Details
Office: 43 Bright Street, Toronto, M5A 3H5
Website: ircpa.net
Phone: 416 362 1422
Email: sumintl [at] rogers.com or info [at] ircpa.net
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About
The year 2018 will mark the 35th anniversary of the founding of the International Resource Centre for Performing Artists (http://ircpa.net). The non-profit, charitable organization was formed in 1983 by award-winning, innovative artist manager/producer Ann Summers Dossena. Its goal has been to assist Canada’s musicians to achieve sustainable, fulfilling careers that meet or exceed their goals. To this end, it offers Encounters with Employers or experts, including artists and staff from the Metropolitan Opera and Teatro alla Scala for singers; Workshops with industry leaders, and monthly Round-Table open and informal discussions for a wide range of musicians and support workers in the industry, offering straightforward and current information, and entrepreneurial exchanges.
The IRCPA is headed into a busy fall season with its second annual presentation of Singing Stars: The Next Generation, and three workshops for musicians of all genres.
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Events
SINGING STARS: THE NEXT GENERATION takes place Monday, November 6, 7:15 p.m. at Zoomer Hall, 70 Jefferson Avenue (King and Dufferin area in Toronto’s Liberty Village).
The performance will feature 10 gifted opera singers who have participated in an intensive full-day Encounter with celebrated Canadian baritone Brett Polegato (www.brettpolegato.com) on October 20. Polegato will have provided valuable advice, encouraging the singers to advance their skills, offering career guidance, and preparing them for the November 6 concert. Rachel Andrist is the collaborative pianist for both the Encounter and the concert.
The participants plus one alternate are being selected through an audition process, from more than 30 singers’ requests from across Canada.
At the conclusion, one of the 10 singers will be chosen to receive a coveted Career Blueprint. It will enable the recipient to spend three days at the National Opera America Center in New York, where new photographs, video and audio recordings, website consultation, mentoring with professionals, and more is provided. The IRCPA thanks Brett Polegato and the Vocal Advisory Group for their work and support.
Tickets, $30, $20 for under-30s, seniors and arts workers; and more information may be obtained via www.ircpa.net or by calling 416-362-1422. Free parking is available.
NAME A SCHOLARSHIP: The singers are each attending the Encounter on a $400 scholarship. These were donated in the name of an important Canadian musical artist past or present, through the IRCPA’s Name a Scholarship campaign. Scholarship donations may be made through the website, by email or by phone. Tax receipts will be issued. This year’s honourees include Clarice Carson, Stuart Hamilton, Eugene Kash, Adrianne Pieczonka, Sondra Radvanovsky, Riki Turofsky, Jon Vickers, and Barbara Wolfond Little.
As IRCPA Founder/Director Ann Summers Dossena points out, “These scholarships enable all singers to participate without financial burden. They also significantly enhance the recipients’ biographies, reminding the artists, as well as all of us, to take pride in and draw inspiration from Canada’s musical heritage.”
IRCPA PRESENTS INDUSTRY-RELATED WORKSHOPS THIS FALL & SPRING 2018
The IRCPA will present workshops in Toronto November 25, and December 2 and 3; and in May 2018 for all musicians, other performing artists and workers in the industry.
Ann Summers Dossena explains, “The IRCPA holds monthly open round table discussions with artists of diverse backgrounds and genres. Instead of theorizing or guessing what the artists need, the IRCPA seeks to balance what the artists request with what the experts tell us is needed. Leaders of the workshops are musicians who generously share information and their experiences with their colleagues.”
The workshops, with the locations and leaders are the following:
Branding, Marketing, Social Media, Saturday, November 25, 10 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. at 519 Church Street
Music theatre singer Lara Harb shares her knowledge. NOTE: The first 10 artists to register can have their materials critiqued.
From Rags to Reasonable! Financial Management / Planning for Artists with Chris Enns, December 2, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Canadian Music Centre, 20 St. Joseph Street
Busy operatic tenor and certified financial planner Chris Enns discusses the basics of financial management, with such topics as budgeting (Bridging The Gaps) with variable incomes (morning); and speaks about financial planning (afternoon).
Artists New to Canada, with Marcelo Puente (Chile) and Shahriyar Jamshidi (Iranian Kurdistan), December 3, 2:30 -5 p.m. at 918 Bathurst Street – ***Free Admission***
Kamanche (spiked fiddle) performer/composer Shahriyar Jamshidi, a recent newcomer to Canada; and musician, writer and teacher Marcelo Puente, who came to Toronto from Chile in 1974, share their experiences of establishing music careers in this country, providing guidance and suggestions for newcomer artists facing the same challenges.
SPECIAL OFFER: Tickets for the Branding and Financial Management workshops are $75, with a special 3-for-1 deal. When three colleagues share registration, each pays $25 (a $50 saving). Applicants must first register for IRCPA membership (free), then for the event(s), at http://ircpa.net/news-events. Payment is in cash at the door. The Newcomers workshop (Dec. 3) is free, but registration is still required.
Three more workshops are scheduled for May 2018:
Representation: Managers/Agents, Who are they? What do they do? When to approach?
Working Partnership between Artist/Agent/Manager
Who’s Who in the Industry: Programmers: How do they determine what we hear in our clubs, festivals and concert halls?
Locations and other details will be posted in early January 2018 on http://ircpa.net/news-events.
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The Folks Behind It All
ANN SUMMERS DOSSENA, Founder/Director
Returning to Toronto in 1977 from 20 years in New York and Rome, Ms. Summers opened her third office of Summers International, with a continued focus on serving both artists and audiences internationally. She also trained managers, who apprenticed in both her New York and Toronto offices.
In 1983, under her leadership, The International Resource Centre for Performing Artists, a non-profit charitable organization was founded in Toronto, with a mandate to help young artists move into their careers, and to continue the rich heritage of Canada’s artists.
In 2011, Ms. Summers Dossena was awarded the first Manager of the Year Award by her peers in NAPAMA, the association of North American managers and agents. Three years later, in 2014, she received the prestigious International Citation Award from the International Society for Performing Arts (ISPA), a global arts organization of presenters, producers, administrators from over 50 countries. Ms. Summers Dossena was the first Canadian to receive this award. The Citation read: Cross generational and cross regional, Ann Summers Dossena has arguably promoted/developed more artists and arts leaders than any one individual alive today. Her commitment to the performing arts has spanned 60 years – it is an honour to acknowledge her contribution.
Her book Getting It All Together was published in 1985 by Scarecrow Press in the U.S. It remains available in over 260 libraries worldwide, in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand
In 2013, Ann Summers Dossena retired from arts management to devote her time to expanding the IRCPA and its much-needed programs.
More information about the IRCPA and its board is at http://ircpa.net.
The IRCPA acknowledges with thanks the support of the Ontario Arts Council, the Jack Weinbaum Charitable Foundation, private donors, the Canadian Opera Company, THE 519, 918 Bathurst, Canadian Music Centre, and corporate partners La Scena Musicale, Lula Lounge, The Wholenote and The New Classical FM.
