Resilient Ontario Orchestras
Orchestras Canada is pleased to invite you to the Festival of Learning – Resilient Ontario Orchestras! 6 webinars, 60 minutes long each, from November to December 2021, with topics ranging from marketing planning, to fundraising, to volunteer engagement and beyond! (And, they’re free to attend!)
Thank you so much to the Ontario Trillium Foundation, for funding this project through the Resilient Communities Fund! Here is a video celebrating the generous grant from OTF:
Date: November 3, 2021
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 pm ET
Presenters: Katherine Carleton and Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra
Who’s your orchestra for? And how might an organization as straight-forward as an orchestra benefit from articulating a clear, compelling common purpose? Join OC’s Executive Director Katherine Carleton along with Judy Gargaro and Matthew Jones (respectively President and Music Director of the Etobicoke Philharmonic) for a dynamic presentation and discussion about the theory and practice of mission, vision and purpose.
Date: November 10, 2021
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 pm ET
Presenters: Nicole Fowler and Ottawa Chamber Orchestra
If live performances are the “peaks” in a year of an orchestra, how can we keep audiences engaged between them? How do we re-engage or find new audiences in a continuously shifting performance landscape? Join Nicole Fowler (Strategy, Planning & Integrated Communications Consultant) along with Cathy Redsell and Julie Dunn (Board members at Ottawa Chamber Orchestra) for a presentation on how Ottawa Chamber Orchestra has been bringing their marketing and communications strategy into the digital age, and the planning tools they’re using to get (and stay) in front of their audience.
Date: November 17, 2021
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 pm ET
Presenters: Dane Bland and Whispering River Music
Fundraising… there are many ways to do it, and you’re probably trying to accomplish it off the side of your desk! But which strategies will offer the most return on investment for your smaller budget or youth orchestra, with limited time and resources? This presentation from Dane Bland (Certified Fundraising Executive), featuring a case study with representatives of Whispering River Music, will help you identify the fundraising opportunities for your orchestra to focus on that will help build durable, consistent solutions to develop relationships with donors, avoid common fundraising traps & pitfalls, and gain confidence to “make the ask.”
Date: November 24, 2021
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 pm ET
Presenters: Alex Clark
Digital is on the rise… but what should your orchestra know before you dive into a digital artistic project? Join Alex Clark (Founder at Aseosa Productions / Video Director and Associate Producer for the Vancouver Symphony’s 2020-21 digital season) for a presentation on budget, expectations, and planning considerations when producing digital content on a shoestring.
Date: December 1, 2021
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 pm ET
Presenters: Natasha Bood and Orchestra Kingston
Dedicated volunteers are at the heart of many small budget and youth orchestras. How can your orchestra engage them on terms that are clear and mutually enriching? Join Natasha Bood (Executive Director at Editors Canada, with over 16 years’ experience working in not-for-profit arts organizations) and Daniel McConnachie (President of Orchestra Kingston) for a presentation on how they’re embedding relationship-building into the community orchestra’s approach to volunteer engagement.
Date: December 8, 2021
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 pm ET
Presenters: Jamie Gamble
We said we would have a “surprise session” for you, and here it is! Orchestras Canada is pleased to announce our final session of the Resilient Ontario Orchestras Festival of Learning: Demystifying Program Evaluation
Program evaluation: it’s important, funders and donors want it… and if you’re doing it on your own, it can be intimidating! At Orchestras Canada, we’ve committed to getting better at evaluation – and we’d like to take you along for the ride. Join us for our Festival of Learning closing session with Jamie Gamble, Principal of Imprint Consulting and evaluation advisor to the Resilient Ontario Orchestras project. We’ll learn together from Jamie, AND we’ll have a candid discussion about how we’ve tried to embed evaluation throughout the Resilient Ontario Orchestras project, what we’ve learned so far, and how we’re applying our learnings to shape future member service and support. We’d love your input!
*The Resilient Ontario Orchestras project is designed to help Ontario’s smaller budget orchestras and youth orchestras (groups with annual, pre-pandemic revenues under $500,000) access customized consulting help and resources to help them plan for a sustainable return to public performances as soon as it’s viable.
This project is made possible with generous support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. OTF awarded $108 million to 629 projects last year to build healthy and vibrant communities in Ontario.
