President’s Report - 2024
A warm welcome and thank you to members of the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival Association (GVPAF) for attending our annual general meeting. We also welcome our new Office Administrator, Lienne Loh, who is filling in for Leah during her maternity leave which extends into 2025.
Tonight we start out by recognising the service of volunteers who steward Festival from one generation to the next. Two retiring board members, Jane Gardiner and Carolyn Fumalle, symbolize the spirit and commitment of voluntarism that has made Festival a Victoria tradition for 97 years.
This year Jane completes her 40 year connection with Festival, having joined in 1984 to take on the Voice Section, which she did through to 1994. Subsequently she served as president from 1988 – 1991. During this first stint with Festival she was part of three key events: Festival explicitly prioritizing learning over competition in 1990, the creation of the Roberto & Mary Wood Scholarship Concert, and changing our name in 1994 to “Performing Arts” to be more inclusive. After retiring from her distinguished career in education she was persuaded to return to Festival in 2011 as a board member and her unique experience and considered advice has helped guide the board to this day. No doubt previous presidents have reached out to her (as I have) especially when tricky situations arise, and have highly appreciated her council.
In the past as I understand it, the GVPAF board was primarily composed of section heads. In my time that has not been the case and so the position of Section Head Liaison for a working board is the keystone for collaboration and coordination, and a direct conduit to understanding the needs of section heads, our most essential volunteers. Carolyn has held this role since 2016 and done it brilliantly, ensuring that our syllabus was consistent with changes coming from both the Provincial and National Festivals as well as from the sections, that board policy and operational changes were communicated out effectively, and that feedback from section heads was immediately in front of the board with well considered recommendations. Beyond these key contributions, Carolyn has also served Festival as the Woodwinds Section Head since 2010 (which thankfully she will continue to do), joined the board in 2013 and had a term as Vice President in 2015. On a personal note I must say that Carolyn’s total commitment, positivity and insight were immeasurably helpful for me as President as we navigated tricky policy, legal, contractual and interpersonal challenges.
To Carolyn and Jane – a sincere thank you for your unique contributions. You are both legends at GVPAF!
We also humbly recognise and thank our donors, sponsors, grant providers and advertisers who share our vision of the importance of the performing arts to our community. 2024 represented the 97th year of The Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival, and continued the trend of increasing participation since Covid. Overall we received enthusiastic reviews from our performers, parents and adjudicators (the latter consistently praising the talent on show and the supportive atmosphere of Festival).
The 5,000 performers entered in sixteen disciplines, ten highlight concerts and the Roberto & Mary Wood Scholarship concert. In both sessions and concerts, performers were cheered on by an estimated 6,000 audience members.
Our adjudicators nominated 30 soloists and ensembles to participate in the Provincial Festival with 4 winning (piano, strings, woodwinds), 8 runners up (strings, choral, speech arts & dance) and 3 honourable mentions (strings, woodwinds & speech arts). Of these 3 won their category at the Canada West Festival (strings, woodwinds), and 2 were runners up (strings, woodwinds). A total of 29 soloists or ensembles were selected to compete in the FCMF National Music Festival Local Stream Qualifying Round, with 2 placing first (in Woodwinds and Brass) and 3 runners up (strings and classical voice).
Our strategic shift from a working board to a governing board is progressing steadily. Since the summer we prepared to switch over from an expensive and simple customer relationship management (CRM) system to cloud based HubSpot, which improves our fundraising effectiveness and donation tracking. We officially made the transition this month in time to launch our annual Make Festival Happen fund raising drive. Technology is helpful but it is all about the skill and commitment of our Festival Manager, Alyssa, and our Office Administrator Leah. In particular Alyssa has won the confidence of the board as a calm and effective organizer, as well as being the driving force behind refreshing how we present ourselves in our logo, promotional posters, and in a soon to be released short video.
In line with our 3 year transition plan, the GVPAF will incur modest deficits, which will be balanced in the short term through prior surpluses, and gradually through increased registration revenue, grants and sponsorships. The board takes these steps with the utmost sense of responsibility and care, and continuously refines our management of revenues and expenses.
We anticipate the following areas of focus for the upcoming year:
Increasing registrations, building deeper connections with our community and expanding our sponsorship and donor base
Continuing recruitment to the Board and Section Head positions
Increasing outreach to equity disadvantaged groups
Continuing to improve our computer systems to enable the Office and Board to be more efficient, while making more informed and timely decisions
For Festival 2025 registrations open Jan 6, with sessions and concerts running from March 30 to May 12.