Eleanor Friedland, president of the IRCPA Board, has announced that the International Resource Centre for Performing Artists will cease operations on November 30, 2022. The charitable organization served Canadian opera singers and musicians for four decades.
“The Board would like to thank Ann Summers Dossena for having developed innovative programs to serve the needs of Canadian artists. Not just singers, but many of Canada’s musicians and personnel working behind the scenes in the performing arts owe Ann a huge debt of gratitude,” said Ms. Friedland in a media statement.
“Through her tireless efforts and fertile imagination, she identified the skills and types of input artists needed to tighten the gap between their training and a professional career. Using her enviable contact list, she brought international expertise to Canada so that artists didn’t have to travel to New York or Europe at considerable expense to be heard and to gain valuable feedback.”
“Over four decades, our goal has been to help Canadian musicians, mostly opera singers, whose career span may be limited, but also other performing artists, to become aware of the international stages available to them and of how they measure up in their search for excellence,” said Ms. Summers Dossena.
“After many years of being essentially the only such organization helping musicians in this way, we are pleased to see the torch being taken up by a number of others with appropriate funding, who are offering feedback on artists’ skills and knowledge of the music industry.”
Ann Summers Dossena
Ann Summers Dossena has been a super-manager for more than 40 years. She retired as an award-winning Canadian artists’ manager in 2013, and from that point, devoted her time and energy to the role of Artistic Director of the IRCPA.
Back in 1982, she was asked to produce a three-week festival in Italy using all-Canadian talent. The resulting concert featured the Ottawa Choral Society, and several vocal soloists, along with an orchestra and dancers. The event made a big splash, and helped put Canadian artists on the international stage.
Recognizing a lack of resources back at home, she went on to establish the Ann Summers Resource Centre for Performing artists in 1983 with the support of professionals from across North America, including noted contralto Maureen Forrester and CBC producer Norman Campbell, among others. The organization developed into the International Resource Centre for Performing Artists.
Among other initiatives, the organization ran a summer residency in Italy for 12 years, hosting 60-70 singers annually. Ten scholarships were established for emerging singers to allow them to participate in the program without a financial burden.
Ann Summers Dossena has been recognized internationally for her efforts.
- Honourary Lifetime Membership, International Society of Performing Arts (ISPA), New York, 1969
- Manager of the Year, North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents (NAPAMA), New York, 2011
- International Citation of Merit, International Society of Performing Arts (ISPA), New York, 2014
Over the past four decades about 600 alumni have benefited from the organization’s programs, including: Sopranos Adrianne Pieczonka, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Sara Schabas, Natalya Gennadi, Jana Miller, Jaclyn Grossman and Jocelyn Fralick; mezzos Emily d’Angelo, Jean Stilwell and Marjorie Maltais, tenors Colin Ainsworth and Asitha Tennekoon, baritone Clarence Frazer, soprano and artists’ manager Kathy Domoney, and pianist Rachel Andrist.
Her influence in the world of opera will be missed.
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