About Us

Mission

The mission of the Brockville Concert Association is to offer a variety of quality musical experiences for all ages and to expand community participation and appreciation of musical excellence.

Diversity Statement

Diversity is a core value of the Brockville Concert Association. We believe in an inclusive and equitable organization where all volunteers, musicians and audience members whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or ability, feel valued and respected. We value and celebrate diverse life experiences. The Brockville Concert Association is committed to modeling diversity and inclusion and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.

Traditional Land Acknowledgement Statement

The Brockville Concert Association would like to acknowledge the land on which we are based. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat. Today this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to live and work on this land. We are committed to reflecting, learning, and changing on the path to reconciliation.

About Us

We are a registered charity; tax receipts are provided.
Charitable registration #118819622RR0001.

Although the Brockville Concert Association is called an “association”, it’s not a private club of any kind; it is made up of a small group of music enthusiast volunteers who do what is needed behind the scenes to make a series of concerts happen in Brockville every year. Community members join the board at the annual general meeting in January, agree to take on roles according to their skills and interests, attend planning meetings throughout the year, invite performers to be part of the upcoming slate of concerts and build networks in the music community. Please consider volunteering with us, either by joining the board in January or at any time in the year by contacting us. If you have ideas for concert performances, work with our concert team to make them happen. If you are a people person, maybe you would like to meet and greet performers backstage to make sure they have everything they need. If you are a terrific researcher, you could help us find anything from additional sources of funding to the best prices for accommodation for artists. Know the community in and around Brockville? Help us promote our concerts in the best ways possible.

We learned a lot while presenting concerts online during COVID-19 and we’re now eager to enjoy music in person with you again. We presented an in-person youth concert as part of Culture Days in Fall 2022 and are working on a series of performances for 2023 as we celebrate the Concert Association’s 75th Anniversary of providing concerts in Brockville.

Getting the message out about the BCA’s concerts is one of the Association’s most important ongoing tasks. Often we have received generous funding from the Ontario Arts Council and from our local sponsors to pay artists and create materials to advertise the concerts. Culture Days are growing into a bigger Fall presence in Ontario communities and a BCA concert was again part of the lineup in 2022.

We rely on well-connected local media reporters with the Brockville Recorder and Times, Snap’d and the Mural to interview us for the newspapers, chat with us on Brockville’s community TV channel and take photographs of the performers. Local politicians are enthusiastic about sharing messages from the BCA. Brockville businesspeople happily put up our flyers and posters in their establishments.

The Brockville Concert Association’s mandate has always included a music education component, carried out in a variety of formats. In 2022 Culture Days once again provided a great opportunity for a group of extremely talented and enthusiastic local youth musicians to return to Brockville to perform classical music and jazz as they begin their careers.  The Association encourages youth to attend concerts with free or reduced ticket prices.

“Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.” – Haruki Murakami

Board of Directors

  • President – Samia O’Day
  • Vice-President – Loretta Corbeil
  • Secretary – Carolyn Bennett
  • Treasurer – Gail Stopfel
  • Director – Brenda Taylor
  • Director – Michael J. Lewis

Past Performances

The Brockville Concert Association has been bringing extraordinary Canadian and international musical performers to Brockville since 1948. The roster of world- famous artists over 73 years of the classical series has included:

  • Glen Gould
  • Yo-Yo Ma
  • Elizabeth Schwarzkopf
  • Bobby McFerrin
  • The National Arts Orchestra
  • The Royal Winnipeg Ballet
  • Anna Russell
  • Anton Kuerti
  • Louis Quilico
  • The Canadian Brass
  •  I Musici de Montreal
  • Quartango
  • Adam Han-Gorski
  • The Chicago Brass Quintet
  • Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà

70th Anniversary

For our 70th anniversary we were proud to host the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Chamber Soloists, Concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Richard Roberts with Judy Hung, Juno Award winning acappella vocal group, Cadence, as well as the extremely popular classical crossover string orchestra, Collectif9 which performs with mesmerizing energy and lights to sold out audiences around the world!

65th Anniversary

These are some some messages we received from some very special artists for our 65th Anniversary.

Fine Arts Quartet

Performed in Brockville on January 10, 1988

The members of the Fine Arts Quartet would like to congratulate the Brockville Concert Association on its 65th birthday. It is wonderful organizations like yours which have kept the gift of high quality classical music alive for thousands of people who otherwise might not have the privilege of hearing live classical concerts in person. Especially in this day and age, when classical musical education for young people has sadly diminished in many schools, the value of concert societies like yours can never be underestimated. As performing artists, we are most grateful for all you have accomplished – that coming from an ensemble that has you beat by one year in the age department. Our congratulations and thanks.

Ralph Evans

Quartetto Gelato

Performed for our 50th anniversary and in 2007

Congratulations on your 65th anniversary! It has been a while since we have performed in Brockville and must say that I hope to come back soon. This is a special hall with “old world charm”. Halls of this quality are becoming rarer as people unfortunately keep looking for ‘new and improved” over tradition. As a violin grows older its sound and value increases. The same applies to a great hall. Personally it was a privilege to perform in such a wonderful space to a wonderful Brockville audience.

Peter DeSotto
Quartetto Gelato

The National Arts Centre Orchestra

Performed in 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1994 and 2007

The National Arts Centre Orchestra is delighted to salute the Brockville Concert Association on their 65th anniversary! We have been thrilled to collaborate with your organization many times over the years, and look forward to many more opportunities in the future. Your dedication and passion for music is wonderful to behold and six and a half decades of success is truly inspiring.

Here’s to at least 65 more years of sensational concerts. Happy Anniversary!

Gerald Morris

Anton Kuerti

Performed in 1966

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Brockville Concert Association on the 65th anniversary of its founding.  This long period traverses many difficult years during which so many smaller centers have given up their cultural events series, so it is admirable that you in Brockville have been able to keep yours thriving.  I have enjoyed playing for your audience in the past, and hope it will be possible to do so again in the future.”

Anton Kuerti

Chicago Brass Quintet

Performed in Brockville on January 26, 1988

I had the great pleasure of performing with The Chicago Brass Quintet for the Brockville Concert Association in 1988. That performance was one of the first international tour dates the quintet performed.  Since then we have embarked on four tours of South America,  three in Asia performed all over North America and  bit in Europe and released 4 more CDs.

Yet , Brockville stills  hold a special place in our memory.  The hall was terrific but the audience and the people in the organization were even better. From the time we arrived to the time we left to return home we were greeted with great warmth and enthusiasm. Congratulations on your  65th Anniversary.  We wish you many more to come and hope that we can return to show you what the CBQ sounds like in the 21st century.

All the best,
Ross Beacraft
Chicago Brass Quintet

Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Performed in 1964,  1969 and 1988

Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet has fond memories of performing in Brockville for a warm and receptive audience. On behalf of all of us here at the RWB, I would like to offer sincere congratulations on the impressive milestone of your 65th anniversary.

Andre Lewis,
Artistic Director

Adam Han-Gorski

Performed in 1969

Congratulations, and Happy Anniversary. I fondly recall my late-Autumn concert on the Brockville stage 43 years ago. The audience was warm, knowledgeable and appreciative and the review had one of the best headlines in my career.

There are not too many things in life which get better as they grow older without taking the beating of time. Experience is one the very few. Now, after 65 years of professional life, we both have gained a “little” of it under our belts!

It’s wonderful that such devoted commitment to the legacy and life of great music continues at Brockville.

I wish you further success as you bring a diverse range of extraordinary performances to all the deserving members of your community.

Sincerely,
Adam Han-Gorski