15 minutes to topnotch music

Betsy Mann

When city planners vaunt the advantages of a “15-minute neighbourhood,” they usually mean living within easy walking distance of services like grocery stores, pharmacies, recreation facilities, parks and schools. Here in Sandy Hill, in addition to all those conveniences, we are lucky to be able to add music to the list. Festival and concert organizers find our neighbourhood a convenient location, thanks to venues like allsaints event space, the University of Ottawa and St. Joseph’s church. We’ve got the Music and Beyond festival July 4 – 17 this year and the annual concert series organized by Thirteen Strings. Add to that the Ottawa Jazz Festival in nearby Confederation Park and Marion Dewar Plaza starting June 21 where we will be an easy walk to nine days of open-air events.

As you may have heard, many arts events and festivals have seen their funding reduced this year. Asked to comment, the Artistic and Executive Director of Music and Beyond, Sandy Hill resident Julian Armour admits, “In this business, you have to have nerves of steel and be ready to take risks.” In fact, just seven weeks before the opening concert of the festival’s 15th season on July 4, Armour had not heard from their two major grantors. “We will adapt,” he says confidently.

In addition to grants, what will help Music and Beyond to adapt, like all arts organizations, are its sponsors, donors, audience and volunteers. This last category of support plays a key role in the success of any arts organization, including the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra. For more than 15 years, the president of Thirteen Strings has been Rob MacDonald, another neighbourhood resident. “We put on six concerts a year,” he explains. “As a small organization, we have a core group of volunteers who help with those. Our closing concert this year was held at allsaints on June 9.” Himself a volunteer, MacDonald feels especially fortunate to have an engaged volunteer board whose members are active in fundraising. “Granting agencies have been very supportive of us, but you never know when things might change, so it’s important to have other sources of funding,” he continues. “We are lucky to have a loyal donor and sponsorship base, but we are always working to try and expand that base.”

Like regular donors and sponsors, volunteers have been very loyal in their support of arts organizations. For his part, Armour is clear: “We have amazing staff, but we couldn’t do this without our volunteers. They are perfect frontline reps at our concerts; they do this for the love of it.” Jan Finlay, a perennial volunteer with the Jazz Festival agrees: the advantages of volunteering go both ways. Her work for the festival involves managing a team of 150 volunteers who scan tickets, control the gates and take care of garbage and recycling after the crowds leave. Not a small task, but for her, it’s a chance to bathe in the music. “I’m at the festival every day from 3:30 in the afternoon and I get home at midnight,” she says. Good thing home is in Sandy Hill so she doesn’t have far to go!

Finlay also gets to work with people who share her love of jazz. “We’re a diverse group, from young students who come with their parents and are collecting their volunteer hours to retirees like me for whom this is a vocation,” she says. “We’ve had volunteers in wheelchairs, people with other disabilities, volunteers from a wide variety of backgrounds. I get to meet a whole group of really interesting people.” While the music at the two festivals may be very different, volunteers with Music and Beyond have the same kind of experience. “They say it’s a fun thing for them to do,” Armour reports. “They become part of a real community of people who enjoy the same kind of music; some of them continue getting together after the festival.” For those who work on the production team—stage managing, setting up and taking down—there is also the opportunity to get closer to the musicians whose work they admire.

Concert and festival audiences have been slow to return post-Covid, but organizers are hopeful that this summer’s programs will bring them back. Why not take advantage of what’s on offer in our neighbourhood? When you do, say hello to the volunteers who greet you at the door. Or better still, become a volunteer yourself, enjoy the music and make new friends.