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Employment Opportunity: Professional Programming Presenter, St. Albert

Professional Programming Presenter (Permanent Part-time)

Apply: https://careers.stalbert.ca/…

Requisition #: 19/116
Job #: J0619-0688
Job Title: Professional Programming Presenter (Permanent Part-time)
Job Type: Permanent Part Time
City, Province, Country: St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
Job Category: Cultural Services
Number of Positions: 1
Posting Date: June 20, 2019
Posting Closing Date: July 2, 2019
Salary/Wage: 40.36 – 49.10/Year
Department: Community Services
Location: 5 St. Anne Street

Cultivate your Career:

A city rich in arts and heritage, St. Albert has superior cultural opportunities for the enjoyment and learning of our residents and visitors. The City of St. Albert’s Community Services Cultural branches promote the development of arts and cultural services throughout the community and the team connects to the community through programming and operation of The Arden Theatre, the International Children’s Festival of the Arts, St. Albert Children’s Theatre, and other community cultural events

The Opportunity:

We are currently seeking to fill a permanent part-time role within the Cultural Programming team. The Professional Programming Presenters are responsible for managing the day to day business and advancing of presenting activities for the City of St. Albert.

This position, in tandem with another full-time Presenter, will project manage a wide variety of presentations including the negotiation of artist contracts, management of artist logistics including accommodation, transportation, hospitality, and the management of budgets directly related to presentations. Areas of focus include, but are not limited to, the International Children’s Festival, family-focused programming at various city venues, and other community cultural events. The successful candidate will build relationships within the local and regional arts community. They will also develop and recommend a strategic artistic and business plan to utilize City performing arts spaces/venues to their highest potential in the area of professional performing arts presentations. In addition, the Professional Programming Presenter is required to collaborate and research co-presentational opportunities with other Albertan and Canadian professional presenters, artist management companies and potential community partnerships within the City and Capital Region. This position will work closely with the other Professional Programming Presenter, marketing, sponsorship, front of house and venue operations teams as well as with a wide variety of artists, agents and managers.

The work requires a detailed knowledge and understanding of all performing arts genres, the professional presentation genre, technical theatre operations and front of house operations.
The individual we seek has comfort with public speaking and media relations. The role requires an incumbent who is skilled at organization and time management.

Qualifications:

• Diploma in Arts Administration, Theatre Management or a related field and 7 years of related experience, or a related Degree and 5 years experience. Equivalent education and experience may be considered.
• Previous work experience in programming for young audiences and for soft seat venues and large-scale festivals is considered an asset.
• Strong negotiation, conflict resolution, financial management, budget planning, monitoring and reporting skills and experience.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills including the ability to research, write and prepare comprehensive grant applications and final reports.
• Prior experience working with presenting associations such as CAPACOA (Canadian Arts Presenting Association), ATAA (Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta) would be considered an asset.
• A valid Class 5 Drivers License and a personal vehicle for work use is required.

Hours of Work:

This is a 0.50 permanent part-time position that will work approximately 18 hours per week. This position may be offered the opportunity to work additional hours. The nature of this position includes evening and weekend work, as well as the necessity to travel.

Compensation:

$40.36 – $49.10 per hour. In addition, the City of St. Albert offers a comprehensive benefit package.

TO APPLY: 
Qualified applicants are invited to submit their cover letter and resume via the City of St. Albert employment website https://careers.stalbert.ca/…

The successful applicant will be required to obtain a satisfactory police information check.

Applications will only be accepted to 10:00 p.m. (Mountain Time Zone) on closing date.

We wish to express our appreciation to all applicants for their interest and effort in applying for this position. However, only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. The City of St. Albert will no longer accept applications in person, via fax, email or by post.

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CHRISTMAS IN JUNE WITH STRICTLY BUSINESS

CHRISTMAS IN JUNE WITH STRICTLY BUSINESS

Dynamic cabaret duo will get you in the holiday spirit

By Jessica Ryan

Attendees at the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre launch will not only be the first to find out what exciting events are coming to Camrose next season, but will also be treated to a free performance by Edmonton-based Strictly Business Theatre, the cabaret pairing of musical theatre adepts Kelsey Visscher and Kayla Nickel.

Visscher took some time to describe what Strictly Business is all about and hint at what is in store for theatregoers on June 20 (answers have been edited for length):

What does a Strictly Business performance entail?

For us, cabaret is a series of songs, sometimes some dancing, and we tie it together with stories, jokes and fun facts about us. We like to share as much as we can with the audience about us as people and performers. It’s a fun, casual night. We really like to get people out who don’t usually go to live performances.

How did it all come about?

(Five or six years ago) we had just graduated from Grant MacEwan university’s theatre arts program, and we wanted to further our studies in New York. So we decided, since New York is so stinking expensive, that we should put on a cabaret as a fundraiser. People kept asking when our next one was, so we decided to do some more, and here we are!

Are there things you learned while studying in New York that you incorporate into your shows?

For sure. General acting tips, our different voice teachers would help us with performing different styles and people there recommended songs that made it into shows. Seeing different shows definitely inspired us to do a few different little bits or different songs. We did get the chance to see a more cabaret-style show at a really famous cabaret venue there, so that was cool, just to see how that happens in a big city like New York and how we can bring that back here.

What do you hope your audiences experience at your shows?

We hope they get to know us a little bit. And a lot of times theatre is seen as a very hoity-toity type thing, so we want to make it more casual again, make it fun. If we can make them feel things — whether it be happy, sad, make them maybe learn something new about a situation — and just have a good time, go home and enjoy the people they were with, enjoy what they saw, enjoy what they drank and ate, then we’re happy.

What do you have planned for the performance in Camrose?

We’re hoping to make people laugh. A really big thing we have learned at our Christmas shows is people tell us that’s what gets them in the Christmas spirit, so I think that’s definitely started to inform the songs we choose to do and how we decide to do them. I guess our No. 1 goal is to entertain people, No. 2: get people in the Christmas spirit and just have a good time.

What are some of your all-time favourite songs to sing?

We always, at Christmas, like to do an Elvis tribute. We have a couple classic Christmas songs; The Christmas Song is one of our favourites. We’re really big fans of the Andrews Sisters and that era, so we have a couple of those that are some of our favourites to perform. They’re hard work, but they’re so worth it once you get them.

See Strictly Business showcase their cabaret at the Lougheed Centre’s Season Launch on Thursday, June 20th. This is a free event and no tickets are needed to attend. Come early (6pm) if you would like a facility tour. For more information, call the box office at 780.608.2922

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CAPACOA Update: Tourism Strategy and the Performing Arts

The federal government unveiled a comprehensive tourism strategy last week. Taking a whole-of-government approach, the strategy acknowledges the contribution of festivals and performing arts organizations in realizing Canada’s full tourism potential.

Arts presentation and creative export acknowledged in the tourism strategy

As requested in CAPACOA’s brief on tourism, the strategy identifies the Canada Arts Presentation Fund and Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage as key programs in the strategy. Both programs are listed in the “empowering Canadian communities to develop tourism experience” section of the strategy and the investments of the 2019 federal budget are explicitly mentioned as allocations supporting the strategy. As a reminder, the 2019 federal budget committed $16 million over two years to the Canada Arts Presentation Fund and $24 million over two years to the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Program and the Celebration and Commemoration Program.

The Creative Export Strategy is also identified as a contributor to the tourism strategy, under “Supporting Businesses and Empowering the Tourism Workforce”.

  • The fact that these time-limited investments in arts presentation and export (all are set to expire at the end of the 2020-2021 fiscal year) are mentioned in a longer-term tourism strategy is very meaningful. It creates a strong rationale for extending these investments after the federal election.  Please, take a moment to tell your Member of Parliament that you appreciate the tourism strategy and that you want the government to follow through on it after the federal election.

A new Canadian Experiences Fund

One of the key elements of the strategy is the new Canadian Experiences Fund (CEF), a $58.5 million investment over two years. The CEF will enhance Canada’s tourism products and experiences across five focus areas:

  • winter and shoulder-season tourism;
  • Indigenous tourism;
  • inclusiveness, especially for the LGBTQ2 community;
  • rural and remote communities; and
  • farm-to-table, also known as culinary tourism.

The CEF will be delivered through Canada’s Regional Development Agencies. Not-for-profit organizations will be eligible. Eligible projects will support the growth and diversification of the tourism sector. These activities may include:

  • Planning and development of tourism products and services: improving or designing new tourism services and products such as tours, special events and festivals
  • Market readiness training: working with tourism associations to provide training to businesses to market their products, adopt foreign payment systems, manage cultural differences, etc.; and
  • Creating or improving tourism facilities: physical assets used by tourists such as trails, campgrounds, and shelters.

Any arts organization who fits with any of the Fund’s five focus areas should connect with local or regional tourism partners and explore options for a joint or solo application.

Other non-updates

There are still no news on how the new CAPF funding or the expanded Student Work Placement Program will be administered.  We are in touch with Canadian Heritage and we will share information as it becomes available.

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Sled Island 2019 Volunteer Opportunities

 Sled Island Music & Arts Festival which is held annually at 30+ venues across Calgary’s downtown core. Our 13th edition will take place from June 19 – 23, 2019. Each year, hundreds of volunteers help us make the festival possible. In return, volunteers receive a free festival pass that gives them access to all Sled Island music, comedy, art and film events, discounts for goods and services at select businesses around the city and many more perks! It also gives them an opportunity to meet like-minded individuals and to get acquainted with Calgary’s music and arts community.

There are many volunteer roles available such as admitting festival goers at venues, helping with the installation of art exhibits, or serving drinks at various events. We need a variety of talents to fill our wide range of positions and can accommodate different schedules and abilities. This year, in order to foster added engagement of youth participation with the festival, we have reduced the amount of volunteer participation for those who are 16 & 17 years old to only 8 hours.

Inclusivity is incredibly important to us here at Sled Island, and we want to ensure that all Calgarians have the chance to participate in this diverse and one-of-a-kind festival. Folks can also find more information on our website at sledisland.com/volunteer or by contacting us at volunteer@sledisland.com.

Volunteer registration is now open!

Kyle Visvanathan (He/ Him) & Paul McMillan (He/ Him)
Sled Island | Volunteer Coordination Team

Volunteer for Sled Island 2019!
Visit sledisland.com/volunteer for more details

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Contribution of Culture and Sport to GDP

Source: ATB Financial’s Economics & Research Team, April 30, 2019

Contribution of Culture and Sport to GDP

From music festivals and libraries to sporting events and video game design, Albertans both produce and enjoy a wide range of cultural and sports activities. In economic terms, these activities generated more than $6.1 billion of GDP for the province in 2017, or about 2.0 per cent of that year’s total GDP.

Culture-related activities account for majority, at 86.5 per cent of the total GDP. In per capita terms, that amounts to $1,248 of GDP generated per Albertan compared to $194 for sports activities. The national figures are $1,448 per person for culture and $180 per person for sport.

The largest sub-sector is audio-visual and interactive media at $1.9 billion (31.1 per cent of the total culture and sport GDP). According to Statistics Canada, this sub-sector “includes activities related to video game publishing, film, television and video production, as well as motion picture exhibition.”

The second largest sub-sector is visual and applied arts at just over $1.0 billion (16.3 per cent of the culture and sport GDP). Organized sport, which includes both professional and amateur sporting events, generated $349.5 million of GDP (5.7 per cent of the culture and sport GDP).

When it comes to jobs, 66,584 Albertans were employed in the culture and sport sector in 2017. Of these jobs, 53,739 were in culture and 12,845 were in sport. The number of jobs in culture slipped by 8.4 per cent between 2014 and 2017 while jobs in sports increased by 4.4 per cent. This suggests jobs related to cultural activities were hurt more by the recession than those related to sports.

https://atb.com/learn/economics/Pages/default.aspx

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Two Little Birds by Diyet and the Love Soldiers

Inspired by the desire of youth to break away and be free. To seek freedom from imposed rules and becoming something that you do not want to become and finally finding some sort of redemption and peace from those wild and reckless years.

Two Little Birds by Diyet and the Love Soldiers

Conceived by Alistair Maitland
Video by Alistair Maitland and Brendan Preston

—

Diyet & The Love Soldiers is alternative country, folk, roots and traditional with catchy melodies and stories deeply rooted in Diyet’s Indigenous world view and northern life. Backed by Love Soldiers: husband and collaborator, Robert van Lieshout and Juno Award winning producer, Bob Hamilton; this multi-instrumental trio from the Yukon has a sound that can fill a big stage or capture an intimate room.

More About Diyet & The Love Soldiers >>

Bookings via Maverick Cooperative: http://maverickcooperative.com/diyet-and-the-love-soldiers/

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Call for Applications: MASA 2020

MASA 2020
MARCHÉ DES ARTS DU SPECTACLE D’ABIDJAN

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

The 11th edition of the MASA, the Marché des arts du spectacle d’Abidjan, will take place in Abidjan, in Ivory Coast, from March 7 to 14, 2020.

MASA is Africa’s largest performing arts conference and it takes place every 2 years in Abidjan. It brings together artists from Africa and elsewhere and its objectives are:

– to support creativity and good quality productions;

– to facilitate the movement of artists and their works within Africa and throughout the world;

– to train artists and key professionals in the production field;

– to promote African Performing Arts.

The MASA has just opened its Call for applications! Dance, Theater, Music, Storytelling, Stand-up Comedy and Slam Companies can apply before June 30, 2019 to be part of the 2020 Official programming.

Read the eligibility criteria by clicking HERE and learn more about the MASA by consulting their Website:

https://www.en.masa.ci/

Eligibility Criteria: https://www.en.masa.ci/masa-2020-call-for-applications-for-the-categories-of-storytelling-dance-stand-up-comedy-music-and-theater

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Alberta Showcase 2019: Registration, Advertising, & Sponsorship!

Alberta Showcase 2019: Registration, Advertising, & Sponsorship!

Alberta Showcase 2019 is an arts marketing conference (music, theatre & dance) presented by the Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta. This conference provides community theatre presenters from across our province the opportunity to see artists perform who might be suitable to bring to their community.

Now in its 42nd year, Alberta Showcase attracts an upwards of 400 presenters, agents, and performers throughout Alberta, Canada and the United States.

The conference also offers professional development workshops and a trade fair where artists, agents, and other arts professional stakeholders can market and attract customers to their business.

Alberta Showcase will be held October 17 – 20, 2019
Dow Centennial Centre in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta

Register Online with Ticketpro Today!

https://ww2.ticketpro.ca/alberta-showcase.php

Want To Do More?

The Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta has an opportunity for you to promote your business in advance as well as during Alberta Showcase 2019.

Purchasing sponsorship includes your logo uploaded onto our website, shared across our social media, and featured in our newsletter with a reach of over 2000 individuals.

In addition to our digital reach, sponsor logos are included in the printed signage, the Alberta Showcase program, the Alberta Showcase app, and audibly thanked throughout the Alberta Showcase conference.

 

Purchasing an advertisement in our program also includes the same advertisement uploaded onto our website, shared across our social media, and featured in our newsletter with a reach of over 2000 individuals.

Providing us with coupons or a flyer for the delegate bag, while not mandatory, would maximize your visibility.

 

With a deadline of September 15, the online ad would be up 4 weeks prior to our conference, giving our delegates a chance to plan their weekend.

Don’t miss this chance to reach over 300 delegates and support arts touring in Alberta. For more information email kennedy@artstouring.com or visit https://www.artstouring.com/shop

 

Don’t forget to download the app!

Developed by Favequest, the Performing Arts Canada app is your guide to showcases across the country. The app (available through Google Play and in the App Store) includes key information for the following conferences: Alberta Showcase, CAPACOA, Contact East, Manitoba Showcase, OSAC, Ontario Contact, and Pacific Contact

The Performing Arts Canada app is your conference guide and includes: Conference Schedule; Showcase Artists’ bios, photos and contact information;  List of Exhibitors; Delegate Connect, ATAA Member Events, Arts Touring Alliance Twitter & Facebook; And, so much more!

http://meaurl.com/PerformingArtsCanada

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Tim Isberg – 25 Years After: Songs and Stories from a Canadian Soldier in Rwanda

25 Years After: Songs and Stories of a Canadian Soldier in Rwanda

Singer, songwriter and soldier, Tim Isberg returns to Festival Place for a special evening and tribute, 25 Years After: Songs and Stories of a Canadian Solider in Rwanda, April 18, 2019.

Using song, stories and photography, Tim Isberg shares his personal account in his year as a UN Military Observer in Rwanda amid the best and worst humanity had to offer. Tim has entertained audiences in many corners of the world. He brings well-crafted songs to the stage, and a unique and endearing array of life experiences he shares in a way that makes each listener feel connected. Tim recently celebrated the release of his third studio album, Running on the Edge, in February.

25 Years After: Songs and Stories of a Canadian Soldier in Rwanda
April 18, 2019 – 7:30 pm
Festival Place – Sherwood Park, AB
Tickets: $32 – $36

Tickets are available through the Festival Place Box Office (https://festivalplace.ab.ca/festival/view/buy or 780.449.3378) or through Ticketmaster.ca