Journey before destination: greetings from BJP's new Executive Director Shana Barbour

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about trajectory. With my recent warm welcome into the BJP Music Foundation community and my new role as Executive Director, I wonder what forces were at play to help me end up here? As I watch my two emerging adults (twins, 21 years old this month) consider what they want to be when they “grow up”, I can only imagine what life has in store for them, and naturally begin to reflect upon my own professional journey, and decisions made over a very rich lifetime so far.

As a young person, I don’t recall having a clear path or really knowing what I wanted to do as an occupation. My earliest memory of this was when I was 5 years old, convinced I wanted to be a bus driver. I’m not entirely sure why, but the memory is still quite clear in my mind’s eye. A high school aptitude test suggested I be a flight attendant because I liked working with people and travelling. Instead, I took a year of Business Administration in college upon the recommendation of my dad, but soon realized that was not my path. With a somewhat creative nature, I shifted to a diploma course in Interior Design, and while I loved the creative outlet, I realized that wasn’t quite it either. Finally, after enjoying a particularly riveting criminology course, and with my young, somewhat naïve outlook, I realized I was going to change the world by helping people and went on to complete a Sociology degree. From there, I spent the next 10 years working in different capacities for Hull Services, providing support to children, youth and families, and learning about community development. As my introduction into the non-profit sector, I knew this was how I was going to spend my life. Then, enter burnout, stage right!

After needing a change from the toll that such emotional front-line work can bring, I decided I wanted to save not only people, but apparently the world, and embarked on a master’s degree in Sustainable Development. The next almost decade of my life was spent working with the Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society, a small but mighty all hands-on deck volunteer organization, where I had many incredible opportunities to learn the ins and outs of non-profit work. I was fortunate to be involved in everything from volunteer and program management, Human Resources, fund development, occupational health and safety, managing teams, building critical collaborative partnerships with donors, partners and sponsors, and working with all levels of government on comprehensive ecological projects. Then in 2022, I began working for the Alexandra Community Health Centre as a grant writer in their Fund Development department, securing funding to ensure the front-line teams can do what they do best: provide critical healthcare, mental health, social and housing support to Calgary’s most vulnerable citizens. Graciously, they have allowed me to remain with them part-time so I can again stretch my wings and become part of the BJP Music Foundation.

But what does any of this have to do with jazz or the arts?

Well, nothing, really. And if I were to look back on my early life, there is little chance I would have expected that I would end up where I am. There are inherent trade-offs between having a solid plan for your life and following it diligently, versus being open and embracing new, unique and unexpected opportunities that come your way. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, although I do believe there is a special kind of creativity and magic that happens in the latter. It’s of course a balance between the two and that balance is also reflected in the work we do. So much of the magic happens organically because of beautiful connections and relationships that develop along the way and that could not have been anticipated. That’s a big part of the wave we need to ride.

It may sound clichéd, but it’s the journey, not the end point, right? So, the trajectory towards and end goal is important, but it is driven by what we learn along the way. One of the most important things I’ve learned about myself throughout this journey is that I am driven wholeheartedly by my values, including lifelong learning and being involved in important work that makes even a little corner of the world a better place. I have learned that community is an important common denominator in every part of the voluntary sector: we build it, we support it, we depend on it. So, whether it’s helping people, supporting the environment, or bringing attention to the arts, I’m grateful to be part of it. And I am grateful knowing that the richness of experience and understanding I’ve developed throughout my time in the voluntary sector will be of service to the BJP Music Foundation.

So, back to trajectory. When I think back to my first awareness of BuckingJam Palace, the group had just formed. It’s incredible to see how far they have come in just a few short years. As so often is the case with grassroots organizations, they are driven by sheer passion, grit, tenacity and a deeply embedded belief in the importance of their work. Where we are today is a testament to the former and current board members and volunteers who have paved the way. From what I can see, the trajectory has been steadily upwards. And with the support of our community, the sky is the limit!

On behalf of the incredible Board of Directors of the BJP Music Foundation, I express my most sincere gratitude to the Calgary Foundation for the financial support provided to help launch us into the next phase of growth and development. I am thrilled and honoured to be part of such trailblazing work, with some of the most passionate and heartfelt people I have had the great fortune to meet.

And thank you to Lisa, Jodi, Tiro, Céline, Janice, AJ and Graham for the warm welcome and their faith in me. I have no doubt that we are on the path to great things together.

Musings for 2023: Looking ahead for BJP with Lisa Buck

I hope this note finds you happy and well! The new year is well underway and I want to share with you a look back over past year’s events and a look forward to where BJP is headed.

BJP had its AGM on February 22nd and we said good-bye to three retiring board members: Steven Gallant, Emily Buck and Richelle Wiseman. So much gratitude goes out to these folks for their hard work. Incoming board members are Janice Woodward, AJ Benoit and Graham Frampton, all of whom bring deep experience and enthusiasm and will be invaluable in stewarding BJP— along with continuing board members Jodi Lucas, Tiro Clarke, Céline Peterson and Lisa Buck— through in its next stages of growth.

BJP worked hard during the pandemic to develop projects that employed artists, from the Canada Council underwriting the making of our documentary, Change the Tune, to FACTOR supporting educational webinars and concert recordings and Calgary Arts Development supporting the creation of our animated video, Toones. Our programming efforts put tens of thousands of dollars into the hands of musicians at a time when they needed it most.

We are back to hosting a full season of ten to fourteen concerts from October to June and are almost completely booked to the end of June 2024. This is both great and challenging. I get many, many more requests from outstanding musicians that we can possibly handle. The number of affordable music venues in Calgary with a backline was minuscule pre-pandemic and it is dire now. We run a very lean operation at BJP and prioritize paying musicians well: rising costs for insurance, food (we feed all the groups who play here) and software mean that even with a sold-out crowd, we can fall short of breaking even. So, how to plan for the future?

First, we need administrative help. I have been a volunteer Executive Director since 2015, along with working as Artistic Director. As BJP’s reputation has grown, so has the work load and it is too much for one person. Now that we have charitable status, we will be looking to expand our operational and programming capacity by building a donor program—we are registered for tax-receipted donations through Canada Helps—and applying for operational grants.

Second, we want to explore the possibility of holding additional concerts in a venue outside of the house. The demand is there and we’d like to create the capacity to meet it. I am participating in a Creative Spaces Mentoring program organised by Calgary Arts Development and ArtsBuild Ontario that is aimed at helping arts organizations find affordable spaces. To continue to host the top-tier musicians we currently book, BJP needs a venue that includes a backline with a PA system, a drum kit and a grand piano. Our vision is to collaborate with other music organizations who have the same needs to establish a music venue we could all share. It’s a long-term goal but one that is important to work towards.

The Caili O’Doherty Quintet: Caili O'Doherty, Tahira Clayton, Roxy Coss, Adi Meyerson, and Cory Cox. Photo by Jodi Lucas (@jodijets)

At the start of 2023, we collaborated with Women Band Directors International to host a sold-out concert featuring Christine and Ingrid Jensen as part of a Girls in Jazz weekend that saw ninety-three registrants; and we collaborated with the United States Consulate General to host a private concert with the Caili O’Doherty Quintet for guests from Calgary’s Black Chamber of Concert in honour of Black History Month. Both those groups would like to continue collaborating. In January, Tom and I had the privilege of welcoming Janna Sailor, conductor of the all-female Allegra Chamber Orchestra, to our house for three days of rehearsals and recordings with IndigiDivas, a group of five, Indigenous female concert vocalists. All these projects prioritize gender parity, inclusion and diversity in music, work that is vitally important and a key focus for our Foundation. Many of you will know that this is also a cause I feel passionate about and I am delighted to say that the all-female ensemble that I manage, The Ostara Project, has been nominated for a JUNO in the category of Vocal Jazz Group of the Year.

So, so much good stuff happening and the challenge is to keep it happening. I often shake my head that what started out as a family initiative to provide grass-roots support to the local music community has grown into a venue known and beloved throughout Canada and beyond, run by a charitable foundation, and attracting top-tier talent from across North America. What a journey!

Thank you all for being a vital part of what we do. Attending concerts, donating time and money and expertise, loading the dishwasher and folding chairs and sending notes of encouragement and appreciation: this is what has built a community that I feel absolutely privileged to be part of. So many lovely artists in our future and so much good music to look forward to. Upward and onward!

Lisa Buck

A 2021 year end update from Lisa Buck

2021 seems determined to close out with a much uncertainty as it began. In the midst of that, I want to send out good wishes to all for a happy and healthy New Year. Despite the ongoing stress of difficult times, I feel immensely grateful to be part of a community of incredible folk who understand the soul-stirring power of the Arts and work to protect and celebrate our culture and its dedicated creators.

We are rescheduling all our events at BJP for the month of January. While this is immensely disappointing, I am encouraged that the three concerts we were able to schedule in November and December were sold-out, were attended with great enthusiasm and were held without incident. Reducing capacity, participating in the restriction exemption program and adding non-touch protocols have added to everyone’s comfort level.

We have exciting projects in the works. Our Toones project—a film collaboration with the Quickdraw Animation Society—is perking along nicely. All music compositions have been handed over to animators and it’s going to be exciting to see the spectrum of “visual music” that comes to life. Toones is funded by a grant from Calgary Arts Development: the grant has allowed BJP to invest $25,000 into the Calgary Arts community at a crucial time when artists need support.

Plans for shooting the Change the Tune project—a music video and documentary about the challenges faced by female jazz instrumentalists—are still moving ahead. Pandemic permitting, we will be shooting at the Warehouse studio in Vancouver the week of February 11^th with seven of Canada’s top jazz musicians. This project is funded by the Canada Council and, again, grant money is allowing us to employ artists and make art even in these difficult times.

I am part of the current cohort in the Rozsa Foundation’s Arts Management Program, offered in partnership with the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business. The training is excellent. I am working on a capstone project for the course that is focused on outfitting BJP with the equipment and technical support to record live-off-the-floor. I lend our space and backline often for rehearsals and recordings so this is a natural next-step: the acoustics are ideal for recording so kudos to the architect who made that possible 110 years ago!

Our next scheduled concerts are February 24^th and 25^th with a quintet of absolutely top-notch musicians: Jodi Proznick, Amanda Tosoff, Laura Anglade, Virginia MacDonald and Sanah Kadoura. Pencil it into your calendars for now: tickets on sale in the new year.

A final note of gratitude as a proud Calgarian and Canadian. Funding agencies in this country have worked overtime to mitigate the damage to the Arts sector. Canada supports its artists far better than our neighbour to the south and BuckingJam Palace has been able to continue to work for musicians because of this support and the generosity of individual patrons who have donated to our programming.

Wishing peace and joy to you and yours and looking ahead to healthy times filled with music 2022!

Lisa

Introducing Nica's Circle

We’ve introduced a membership circle for BJP called Nica’s Circle. You’ll find info about it under the Membership tab: it’s a $5/month subscription that gives folks access to exclusive content and the earliest access to concert tickets.

We’ve created Nica’s Circle — named after a famous patron of the arts, Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild —because of our experience with COVID-19. When the pandemic hit and live concerts were shuttered, BJP had no means to support and employ our community of musicians whose livelihoods had been decimated. Because the vast part of our ticket revenue goes directly to the musicians (once we were a non-profit we had to keep a fraction to pay for insurance and related operating costs) we didn’t have any means to fund non-concert programming and that left us high and dry. After many hours of grant writing, we received funding from FACTOR, CADA and the Canada Council for projects that are employing musicians and other artists and for that, we are tremendously grateful. (Canadians should be proud of the level of support given to the Arts during the pandemic.)

Establishing Nica’s Circle allows us to create a small income stream that can be used to support non-concert programming and that’s important to our future capacity to support the Canadian jazz community. We also hope that as we build up our content, our Circle members will enjoy the behind-the scenes material and educational content.

As for ticket buying, here’s how that works:

Nica’s Circle members are recognized by our website when they visit and have 48 hours exclusive access to purchase tickets. Ticket sales are then opened up to folks on our email list who have 24 hours to purchase before the concert is announced to the general public through social media.

There is no cost to being on the email list: just be aware that you might see the listing for the concert on Eventbrite and not be able to access tickets until after the 48 hour advance sales is over.

So, thanks for your support as our programming grows and we develop new ways to keep musicians employed and our community engaged!

Lisa

An update on our ongoing response to COVID-19

We miss our community and hope you and yours are well! Through these strange and challenging times, we know we will gather again in the future. In the meantime, BJP has been working to expand ways that we can support the jazz community, paying attention to healthy protocols.

First, a couple of updates. The piano is still here! The loan by Yamaha Canada of the gorgeous C3 grand piano was up in June but given the times and the current impossibility of fund-raising, Yamaha has extended our time. This has allowed us to welcome local musicians for rehearsals, sessions, live-streams and recordings. There aren’t many venues in town that have a great piano on offer (and offer a free space) so this is a significant help to the local community at a time when it is most needed.

COVID-19 delays affected our application for charitable status through CRA but we are hopefully on track now. I have had incredible help from a CRA employee who has been kind and thorough, so fingers crossed that our application is approved soon. This will allow us to issue tax receipts for donations and will open up additional granting streams.

BJP received grant money from the Canada Council that has allowed us to hire musicians for a new on-line initiative we have developed called Jazz Connections. This program has three educational streams: BJP Webinars presented by jazz musicians; Jazz Notes, a video series featuring jazz compositions edited with commentary that explains the jazz structure and creative process; and Five Questions, a video compilation that introduces Canadian jazz musicians to listeners through a series of short answers to five engaging questions.

Our plan, dependent on grant money and donations, is to create a subscription portal on the BJP website that will give access to content we produce and provide an income stream that will allow us to develop further programming. This will create new revenue streams for musicians as we hire them to host webinars and edit videos and provide licensing fees for video use. It will also allow us to reach a global audience and raise the profile of Canadian jazz music and musicians.

Musicians are feeling particularly isolated right now so we organized a BJP hang for jazz musicians recently via Zoom. It was a big success and we are going to continue and expand that initiative to help musicians connect with other peers.

Be careful, be well, be hopeful. And be in touch: send us your thoughts and ideas about our new initiatives, suggestions for other areas to explore and musicians you’d like to see when concerts return. As always, we appreciate your continued engagement and support.