After a quarter-century as artistic director of a long-running Orillia festival, Blair Bailey is calling it a day.
Bailey has been looking for a few years for someone to succeed him in that position with the Kiwanis Music Festival.
“I’ve been thinking for a while it’s time for me to move on from being the artistic director,” he said. “I was waiting to find someone who had everything needed to come into that role.”
Enter Amanda Stanton.
“Finally, after this many years, that person is here,” Bailey said of Stanton. “There couldn’t be a better-qualified person to take on this role.”
Stanton’s involvement with the festival goes back to the early 1990s, when she was a participant. She returned in 2008, for the festival’s 50th anniversary, as a piano adjudicator.
“That kind of reignited my love of the festival,” she said.
She poured that passion into her work as a festival volunteer.
Stanton is a piano teacher, but that was pushed to the back burner when she started a family.
“I was looking for something to fill that void. It was perfect timing for me,” she said of the opportunity to become artistic director.
Like Stanton, Bailey’s introduction to the festival was as a participant. He performed in the 1960s and ’70s before returning to volunteer — something he has been doing for more than 30 years.
There are similar music festivals — run by Kiwanis clubs or other groups — across Canada, but Bailey said Orillia’s stands out. He is proud of the festival’s milestone moments over the years, including the shift from competitive to non-competitive.
Participants are assessed and given a gold, silver or bronze ranking, but it is based on their individual performances, and more than one person in the same category could achieve the same result.
“It emphasizes that you’re just striving for a level of excellence in your performance and preparation,” he said.
He continues to be astonished by the community support for the event, too. The many donors allow the festival to award bursaries and scholarships.
“That’s something I feel really good about,” Bailey said.
The volunteer-run festival attracts about 1,000 young musicians from Orillia and area every year. Public admission to the performances is by freewill donation.
While the festival remains popular and successful, Bailey felt the time had come for some new blood.
“It’s time for someone who’s younger than Blair Bailey,” he said with a laugh, adding Stanton “is going to be wonderful” as artistic director.
Taking over for Bailey, who was always visible during the festival despite his heavy workload, “is daunting,” Stanton said.
“Keeping up that visibility is going to be one of my main goals,” she said. “I’m hoping to bring some new energy to the festival.”
Bailey said he will continue to volunteer with the committee.
The 61st annual Kiwanis Music Festival will start April 23 and run until the week of May 6. The early-bird deadline to enter is Jan. 15. The latest people can enter is Jan. 31.
For more information, visit orilliakiwanismusicfestival.com or email [email protected].
