History of the Rotary Burlington Music Festival 1997-2017
Robert Elstone and Sandra Brewer started the festival in 1997. Both were incredulous that no outlet existed in Burlington to encourage young, aspiring musicians. They both expressed a desire to make the community aware of all the marvelous musical talent in its midst, and to acknowledge the high level of professional teaching available to impart musical inspiration and education to students.
Robert belonged to the Rotary Club of Burlington Central and Sandra remains a member of The Ontario Registered Music Teacher’s Association (ORMTA Hamilton/Halton Branch). Robert became the inaugural Chair and Sandra the inaugural Vice-Chair.
The first board meetings were spent trying to name the festival. It was eventually named the ‘Fall Music Festival’ and formalized with a constitution and charitable status. The first Fall Music Festival became a reality thanks to Mike Taylor for his generous contribution to cover costs. Steve Loates, board member-at-large, donated the rental of two grand pianos and one upright piano. Don McMillan volunteered to be master of ceremonies for the Grand Festival Concert. Registrations started pouring in for our first festival. 800 had been recorded—double the anticipated number!
One originating Rotary board member, Reg Irish (Burlington Central), worked steadfastly to help make the first festival a success. Reg and his family have continued to encourage young performers and support the festival by establishing the Irish Family Memorial Fund. This fund awards $2,000.00 in scholarships annually and will continue to do so until 2022.
Because ORMTA operates as a charitable organization with a very minimal budget, in the year 2000, each of the four Rotary clubs in Burlington agreed to fund the festival and be financially responsible going forward. As a condition for this financial commitment, the Rotary board members decreed that the festival name be changed to The Rotary Burlington Music Festival (RBMF).
Festival Transition 2011
2011 was a huge transition year for the festival, with a change to online registration and a new computer program (yet to be written) to provide a more proficient way to manage all registrations and scheduling. A small team of tireless and passionate board members worked to define program parameters and how the festival would operate going forward.
It was the first year the Burlington Performing Arts Centre (PAC) opened. The RBMF held the Grand Festival Concert at the new center, offering performers a wonderful opportunity to experience a professional ambience.
While board members change from year to year, the RBMF continues to excel in the way it has been perceived since the inaugural festival:
Excellence in organization
Excellence in the standard of adjudicators
Excellence in approachability, friendliness and accommodation of participants’ needs
Excellence in the festival coordinator’s proficiency, personality, and kind, diplomatic handling of the public relations and overall running of the festival
Changes in 2015
Two new music festivals were created in surrounding cities and these two competing events put a financial strain on the RBMF. The music committee advised the board to decrease the number of instruments offered for registration, from 14 to 4. The instruments that were eliminated are ones with very low and declining registrations over the years. It was a very difficult decision, however hopefully with increased demand, these instruments can be reinstated in a future year.
Quality over Quantity
It is with gratitude that the board thanks the thousands of volunteers who have supported and continue to support the festival over two weeks in November every year. We could not function without you. The community financial support has been generous. We sincerely thank you all, as we could not function without you.
The arts require ongoing and steady support from the community if we intend to give our young musicians an opportunity to share their talents with their peers, and to learn from each other and the professional adjudicators at the Rotary Burlington Music Festival.
Robert Elstone, festival co-founder, passed away April 12, 2007.
Submitted in 2017 by:
Sandra Brewer, festival co-founder and member of the festival board.
Robert Elstone and Sandra Brewer started the festival in 1997. Both were incredulous that no outlet existed in Burlington to encourage young, aspiring musicians. They both expressed a desire to make the community aware of all the marvelous musical talent in its midst, and to acknowledge the high level of professional teaching available to impart musical inspiration and education to students.
Robert belonged to the Rotary Club of Burlington Central and Sandra remains a member of The Ontario Registered Music Teacher’s Association (ORMTA Hamilton/Halton Branch). Robert became the inaugural Chair and Sandra the inaugural Vice-Chair.
The first board meetings were spent trying to name the festival. It was eventually named the ‘Fall Music Festival’ and formalized with a constitution and charitable status. The first Fall Music Festival became a reality thanks to Mike Taylor for his generous contribution to cover costs. Steve Loates, board member-at-large, donated the rental of two grand pianos and one upright piano. Don McMillan volunteered to be master of ceremonies for the Grand Festival Concert. Registrations started pouring in for our first festival. 800 had been recorded—double the anticipated number!
One originating Rotary board member, Reg Irish (Burlington Central), worked steadfastly to help make the first festival a success. Reg and his family have continued to encourage young performers and support the festival by establishing the Irish Family Memorial Fund. This fund awards $2,000.00 in scholarships annually and will continue to do so until 2022.
Because ORMTA operates as a charitable organization with a very minimal budget, in the year 2000, each of the four Rotary clubs in Burlington agreed to fund the festival and be financially responsible going forward. As a condition for this financial commitment, the Rotary board members decreed that the festival name be changed to The Rotary Burlington Music Festival (RBMF).
Festival Transition 2011
2011 was a huge transition year for the festival, with a change to online registration and a new computer program (yet to be written) to provide a more proficient way to manage all registrations and scheduling. A small team of tireless and passionate board members worked to define program parameters and how the festival would operate going forward.
It was the first year the Burlington Performing Arts Centre (PAC) opened. The RBMF held the Grand Festival Concert at the new center, offering performers a wonderful opportunity to experience a professional ambience.
While board members change from year to year, the RBMF continues to excel in the way it has been perceived since the inaugural festival:
Excellence in organization
Excellence in the standard of adjudicators
Excellence in approachability, friendliness and accommodation of participants’ needs
Excellence in the festival coordinator’s proficiency, personality, and kind, diplomatic handling of the public relations and overall running of the festival
Changes in 2015
Two new music festivals were created in surrounding cities and these two competing events put a financial strain on the RBMF. The music committee advised the board to decrease the number of instruments offered for registration, from 14 to 4. The instruments that were eliminated are ones with very low and declining registrations over the years. It was a very difficult decision, however hopefully with increased demand, these instruments can be reinstated in a future year.
Quality over Quantity
It is with gratitude that the board thanks the thousands of volunteers who have supported and continue to support the festival over two weeks in November every year. We could not function without you. The community financial support has been generous. We sincerely thank you all, as we could not function without you.
The arts require ongoing and steady support from the community if we intend to give our young musicians an opportunity to share their talents with their peers, and to learn from each other and the professional adjudicators at the Rotary Burlington Music Festival.
Robert Elstone, festival co-founder, passed away April 12, 2007.
Submitted in 2017 by:
Sandra Brewer, festival co-founder and member of the festival board.
