Annual Report, 2022-2023 by Kamloops Symphony

2022–2023

Annual Report

The Kamloops Symphony engages, enriches, educates, and inspires through the power of music.

Following our first season back to having in-person audiences we were thrilled to see an even larger number of people return to Sagebrush Theatre and The Nexus at First for another full season of programming. So much so that we broke a 10-yearold record for attendance in the 2022–2023 Season. Speaking of breaking records, we also set a sales record at Barb’s Used Book & Music Sale and had a record number of students at the Music School. Throughout the year we welcomed two new core musicians (Maggie Hasspacher, Principal Bass and Caroline Bucher, Principal Timpani) to the Orchestra and two new voice teachers (Rachel Casponi and Heidi Mundel) to the Kamloops Symphony Music School. New this season, we introduced the KSO Up Close Seats to our Masterworks Series concerts, making the front three rows of Sagebrush Theatre available at a lower cost, providing a more financially accessible option to attend our concerts. This year also saw our first collaboration with BCLC’s Community Ticketing program, giving out 150 FREE tickets to one of the performances of Christmas with the KSO for local community groups to attend. In the community we teamed up with the Margit Sky Project for the inaugural Music for the People: A Cultural Experience performance, collaborated with the Kamloops Art Gallery as part of their Glacial Resonance exhibit, and partnered with the Kamloops Film Society to present multiple showings of the film TÁR. We held three Pro Am Jams where 64 local musicians availed themselves of the opportunity to rehearse and perform with members of the Orchestra. We had a “notably” positive year in 2022–2023. From all of us at the Kamloops Symphony, thank you for your support.

The Kamloops Symphony wishes to acknowledge that we operate on Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc territory within the traditional lands of the Secwépemc Nation.

Contents 1 10

Contents

Additional Programming & Community Collaborations

Message from the President

Message from the Music Director

New World Festival

Main Series Concerts

Donors

Kamloops Symphony Music School

Financial Position

Move to Kelson Hall

Key Statistics for 2022–2023

Sponsors

Administration & Board

Orchestra

Government & Foundation Support

Volunteers

Kamloops Symphony Music School Faculty

Salmon Arm Series

Kamloops Symphony Society | 1

| Annual Report 2022–2023

Message from the President It is with great pleasure that I report to you about the exciting year that the Kamloops Symphony Society enjoyed during our 2022–23 fiscal year. This year marks my second year as Board President of the Society. It remains an honour and a privilege to serve this truly special organization which is such an integral part of the cultural fabric of the greater Kamloops community. As the KSS continues to evolve and expand in its artistic journey with the people of Kamloops, this past year was indeed a very successful year for our organization as we strive to fulfill our mission which is to enrich our lives, engage our audiences, and educate our community members and students through the power of music.

experienced declines in attendance. We also saw the size of our organization’s budget grow to its highest level in our forty-six year history. Another important milestone was our relocation to our brand-new home at Kelson Hall. Thanks to the generosity and philanthropic leadership of Ron and Rae Fawcett, Kelson Hall represents a new jewel in Kamloops as an important hub for artistic and educational exploration for both the KSO and the KSO Music School as well as the educational programming of our cotenant, the Western Canada Theatre. We sincerely hope that this new joint facility will expand our community outreach and become a catalyst for future investments in Kamloops’ cultural infrastructure.

Last year I spoke to you about the pride we felt as we continued to emerge from the multiple and unique challenges brought on by a pandemic and by natural disasters which tested the resolve of many arts and educational institutions. This year the single word that comes to my mind is progress—progress in terms of continued artistic evolution, community engagement, financial performance, board development and the commitment to make our organization more relevant, more sustainable, and more innovative. Of course, none of the progress would have been possible if it were not for the many stakeholders who support the mission of the KSS: our audiences, our donors and sponsors, and most importantly our extremely talented and dedicated team of musicians, teachers, community partners and staff and volunteers. Without their unwavering support, such progress would not have been possible.

There are many supporters to whom I wish to express my sincere appreciation. First and foremost, to our performance attendees—our long-time patrons and our brand-new ones—thank you for the faith you have placed in us to bring you exceptional and inspiring musical experiences. To our many community supporters—in particular, Ron and Rae Fawcett, Rae Nixon, and our steadfast partner at the City of Kamloops—Barbara Berger—your time and treasure have been instrumental in achieving this year’s progress.

The past year was a year that witnessed many “firsts.” During our past season, we saw many loyal music lovers return to our symphonic performances. We also saw new faces amongst our audiences. In fact, we surpassed attendance levels that had not been achieved over the past ten years. This is particularly noteworthy as many similar arts organizations in Canada Kamloops Symphony Society | 2

Within our organization itself, there are many passionate and hard-working contributors to our progress. I am extremely grateful to our leaders—our Music Director, Dina Gilbert, and our Executive Director, Daniel Mills—for their commitment to excellence and for ensuring our institution continues to “raise the bar.” I want to express my profound gratitude to Daniel for his outstanding contributions and the many initiatives he put in place that led to much of our progress. I want to congratulate him for reaching a mutually beneficial three-year Collective Bargaining Agreement with our musicians’ union, Local 145 of the VMA. As most of you know, Daniel moved on to an exciting

| Annual Report 2022–2023

new opportunity this past spring. We do miss him and his cordial demeanour but wish him continued success in his career. To sustain our momentum, the Board launched a nationwide search for a new Executive Director that was underway during the last two months of this past fiscal year and concluded successfully with the hiring of Christopher Young as our new Executive Director. The Board also entered negotiations with our Music Director and Principal Conductor, Dina, to extend her tenure with the KSS and those negotiations were in full swing during the last several months of the fiscal year and were also successfully concluded early in our new fiscal year. The Board also began work on a new strategic plan for our organization which should be finalized in the coming months. With respect to our Board, I offer my gratitude for your support during the busy year. I also want to acknowledge the many years of tireless engagement and invaluable insights of our Board Secretary, Helen Newmarch who retired from our Board effective at our last Annual General Meeting. Helen will be missed but she continues to support us in many ways and almost never misses a performance! We were also fortunate to recruit to our Board several outstanding and passionate community members to help us guide the KSS for the future. During the year we welcomed the following new senior volunteers to our Board including Lisa Fuller; Christy Gauley; Kait Methot; Daleen Millard; and Sydney Takahashi. Finally, I want to offer my genuine gratitude to our extremely dedicated staff, talented musicians and music instructors and many community volunteers. During the last few months of this past year, I had the unique privilege of working with many of these fine people while I was Acting Executive Director. I simply cannot adequately convey my sincere admiration, respect, and confidence to the small, but highly effective team of Ryan, Sam, and Sue. It was a pleasure to work with you and learn from you. My heartfelt thanks to you for keeping our beloved organization

functioning so well during a period of major transition. Lastly, once again we ended the year on solid financial footing. As you will note, our audited financial statements reflect a modest surplus. At a time when many of our colleagues at other music organizations are experiencing financial and personal hardship, we managed to produce a full repertoire of magical and challenging music, provide a record number of hours of music lessons (10,296), make selective investments in marketing, strategic planning, board governance, and senior talent recruitment and retention initiatives all while prudently managing our budget and absorbing some planned and unanticipated expenses. A job well done! Thank you to our internal team and Board for providing the financial oversight and sound fiscal and management controls. In closing, I want to give a special thank you to our government funders— particularly the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, and the City of Kamloops—in addition to our sponsors, donors, and volunteers. Your continued support is invaluable. I began by talking about our progress. While we are off to a healthy start, there is much still to be done. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels or stop embracing change. The board and the entire team are focused on finalizing our long-term vision and building an even more vibrant and leading-edgorchestra and music school for Kamloops that is deeply rooted in our community, serves all members of our community and is sustainable for the long-term. Thank you for joining us on our journey.

John McDonald, ICD.D President, Board of Directors Kamloops Symphony Society

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| Annual Report 2022–2023

Message from the Music Director The 2022–2023 season has been one which I will remember vividly from the exciting, moving, and uplifting concert performances we presented. Whether on stage or in the audience, we have all come to understand the vital contribution of experiencing live music together. Unity, connection, and engagement are three words that best illustrate what we experienced. Music as a positive social catalyzer We started the season with the long-awaited return of a multi-day gathering: The New World Festival which presented works by Dvořák with some modern twists, along several outreach activities around the city which were crafted to bring every generation to enjoy a broad variety of music. From Mariachi Pop-Ups performances featuring Mariachi Los Dorados and our KSO musicians in various places (at TRU, on the 200-block of Victoria Street, at Casa Azul, or at Aberdeen Mall), to some Alphorn demonstrations with Principal horn Sam McNally in the courtyard at St. Andrew’s on the Square and Riverside Park, to kid’s concerts (0–5 years) crafted by our Principal bass Maggie Hasspacher presented at both the North Shore and Downtown libraries, Kamloopsians got occasions to connect in new ways with our musicians. Certainly, one of the highlights of this festival was witnessing a unique blend of audiences having a blast at discovering something new, be it classical or hip-hop, as we created a meaningful and uplifting symphonic fusion. We commissioned new symphonic arrangements of songs by Cree and Kamloops-based hip hop artist K.A.S.P and also shared the stage with his collaborators Brandon Peters, K-9, J. Thorn, and DJ MV and Tim Edwards. We were all excited and proud to be presenting one of the first Indigenous hip-hop symphonic collaborations in Canada which was celebrating the richness of cultures that can lives on the lands of the Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc, within Secwépemc’ulucw, the unceded traditional lands of the Secwépemc peoples. For those who are curious, a documentary by Reno Anastasio following the process of our unique “New World/New Beats” collaboration has just been released. Belonging to the Kamloops Symphony By its core mission to engage and enrich the citizens of Kamloops, the KSO was thrilled to grow its “Pro-Am Jam” opportunities bringing amateur musicians of all ages to rehearse and perform on stage alongside our KSO musicians in our Dvorak & Jam, our Halloween’ themed program and our Brahms reading in a stress-free environment. My favorite moments were witnessing the smiles, the connection between all those participating and hearing what they gained from this collective experience: how meaningful it is to unite all our voices in creating something bigger than ourselves. This season, our KSO Chorus including 70 community members of different generations, reached a new milestone in its quality under the leadership of Tomas Bijok. They participated in three important programs built as a crescendo, from the intimacy of Britten’s Christmas Carols to our moving Kamloops Symphony Society | 4

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Brahms’ Requiem to our epic performances of Beethoven Symphony no. 9 closing our season, everybody felt the power of music to unite us instantly. Concert experiences that represent various voices Our programming brought again a tapestry of local and international guest artists in Kamloops and Salmon Arm whose talent, personality and presence inspired us in concert as well as through offered masterclasses to our Kamloops Symphony Music School Students. From cellist Stéphane Tétreault, violinist Andrew Wan, pianist Maxim Bernard, multi-instrumentalist and drag performer Thorgy, pianist and singer Jim Witter and songstress Sarah Slean; and vocal soloists Suzanne Taffot, Stephanie Tritchew, Dillon Parmer, Micah Schroeder & Alan Corbishley; our musicians and audiences alike gained from such generous and fruitful collaborations. As a female Music Director, it’s an honour to work with an orchestra and community which understands the value of diverse representation. As such, our audience could hear our orchestra perform works by Kelly-Marie Murphy, Violet Archer, Lili Boulanger, and Ina Boyle, and arrangements by Camille Pépin and Stéphanie Hamelin-Tomala, along with other outstanding composers such as Sibelius, Mozart, Philip Glass, Samy Moussa and Christos Hatzis. In addition, we had the pleasure of welcoming guest conductors Jennifer Tung and Juliane Gallant as part of the first year of our partnership with Tapestry Opera in the Women in Musical Leadership Program which nurtures the next generation of woman and non-binary conductors. Creating lasting memories Finally, I would like to leave you with some of the most incredible memories I will cherish from this past season. It’s about us, the musicians on stage, hearing the most touching “wow” from an audience member following a Brahms movement in which we all felt in communion, it’s about seeing a parent sharing a moment with his child, or two seniors having the time of their life at Thorgy’s concert. It’s about meeting a young boy with sparks in his eyes who told me after the concert that he had seen the Ode to Joy poster, and he was playing this music on the recorder at school and had convinced his parents to come listen “to the whole thing” at the KSO. Or it’s about having a lively discussion with someone I run into at a coffee shop downtown who came to our Jim Witter show for a first experience, and since then, has enjoyed many more KSO concerts. That’s what the Kamloops Symphony musicians, team, administration, and board members will continue to strive for: delivering extraordinary music experiences for the people we love.

Dina Gilbert

Music Director | Kamloops Symphony Kamloops Symphony Society | 5

| Annual Report 2022–2023

Key Statistics for 2022–2023

8,877

Number of Concerts

Number of Works by Female Composers

Number of people who attended

Number of Works by Canadian Composers

Number of community players at pro-am jams

357,035 Social Media reach

Number of KSOundcheck Tickets Sold

Number of Youth Tickets Sold

408

683

227

Number of musicians on stage

Total number of Donors

215

178,020

Total amount donated

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| Annual Report 2022–2023

New World Festival We kicked off our season with an exciting multi-event festival showcasing the works of Antonin Dvořák with some modern twists. Cree hip-hop artist K.A.S.P. helped us to elevate the festival with the combination of his motivational hip-hop music and the traditional sounds of the orchestra in an exploration of “old” and “new”. Throughout this multi-day festival we presented nine free pop-up events, with multiple performances by Mariachi Los Dorados, public Alphorn demonstrations by our Principal Horn player Sam McNally, a musical treat for young children presented by our Principal Bass player Maggie Hasspacher, and an open rehearsal of the KSO Chorus. These free events were attended or viewed by approximately 1,000 people in nine different locations throughout Kamloops.

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| Annual Report 2022–2023

Main Series Concerts September 30, 2022 October 1, 2022 October 28 & 29, 2022 November 12, 2022

Dvořák & Jam New World / New Beats The Piano Men: The Music of Billy Joel & Elton John Evocative Elegance

December 17 & 18, 2022 Christmas with the KSO February 4, 2023 Mozart’s Dark Side March 10 & 11, 2023 An Evening with Sarah Slean March 30 & 31, 2023 Thorgy & The Thorchestra April 1, 2023 Brahms’ Requiem May 13, 2023 Ode To Joy Masterworks Series Sponsor: Noran Printing Pops Series Sponsor:

Kelson Group

Season Sponsors: CFJC TV, Fairfield by Marriott, Sandman Signature, Radio NL, TNRD, Total Concept Developments

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| Annual Report 2022–2023

Salmon Arm Series October 2, 2022

Dvořák Delights

February 4, 2023

Mozart’s Dark Side

April 1, 2023

Brahms’ Requiem

Salmon Arm Series Sponsors: City of Salmon Arm, Shuswap Community Foundation, SASCU

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| Annual Report 2022–2023

Additional Programming & COLLABORATIONS Collaborated with Margit Sky Project for Music for the People— A Cultural Experience August 14, 2022. Musicians of the KSO performed with Margit Sky and the Sage Hills Drummers and Dancers. December 2022 and January 2023 we partnered with the Kamloops Film Society to present showings of TÁR, the highly critically praised fictional film set in the classical music world. Collaborated with KAG for selections of Paul Walde’s Alaska Variations, March 11, 2023 as part of the Glacial Resonance exhibit at the gallery. Musicians of KSO performed environmentally themed chamber music. Recorded a special video of the orchestra performing the Hockey Night in Canada theme to celebrate that Kamloops was hosting the Memorial Cup in May.

PRODUCED BY MSKY PRODUCTIONS

FREE ENTRY Donations gratefully accepted on event day

Songs of the Margit Sky Project with performers from the Kamloops Symphony and Sage Hills Singers, Drummers & Dancers For the People—A Cultural Experience is a unique concert event bringing the voices, music, and artistry of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together for an unforgettable evening. Concert is suitable for all ages.

POWWOW ARBOUR 345 Powwow Trail, Kamloops, BC

musicforthepeople.ca

S U N D AY

SEPTEMBER

SONG

INDIGENOUS MUSIC COUNTDOWN

4:00–9:00PM

MUSIC CONCERT

Part proceeds from the concert to support the good work of the

for all ages

6:30–8:30PM

Indian Residential School Survivors Society

CO M M U N I T Y PA RT N E R S