Volume 24 Issue 7 - April 2019

in terms of OC as an organization, no. As I said, the focus has always
been on orchestras nationally, reinforced by a board of directors that is
recruited from across the country. Especially for all the conversations
we’re engaging in these days, everything we do is carefully curated
so we have representation from orchestras of all sizes and types, and
from all parts of the country.”
Of Orchestras Canada’s current 130 members, 65 are in Ontario,
with 39 of those being outside of the GTA. And of those 39, two, the
Peterborough Symphony and the Kawartha Youth Orchestra, are right
in Carleton’s back yard. “Does being up close and personal with their
particular challenges as smal-town orchestras put a different slant on
things?” I ask.
“No, and I’ll tell you why,” she says. “But before I do, I need to out
myself, as a performing member of the Peterborough Symphony
(clarinet and bass clarinet). ‘When asked to serve, I do so.’ That kind
of thing. And I also teach a number of the members of both the
Kawartha Youth Orchestra and their Junior Youth Orchestra, privately.
So my sense of them is definitely up close and personal. But as for how
being here impacts on my slant on things, it really truly doesn’t. As I
mentioned, my insights and attitudes go right back to my Arts Council
days, at a time when there was a strong feeling that orchestras were
vital to community health right across the province, whether small
budget or major institutions. And Orchestras Canada has always cared
and understood the same thing. These are things I have pursued right
through my own life, so it’s hard to separate where the organization
stands from where I do in regard to them – whether the organization
is responding to me as executive director or where it’s simply
that in taking this job I found exactly the right work for me. The Venn
diagram in this case is truly a circle.”
“I did some digging into your website before calling you,” I say,
“and a couple of things really jumped out at me. One was the information
on the site the upcoming OC conference in Ottawa, June 12 to
14, which I’d like to come back to, because the title of the conference
dovetails with my main reason for getting in touch. The other is the
changes I noticed to the way the member orchestra directory on the
OC site is organized.”
The directory in question has gone through some really interesting
changes since I last looked at it as carefully as I did while preparing
for this interview. It’s deceptively simple: a five-column spreadsheet:
name of member; province; membership type; annual revenues; and,
last, a column headed simply “Go to Website.”
“I remember, back in the day, that the column called ‘annual
revenues’ used to be something way more complex” I say. “As I recall,
you used to classify orchestras by type – regional, community, large,
middle-sized, small – things like that. And I remember trying to
persuade you that you should partner with us on a directory something
like the ones we do, where the members submit short profiles
about who they are and what they do.”
“Yes” she says, “I remember that, and thinking long and hard about
it. But we went a different direction, putting the onus on members
thewholenote.com April 2019 | 17