A look back at 25 years of Huntsville’s Festival of the Arts

By Rob Saunders
General Manager, Huntsville Festival of the Arts

Photos supplied.

They say “time flies when you’re having fun” and the fact the Huntsville Festival of the Arts is celebrating its 25^th anniversary season this year certainly supports that adage.

Started in 1993, by Toronto promoters, Attila Glatz and Susan Alberghini, along with local business owners Jim and Jane Alexander, the Festival drew on the support of a number of local business people and arts lovers, as well as the generosity of Deerhurst Resort, to undertake a fairly ambitious first season, running the first two weeks in July.

Initially more classically focused, the Festival was anchored by conductor Kerry Stratton and the 40-piece ‘Festival’ orchestra, comprised of professional musicians from top orchestras around Ontario. For the next 12 summers the orchestra took up residence for a two week period, billeting with local residents, and performing four or more concerts each season. Some early years’ highlights include the inaugural opening concert by The Canadian Brass, supreme soprano Maureen Forrester, jazz greats Peter Appleyard and Rob McConnell, and a number of professionally mounted Gilbert & Sullivan plays.

Unfortunately, the attempts by Glatz to create an international presence, along the lines of the Tanglewood Festival in northern New York state, proved a bit ambitious and by year four Jim Alexander and local businessmen Hugh Mackenzie and Bruce Evans stepped in to take a leadership role. The local Board of Directors took a more active role in decision making and program planning and in December 1996 a General Manager position was created, recognizing the growing demands of the organization.

At the same time, changes to the Deerhurst stage facility forced the Festival to seek a new summer home, and the Grandview Tennis Court theatre was born. Possessing reasonable acoustics, the facility provided the Festival a home for the next nine seasons. While the majority of concerts were at the main theatre, the Festival continued to use venues throughout the community, including Pioneer Village (now Muskoka Heritage Place), both Trinity and All Saints church halls and the old Town Hall theatre. Extended to a three week run, there were many magical moments at each of these venues.

Who can forget our first Hawksley show with a young singer named Serena Ryder opening the show? It’s safe to say he’s been the only artist in our history who sported a feather boa, a megaphone and jeans held together with safety pins. Another memorable feature was the resurrecting of the Festival ticket booth every year at the Royal Bank corner of Main and West streets. During those earlier years the booth provided a real connection and a very visible presence for the Festival (as well an informal outlet for the Chamber of Commerce).

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s the Festival had very little competition for the entertainment dollar and there was an anticipation and fierce loyalty to the summer season, from local and seasonal residents. The opening of the Algonquin Theatre in 2005 changed the artistic landscape for the better, but there were some drawbacks. Patrons certainly didn’t miss the flat floor of the tennis courts, or the horrendous parking and lining up to get into the Grandview theatre, but in some ways the whole process had an appeal and made shows an event. With the comfort and easy access offered by the Algonquin Theatre, where there are no bad seats, patrons can arrive five minutes before show time, settle in to their seats and enjoy the evening’s performance.

With the opening of the theatre in May of 2005 the Festival expanded its scope to provide year round programming. An added benefit was the ability to plan ahead in setting its artistic lineup, a luxury it did not have in earlier years when HFA would often not be able to confirm the availability of performance venue until January or February.

Looking back over the past 13 years, the Algonquin Theatre, through Festival programming, has played host to a plethora of world class artists. International stars such as the Harlem Gospel Choir, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the Soweto Gospel Choir and folk legend Arlo Guthrie have graced our stage. Closer to home, artists like Jim Cuddy (on his own and with Blue Rodeo), Jesse Cook, Colm Wilkinson, Measha Brueggergosman, John McDermott, Alan Doyle and Natalie MacMaster, among many others, have made their way into Huntsville’s heart.

Our speaker series is selective but those who experienced General Romeo Dallaire, Stephen Lewis, Chris Hadfield and Roberta Bondar know how powerful listening to great Canadians can be.

So here we are 25-years older and hopefully a bit wiser. This year’s celebrations include many of the performers mentioned above, as we wanted to bring back some audience favourites. Being able to book The Canadian Brass for the opening night of our anniversary season, 25 years after they opened the original festival, was a stroke of luck and a real coup, given their international stature. Having Kerry and the orchestra back was an important goal and being able to resurrect a couple of plays from the amazing repertoire of playwright, and former Festival Board member Stina Nyquist, has made the anniversary celebrations that much more special.

Now it’s up to you. If you’ve never experienced a Huntsville Festival show, now’s the time. We challenge you to look at the lineup and not find something that would be of interest. We hope to see you at the Algonquin Theatre this summer, where you’ll see lots of your friends and neighbours who discovered the magic long ago!

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