This year marked ten years of holding concerts at BuckingJam Palace. Many of you know the story: what started as a family initiative to support live jazz music became a favourite secret for Calgary music lovers— and then not so much of a secret as we grew to a non-profit and then to a charitable foundation. Tom and I now regularly find ourselves in social settings when someone says, “Wait a minute! Are you those people…with that house...who do that jazz thing?”
When we started, we arm-twisted our kids into taking tickets and pouring wine and setting up the chairs and the sound system. We had no mailing list or ticketing platform: it was word-of-mouth and cash at the door. The first couple of years, our friends showed up even when it wasn’t their kind of music but gradually word got out and our audience grew. Tom and I knew we have rounded a corner when we no longer had to pay to attend concerts in our own living room.
So thanks to all of you: volunteers, Board members, music fans, Newsletter subscribers, Nica’s Circle donors. Your generosity and good will have seeped into the walls of our home and your reputation as the best jazz audience in Canada is widely celebrated.
The past year has been filled with great concerts, including BJP’s first foray into concert production with a three-part series celebrating the music of Oscar Peterson. Producing a concert means being financially responsible for flying the artists to Calgary and providing their accommodation, on top of the usual expenses of performance fees, piano tuning and a myriad of expenses from insurance to cookie dough. Sponsorship was the magical ingredient and ICM Asset Management, Larry and Jan Fichtner and Admiral Law were our magicians. We plan to produce a concert series annually so please let us know if you are interested in being a sponsor.
Behind the joy of every concert is a bunch of less joyous administrative tasks that keep a charitable foundation running smoothly and in good standing with CRA. Shana Barbour undertook a term as Executive Director to transition BJP to Zeffy, a Canadian client management platform for non-profits that offers ticketing, tax-receipting for donations, newsletter templates and a whole lot more—all for no fee. For the three concerts we just hosted with Caity and Gyorgy and Mark Limacher, using Zeffy avoided over $750 in service charges for our patrons and BJP. No one is more grateful for Shana’s foundational work than current Executive Director, Aimee-Jo Benoit and she brings her deep experience as a musician and community leader to shape a vision for the future.
That vision is equal parts exciting and daunting. The Arts in all forms are struggling severely in Canada. Attendance and revenue is down, expenses are up and the need for operational grant support greatly outstrips the supply. Up until this year, BJP was entirely volunteer-run but the growing demands of running a charity and programming a full season of concerts while not burning out our volunteers means a part-time staff person is essential. We have one year left in a two-year grant that funds the Executive Director position and will be working hard to secure donor and grant funds to support that position in the future.
We also continue to hunt for a venue. Calgary desperately needs a centrally located small venue—80-100 seats— that is affordable for artists and organizations to use. This year, alone, BJP hosted events for the CPO, Honens, Allegra Chamber Orchestra and Women Band Directors International, as well as providing space for local musicians to record and rehearse. The need is there.
I regularly have folks ask me, “But why do you want to leave the house? It’s perfect for what you do.” The answer is that as a founder of BJP, I feel responsible to secure a sustainable future for what we’ve all established. Tom and I are retirement age: it’s uncertain how long we will want to maintain a large house and it would be incredibly sad to see the BJP concerts end because there is no place to move them. We need a small space that can securely house a grand piano and sound system with room for 100 guests around cafe tables, a couple of washrooms stalls and an area for a small bar. In my ideal world, the performance space would have accommodation above or attached to it that could house touring artists overnight.
We will be forming a fund-raising committee and a venue search committee this coming year so let us know if you are interested in joining.
Concerts are booked through to June 2026 so much great music to come. Wishing you and yours a joyful holiday season and a happy New Year!
Lisa
Artistic Director and Founder, BJP Music Foundation
