FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Looking Back while Dreaming On… IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO THIS SUMMER. On July 1, 2000 – Canada Day of the new millennium – we greeted the very first-ever audience at The Barn. The place was packed to overflowing (the doors were not yet installed). The breathless anticipation was high as the orchestra began the first noble notes of Godfrey Ridout’s arrangement of O Canada. Within seconds, the audience was on its feet and singing its collective heart out alongside the Westben Festival Chorus and a dazzling cast of local to international musicians and singers surrounded by an enthusiastic, friendly community.

What a debut for The Barn! That day, we performed everything from the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto to the Hallelujah Chorus to Climb Every Mountain. I remember it as an avalanche of music, people and sunshine all coming together in a never-to-be-forgotten mountain top experience of sheer joy.

Twenty years on, nothing has changed! Well, maybe a few things: we have added a stage, theatre lighting, a new concession, a washroom trailer, a Steinway concert grand piano, a Ticket Shed, a Milk Shed, outdoor lighting, and a meadow full of trees and benches donated by lovers of Westben. Audiences continue to grow as we attract people from a growing geographic demographic. There are more Sponsors, Members and Volunteers, all giving their hearty support.

We are also busier. From 8 concerts that first summer, we now offer close to 80 events year-round, including ever-increasing varieties of genres such as jazz, folk, fiddle, fun, and more. In addition to The Barn, we now operate a second venue: the Clock Tower Cultural Centre, complete with year-round events and learning activities for all generations. We have mounted 14 operas (including 2 world premieres), 10 musicals (including 5 world premieres), and presented close to 30 off-site productions from Kingston to Peterborough to Toronto. We have grown four Choruses (aged 4 to senior) and family- oriented Wind Ensembles. We are developing Residencies, including our flagship Performer-Composer week-long international residency. We are also presenting Tick Talks and House Concerts at the Clock Tower and new this year, a series of Sunday afternoon classical concerts “to a Tea” as well as March break activities.

Yet truly, much is indeed the same! Consider the remarkably impressive family of loyal supporters, some of whom have gone the entire distance, including several beloved Volunteers, steadfast Sponsors and stalwart Members. And always, there are the many fabulous artists, patrons and the constantly supportive community… Also still very much the same, is that glorious mountain-top joy which results from bringing people together through music. This continues to be our happiest challenge and greatest joy! And all a defining part of our exciting development into the Westben Centre for Connection and Creativity through Music. As proud co-founders, Donna and I thank you all for helping bring Westben to its twentieth birthday. And together with you, we look forward to dreaming on!

Brian Finley, C.M.
Artistic & Managing Director

A look back at Concerts at The Barn 2019…

… and a few of the highlights from our 20th Anniversary Season!