 2020.
I know some businesses and indeed some arts organizations might not survive this current shutdown, but every one of us can and should show our support any way we can both now and afterwards by patronizing the businesses and organizations we have relied on beforehand once things are returning to some semblance of normalcy. It could be awhile before we get there, but we will get there...
Three updates to pass along today that crossed my desk this past week.
First off, Suitcase in Point Theatre, the artistic force behind our celebrated In The Soil Arts Festival, announced this week they have "reimagined" their plans for the 12th annual In the Soil Arts Festival.
The original three day celebration was set to take place in downtown St. Catharines June 5 to 7, with a programme to include a large roster of artists presenting innovative work in genres including live theatre, music, comedy, film, interactive workshops, site-specific installations and much more. It is always a popular draw in the downtown core every spring.
The originally planned three-day Festival has now been cancelled, but the release from In the Soil this week emphasizes they have reimagined the Festival as what they refer to as "In the Soil: A Multi (p)Arts Festival over the next several months. There will be an online series through the spring and summer as well as a variety of public events to be scheduled once it is safe to do so. There is no firm time line on when that will be, of course, but the best guess at this point is perhaps between September of this year and March of next year.
Artists originally booked for the three day Festival will be incorporated into the new reimagined series as much as possible, which is good news for all of them, as so-called "gig" work is at a total standstill at the moment during the pandemic which means, of course, they have little or no income at all.
Suitcase in Point hopes to announce the new list of artists and schedule in the coming weeks.
Just yesterday the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines announced a new online performance series to shine a spotlight on Niagara artists. #NiagaraPerforms will provide a platform and professional artists fees for local artists to share performances with online audiences as sort of a home-grown take on Ottawa's National Arts Centre's #CanadaPerforms series.
The first batch of local artists were selected by the programming team at the PAC from previous editions of the popular Hear! Here! Niagara Music Series as well as existing partnerships with local arts organizations. The new online series will be announced two weeks at a time as the current pandemic continues.
The first online performance of #NiagaraPerforms kicks off this Sunday, April 19th at 4 pm with a performance from the home studio of local musician and producer Mark Lalama, to commemorate what would have been the final Hear! Here! Niagara Music Series performance of the current Hot Ticket season.
Right now the lineup continues with a performance at 7 pm on Thursday, April 23rd by Gordon Cleland, principal cellist with the Niagara Symphony and Music Department instructor at Brock University's Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts. Next Sunday the 26th at 4 pm Laurel Minnes and Taylor Hulley will bring their vocal harmonies to the online series, and on Thursday April 30th at 7 pm, Suitcase in Point Theatre will bring some quarantine comic relief to the series with more of their familiar sketch comedy cabarets.
It was also announced this week the PAC Film House will provide virtual cinema experiences with simple screening options every Wednesday. That series kicked off this past week with CatVideoFest 2020, which I am personally hoping to check out this weekend!
For more details on how to view any and all of these online events go to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre website.
Finally, the Stratford Festival announced this week they are launching a film festival during this period, offering free streaming of 12 Shakespearean productions captured as part of its Stratford Festival On Film series. This will be the first time the full-length versions of these productions have been available for free.
The online series launches on April 23rd, Shakespeare's birthday of course,, with King Lear directed by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and featuring Colm Feore in the title role.
The choice of this production of King Lear is not just because of the undeniable draw of actor Colm Feore, either. Cimolino noted in the press release from the Festival this week the Bard was himself in quarantine in 1606 while writing King Lear, due of course to the plague.
The roll-out of the the films has been scheduled around four themes that seem pertinent during this difficult time: Social Order, Isolation, Minds Pushed to the Edge, and Relationships. Each film will debut with a 7 pm viewing party and remain available for free for a three week period on the Stratford Festival website.
The list is as follows:
Social Order and Leadership:
King Lear - April 23 to May 14; Coriolanus - April 30 to May 21; Macbeth - May 7 to 28.
Isolation:
The Tempest - May 14 to June 4; Timon of Athens - May 21 to June 11; Love's Labour's Lost - May 28 to June 18.
Minds Pushed to the Edge:
Hamlet - June 4 to 25; King John - June 11 to July 2; Pericles - June 18 to July 9
Relationships:
Antony and Cleopatra - June 25 to July 16; Romeo and Juliet - July 2 to 23; The Taming of the Shrew - July 9 to 30.
Each film is captured live with a full audience at the Festival during a single performance, with additional "pick-up" shots of key performance elements captured on stage immediately following the performance, again with the audience present.
In all the films, produced by Barry Avrich through Melbar Entertainment Group, have received four Canadian Screen Awards and 16 nominations, including Best Performing Arts Program for King Lear, which kicks off the series on April 23rd.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the Arts online during this period of self-isolation!
April 18th, 2020.
Saturday, April 11, 2020
More updates on cancellations due to COVID-19
On this Easter weekend just a quick update on some cancellations in the arts world to tell you about. Sadly, these seem to be a weekly occurrence now. But better to be safe than sorry during a pandemic...
First off, the Shaw Festival is now cancelling all public events and performances through to June 30th. This is in response to the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake's declaration of a state of emergency through to June 30th, which requires the cancellation of all in-person events, meetings and programming until then.
Ticket holders to the affected performances will have the full value of their tickets held on their account as the administrative and box offices are both closed until April 20th by provincial order. There is a small team of box office representatives working from home that are contacting ticket holders about the changes and to offer exchanges or refunds, so be patient. They will get to you.
In addition, the Shaw Festival and Why Not Theatre have decided to cancel the 2020 Mahabharata production, a modern retelling of the Sanskrit epic. They have jointly decided the production will not go ahead as planned this season due to the uncertainty over scheduling, so it will appear in a future Festival season, apparently.
Although the production was not set to begin rehearsals until June with performances starting in August, the work on constructing sets, props and costumes was set to get underway shortly, so that just couldn't be realized in the present environment.
Again, box office staff will be contacting ticket holders at some point in the near future about their cancelled tickets.
Meantime the Gallery Players of Niagara have joined many other local musical organizations in cancelling the remainder of their current season. There are two performances still scheduled before the season ends late spring so those will now not go ahead as planned.
Admittedly, this is not how Gallery Players wanted to celebrate their 25th anniversary season, but public safety and the safety of the artists involved is the greatest concern at this point, so the decision had to be made.
The organization will be in touch with ticket holders later this month about either converting the remaining tickets into a donation, or issuing a refund for the cancelled performances. If at all possible, opt for the former rather than the latter, as musicians everywhere are feeling the pinch at the moment.
There is also news about two new recordings coming later this month, too. One is music by Franz Asplmayr performed by the Eybler Quartet; the other is a Gallery Players/Capella Intima/Nota Bene Baroque Players co-production of the music of Scarlatti. Both these new recordings will be available from the shop available through the Gallery Players website at www.galleryplayers.ca/shop/music.
Up in Elora, the Elora Festival's summer 2020 season is now postponed. It was set to run from July 10th to the 26th. They do hope to hold the summer season later than originally planned, but a lot of that will depend on scheduling issues, so we'll have to see how doable that actually is.
Still, some performances will be better than none and by the time this pandemic is over we'll all need something to uplift our spirits!
Once again, staff will be in touch with ticket holders about either donating the cost of tickets to the Festival for a charitable tax receipt, issue a partial or full refund, or issue a gift certificate for the value of the tickets to be used towards a future concert.
You can contact the Festival for further enquiries at info@elorafestival.ca or call the office at 1-519-846-0331.
In light of all this, I was interested to read a release from Brock University's Department of Dramatic Arts at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts this week. In it, Professor Karen Fricker, who also reviews theatre for the Toronto Star, says there is a resiliency amongst artists in the midst of all these cancellations, so although it will be a tough go for most in the short term, hopefully most will be able to bounce back over time.
Fricker notes the Stratford Festival, which so far has cancelled performances through to late May, has temporarily laid off 470 employees, including actors, technicians and box office workers. At Shaw, no workers have been laid off at the present time and they are conducting rehearsals online whenever possible.
Fricker notes some Toronto-based companies are even putting on telephone plays: one on one shows in which an audience member gets a hand-made personal story delivered to them over the phone. Now that, although not ideal, is at least a glimmer of hope for the survival of the arts in this pandemic.
So, be patient, keep well and practise social distancing and proper hand washing techniques. We'll get through this, and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow might just be a great performance just waiting for an audience to join them. Let's hope it's sooner rather than later!
Happy Easter and have a great weekend.
April 11th, 2020.
First off, the Shaw Festival is now cancelling all public events and performances through to June 30th. This is in response to the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake's declaration of a state of emergency through to June 30th, which requires the cancellation of all in-person events, meetings and programming until then.
Ticket holders to the affected performances will have the full value of their tickets held on their account as the administrative and box offices are both closed until April 20th by provincial order. There is a small team of box office representatives working from home that are contacting ticket holders about the changes and to offer exchanges or refunds, so be patient. They will get to you.
In addition, the Shaw Festival and Why Not Theatre have decided to cancel the 2020 Mahabharata production, a modern retelling of the Sanskrit epic. They have jointly decided the production will not go ahead as planned this season due to the uncertainty over scheduling, so it will appear in a future Festival season, apparently.
Although the production was not set to begin rehearsals until June with performances starting in August, the work on constructing sets, props and costumes was set to get underway shortly, so that just couldn't be realized in the present environment.
Again, box office staff will be contacting ticket holders at some point in the near future about their cancelled tickets.
Meantime the Gallery Players of Niagara have joined many other local musical organizations in cancelling the remainder of their current season. There are two performances still scheduled before the season ends late spring so those will now not go ahead as planned.
Admittedly, this is not how Gallery Players wanted to celebrate their 25th anniversary season, but public safety and the safety of the artists involved is the greatest concern at this point, so the decision had to be made.
The organization will be in touch with ticket holders later this month about either converting the remaining tickets into a donation, or issuing a refund for the cancelled performances. If at all possible, opt for the former rather than the latter, as musicians everywhere are feeling the pinch at the moment.
There is also news about two new recordings coming later this month, too. One is music by Franz Asplmayr performed by the Eybler Quartet; the other is a Gallery Players/Capella Intima/Nota Bene Baroque Players co-production of the music of Scarlatti. Both these new recordings will be available from the shop available through the Gallery Players website at www.galleryplayers.ca/shop/music.
Up in Elora, the Elora Festival's summer 2020 season is now postponed. It was set to run from July 10th to the 26th. They do hope to hold the summer season later than originally planned, but a lot of that will depend on scheduling issues, so we'll have to see how doable that actually is.
Still, some performances will be better than none and by the time this pandemic is over we'll all need something to uplift our spirits!
Once again, staff will be in touch with ticket holders about either donating the cost of tickets to the Festival for a charitable tax receipt, issue a partial or full refund, or issue a gift certificate for the value of the tickets to be used towards a future concert.
You can contact the Festival for further enquiries at info@elorafestival.ca or call the office at 1-519-846-0331.
In light of all this, I was interested to read a release from Brock University's Department of Dramatic Arts at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts this week. In it, Professor Karen Fricker, who also reviews theatre for the Toronto Star, says there is a resiliency amongst artists in the midst of all these cancellations, so although it will be a tough go for most in the short term, hopefully most will be able to bounce back over time.
Fricker notes the Stratford Festival, which so far has cancelled performances through to late May, has temporarily laid off 470 employees, including actors, technicians and box office workers. At Shaw, no workers have been laid off at the present time and they are conducting rehearsals online whenever possible.
Fricker notes some Toronto-based companies are even putting on telephone plays: one on one shows in which an audience member gets a hand-made personal story delivered to them over the phone. Now that, although not ideal, is at least a glimmer of hope for the survival of the arts in this pandemic.
So, be patient, keep well and practise social distancing and proper hand washing techniques. We'll get through this, and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow might just be a great performance just waiting for an audience to join them. Let's hope it's sooner rather than later!
Happy Easter and have a great weekend.
April 11th, 2020.
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Updates from Niagara Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic and FirstOntario PAC
The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to grow, but there is some good news out this week in the local arts world to report on as well, and we'll include that in our weekly update in this space as well.
First of all, I hope you are weathering the pandemic as best you can right now. It is not easy with all the bad news to deal with, but know there is help for those in need through your community and your network of friends; all you need to do is reach out.
Just announced moments ago, the Niagara Symphony Board Chair Brent Harasym along with Music Director Bradley Thachuk have jointly concluded the current season of the NSO will have to be cancelled due to the pandemic. As the FirstOntario PAC itself is closed until at least May 31st, that effectively wipes out the balance of the NSO's season.
So as of now, ticket holders of all remaining 2019/2020 season concerts will be impacted. As is the case with many arts organizations, the NSO is suggesting you donate your tickets for a charitable tax receipt. The losses incurred by many businesses will be hard to absorb and that's especially so for arts organizations.
However, if you wish not to do so, you can receive a gift certificate for the value of your remaining tickets to put towards the following season. They do ask you hold off on requesting that option until you are contacted directly by PAC box office staff at the end of April.
As for the upcoming season, the announcement of the new season starting in the fall will be put on hold for the time being, and it is hoped they can announce that sometime in May.
Meantime the Hamilton Philharmonic Board Chair Anne Tennier and Interim Executive Director Kim Varian have jointly announced the remainder of their current season, set to run until the end of June, will be cancelled. That includes all remaining MainStage concerts and Intimate & Immersive concerts as well as all community and education programs.
The Board has decided, however, in order to ensure their core musicians are supported as much as possible, they will continue to be paid for all April and May MainStage performances that have been cancelled. All administrative and artistic staff will also be retained as they plan for the upcoming season.
An email has already been sent out regarding next steps for all ticket holders for April and May MainStage concerts. Again, patrons have the option to donate the value of their tickets back to the organization for a charitable tax receipt or if desired, may request a refund. And those requests will be dealt with at a later date so they ask for patience in the interim.
As with the Niagara Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic will delay the new season announcement until later in the spring.
Finally, the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre announced earlier this week they have appointed Colleen Smith as the organization's new Executive Director. The release this week states Ms. Smith will play a critical role in supporting the arts community as they deal with the effects of COVID-19.
Colleen Smith will start her new duties as of May 4th of this year.
This will be a difficult time to start a new position such as this, but it is important to have a full-time Executive Director in place before any further planning goes ahead for the new season rather than maintain an interim director and muddle through. Granted, many events for the new season will have already been booked, but with a sure hand at the controls for the future, the remainder of the planning can now go ahead.
Smith, who has over 12 years of senior management experience in performing arts centres including stints at Theatre Calgary, Massey Hall, Roy Thompson Hall and The Factory Theatre, succeeds the first Executive Director of the FirstOntario PAC, Steve Solski, who exited earlier this season.
That's it for this week. Keep washing your hands and practising social distancing, be patient with others and be ready to listen if someone in need needs help at this time. Together we'll get through this...
Have a good weekend!
April 4th, 2020.
First of all, I hope you are weathering the pandemic as best you can right now. It is not easy with all the bad news to deal with, but know there is help for those in need through your community and your network of friends; all you need to do is reach out.
Just announced moments ago, the Niagara Symphony Board Chair Brent Harasym along with Music Director Bradley Thachuk have jointly concluded the current season of the NSO will have to be cancelled due to the pandemic. As the FirstOntario PAC itself is closed until at least May 31st, that effectively wipes out the balance of the NSO's season.
So as of now, ticket holders of all remaining 2019/2020 season concerts will be impacted. As is the case with many arts organizations, the NSO is suggesting you donate your tickets for a charitable tax receipt. The losses incurred by many businesses will be hard to absorb and that's especially so for arts organizations.
However, if you wish not to do so, you can receive a gift certificate for the value of your remaining tickets to put towards the following season. They do ask you hold off on requesting that option until you are contacted directly by PAC box office staff at the end of April.
As for the upcoming season, the announcement of the new season starting in the fall will be put on hold for the time being, and it is hoped they can announce that sometime in May.
Meantime the Hamilton Philharmonic Board Chair Anne Tennier and Interim Executive Director Kim Varian have jointly announced the remainder of their current season, set to run until the end of June, will be cancelled. That includes all remaining MainStage concerts and Intimate & Immersive concerts as well as all community and education programs.
The Board has decided, however, in order to ensure their core musicians are supported as much as possible, they will continue to be paid for all April and May MainStage performances that have been cancelled. All administrative and artistic staff will also be retained as they plan for the upcoming season.
An email has already been sent out regarding next steps for all ticket holders for April and May MainStage concerts. Again, patrons have the option to donate the value of their tickets back to the organization for a charitable tax receipt or if desired, may request a refund. And those requests will be dealt with at a later date so they ask for patience in the interim.
As with the Niagara Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic will delay the new season announcement until later in the spring.
Finally, the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre announced earlier this week they have appointed Colleen Smith as the organization's new Executive Director. The release this week states Ms. Smith will play a critical role in supporting the arts community as they deal with the effects of COVID-19.
Colleen Smith will start her new duties as of May 4th of this year.
This will be a difficult time to start a new position such as this, but it is important to have a full-time Executive Director in place before any further planning goes ahead for the new season rather than maintain an interim director and muddle through. Granted, many events for the new season will have already been booked, but with a sure hand at the controls for the future, the remainder of the planning can now go ahead.
Smith, who has over 12 years of senior management experience in performing arts centres including stints at Theatre Calgary, Massey Hall, Roy Thompson Hall and The Factory Theatre, succeeds the first Executive Director of the FirstOntario PAC, Steve Solski, who exited earlier this season.
That's it for this week. Keep washing your hands and practising social distancing, be patient with others and be ready to listen if someone in need needs help at this time. Together we'll get through this...
Have a good weekend!
April 4th, 2020.
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