By Patricia Balcom
If you happen to be walking on William Street between York and George, you might notice an A-frame sign on the sidewalk between Crocs and CACAO 70, or a bright red sign with a dancing harlequin and floating instruments on the wall. If you open the door to 51 William and go up the narrow staircase you’ll enter another world, the world of Music and Beyond. I recently interviewed Julian Armour, Artistic and Executive Director, in his office there.
So tell me why did you choose William Street as your location?
Music and Beyond is still a relatively new festival even though we’re having our tenth anniversary. We started off with no money at all. When we reached the point where we could actually afford to rent an office, I knew from my time on the Tourism Board and my six years as president of Ottawa Festivals that almost every tourist in Ottawa goes for a walk on this one block of William Street. I thought: “We’ve got to be on this block. It’s definitely the place.” And I knew anecdotally that this is a block that people living in Ottawa come to at least a couple of times a year. And it’s our demographic: the people who go out to these restaurants are people who are likely to come to our events. The only place available on the block was an abandoned, burnt-out shell of a restaurant up on the second floor. The landlord wasn’t particularly interested in renting it, but finally she said that if we fixed it up and didn’t get her too involved we could have the space. So we fixed it all up and now we’re on this great block, starting our second five-year lease.
Congratulations are in order. The Music and Beyond Festival received an Ottawa Tourism Award for the best annual event of the year in 2018. What are your plans for the festival this year?
When you run an event like this your goal is to make it better than the year before. We’ve got really exciting plans and a number of big projects. We’re bringing back one of the greatest figures of music that’s ever lived in Ottawa, a conductor named Brian Law. He’s going to conduct seven different orchestras that he was either conductor of or founder of. There’s going to be a big gala celebrating him. And we’ve got a whole roster of some amazing names. We’re just about to start releasing them.
This year we’re partnering with the Museum of History. The attendance at this museum is just massive and we’re going to fill every corner and really link music to the history that’s happening there. Douglas Cardinal [architect who designed the Canadian Museum of History][A1] , who’s a real music fan, is going to be patron of the event. As we go through the eras we’re going to match them with styles of music. For example, we’re going to play Ukrainian music in the Ukrainian church.
What about the wine auction?
The next one’s going to be at City Hall, on April 26. People donate all these incredible wines. Usually they’re the first owners and their wines are impeccably cellared. And the prices are really pretty good, with a lot of wines starting at $25 per bottle. We expect to have about 300 bottles. People can go to our website https://ottawawineauction.ca/about/ and place advance bids on line. And at the auction there’s like this receiving line afterwards. People come and they thank me. And every single dollar spent helps us put on what we do. The reality is that with Music and Beyond just about everything we do loses money. The arts don’t pay for themselves, so we need to find other ways to help finance events. [Full disclosure. I worked on the wine auction in the spring of 2017.]
And does some of the money you raise go to educational programs?
Every year, it’s becoming an even bigger priority. Almost 100% of private schools have a dedicated, trained professional music teacher, and they do it not so the kids will become professional musicians but because they know it’s good for their brains and their concentration. For public schools in Ontario the average has dropped from 57% of elementary schools having a dedicated music teacher down to about 50%. In Eastern Ontario it’s 21%. And you hear these people on the radio saying “Well math is more important than music”, but music makes a difference. I can see it. They’re much more focused. Hardly anything we do requires the brain to do a lot of different things, but with music you have to think about 20 things at the same time, all the time. It opens up paths in the brain that nothing else does.
Do you do any lobbying on the benefits of music?
We’re not officially a lobbying organization. My job is to show the great value of music and to get people really excited. If they’re excited about it they’re going to want to get their kids involved. So we do things like our free Ottawa Family Music Expo at the University of Ottawa. There are over 200 concerts and activities. The idea is that families can go and hear a short concert—say a 10-minute performance by a brass quintet—and then talk about the pieces, and then try a trumpet. They can then go and make an instrument, or play a game or do an activity. Anyone can come. It’s totally free. And that’s the kind of thing I want to do.
How much does it cost to attend the Music and Beyond Festival?
The thing that sets Music and Beyond apart from so many other events is that we’ve got these inexpensive passes. There’s still early-bird pricing up until February 15th [$150 for a regular pass]. Then there’s another price until July 1 [$160] and then it goes up again [to $180]. There are also three-day passes. And once you’ve got you pass you can go to almost everything you want. Some people get so much value from their pass. For example, the Borodin String Quartet is coming back this year. It’s a $75 US ticket in New York. If you go to both of their concerts you’ve paid for your pass.
It’s going to be very, very exciting. I’m just totally thrilled that we’ve hit this landmark. Ten years. The arts climate has been so tricky; it really has been challenging. It’s very hard to run any arts organization, but for a new one it’s even harder. It’s hard to get into the funding stream and get funding on par with the organizations that have been around for a long time. But we’re now on pretty solid territory, which is nice and I’m grateful for that.
[See https://musicandbeyond.ca/product-category/festival-passes/ for more information about passes.]
The Music and Beyond Festival runs from July 4 to 17 2019. The next time you’re on William Street between York and George, you can go upstairs and pick up your pass. The welcoming and competent office assistant, Jessie Tarlington, will be pleased to help you.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.[A2]
[A1]John, I added this but I wonder if I needed to, given our readership. Delete it if you think it’s unnecessary.
[A2]John, I have seen this put at the beginning and the end. Which do you prefer?