56 cm of textual records, one 3.5” floppy disk, colour photos & negatives, two music CD's
History / Biography
The Ottawa Valley Music Festival (known as "The Valley Festival") was a non-profit, charitable corporation whose objectives were three-fold: to promote the appreciation of classical music by providing concerts throughout the Ottawa Valley, to assist promising musicians by providing them with the opportunity to perform in a professional setting, and to provide scholarships to students from the Ottawa Valley who wish to pursue a career in music or the arts. The Valley Festival was started in 1993 by three people: Kevin MacDonald (accountant and former mayor of Arnprior), Yvette MacDonald (wife of Kevin MacDonald), and Mervin Fick (the musical director of Valley Festival, originally from Eganville and now living in Toronto). The Festival was incorporated in 1995 and was organized and run by volunteers. It was dissolved in June 2019.
Acquisition Source
Donated by Linda Buttle (the Arnprior representative for the Valley Festival) Peter Hessel, former Board member responsible for Publicity, in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, Al Graham 2005 - 2007, Arthur Coles, 2008 and Eric Ridgen 2013.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of minutes of meetings, correspondence, financial documents, concert programs, press releases, press clippings and other publicity material and photos generated while carrying out the functions of the organization and relating to various aspects of the work of the Valley festival. The collection is organized into the following series: by-laws, meetings, programs, job descriptions, financial documents, scrapbook, Mount St. Patrick, Valley Festival Album, correspondence, publicity, music scholarship and recordings.
Box G14.4
PROGRAMS. -- 1993-2013. -- 10 cm of textual records.
Organized chronologically, series contains concert programs from the different locations where the concerts were held, usually four times per year. Includes brochures 1994 - 2013 (with gaps) and information booklet on the Valley Festival.
RECORDINGS. --2002 & 2005. CD -- 1 cm
Valley Festival Chorus and Orchestra perform Haydn and Mozart (2002)
BY-LAWS. -- 1994; 1997; 1998. -- 0.1 cm of textual records.
Series contains a copy of the bylaws and proposed amendments thereto.
CHAIRPERSON'S FILE. -- 1997 - 2001. -- 2 cm of textual records
FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS. -- 1995-2003. -- 4 cm of textual records.
Organized chronologically, series contains statements of revenue and expenditures, statements of operations, and ticket sales reports.
Note: Original fiscal year (Jan 1 to Dec 31) changed in 1999 to Nov 1 to Oct 31.
JOB DESCRIPTIONS. -- 1993; 1995; 1997; 1999; 2000. -- 1 cm of textual records.
Series contains descriptions of various job positions: committee chairperson, correspondence co-ordinator, facilities or operations co-ordinator, treasurer, hospitality co-ordinator, publicity co-ordinator and ticket sales co-ordinator. Includes an undated set, probably 2002, titled "Operations Manual".
MEMBERSHIP LIST.-- 2001-- 1 cm of textual records. Restricted
MISC ADMINISTRATIVE FILE. 1995-2002. -- 1.0 cm of textual records.
Includes advertising, patron forms, committee reports, and other files regarding festival business. File also includes executive lists for various years.
MUSIC SCHOLARSHIP. -- June 1995-2001. -- .5 cm of textual records.
Series contains a description of the award, lists of award recipients and an application form.
ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION. -- 1999 - 2000. -- 0.5 cm of textual records
Series contains application form, grant information and correspondence.
PHOTOGRAPHS. -- 1995 - 1998. -- 0.5 cm negatives and colour photogaphs
Series contains negatives of Mount St. Patrick concert in 1995 (interior and exterior of church), group photograph at Pembroke 17 August 1996, group photo in Eganville 25 May 1997 and photographs at Mount St. Patrick July 1998.
SCRAPBOOK. -- 1993-1995. -- 0.5 cm of textual records and 7 colour photos.
Series contains press clippings from the Arnprior News, Arnprior Chronicle-Guide and the Renfrew Mercury, an invitation, and photos of the displays at Superior, the Arnprior Book Shop and the Arnprior Public Library, covering a period from October 23, 1993 to October 6, 1995.
TICKET INFORMATION. -- 1997, 1998, 2001. -- 0.5 textual records
Series contains summary information generated by a database.
VALLEY FESTIVAL ALBUM. 1993-1997. -- 4 cm of textual records; 7 colour photos.
Series contains a binder with an embroidered cover which contains press clippings, press releases, concert programs and photos of concert locales and of the choir. The binder was compiled by Marg Seidel.
Box G14.6
CORRESPONDENCE. -- 1994-2005. -- 8 cm of textual records.
Organized chronologically from January 1994 to October 2005, series contains letters arising out of the business of planning and organizing the concerts (for example, some letters deal with inviting public figures to the concerts and others deal with advertising of events) and some deal with in-house business such as reimbursement of expenses and letters of resignation. Also included are lists of Board and committee members.
Box G14.7
BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS. -- 1999 - 2000. --1 cm of textual records.
Series contains handwritten and typewritten notes and proposals. Some material is not dated.
MEETINGS: REPORTS & MINUTES. -- 1993-2019. -- 9 cm of textual records; Organized chronologically, series contains minutes, reports and agendas of the meetings of the executive committee and other committees from September 1, 1993 to November 4, 2004, and the final Annual General Meeting minutes of June 1, 2019 when the festival was dissolved.
Box G15.1
PUBLICITY. -- 1993-2013. -- 10 cm of textual records, several posters and one 3.5” diskette.
Series contains press releases, minutes of meetings of the publicity committee, lists of activities of the Publicity Committee, newspaper clippings from the Pembroke Observer, the Eganville Leader, the Renfrew Mercury, the North Renfrew Times, the Ottawa Citizen and the Arnprior Chronicle, media contact lists, and copies of letters sent to media contacts and churches; series also contains a disk containing press releases, media contacts and signs generated by the Publicity Co-ordinator, Peter Hessel; there is also a printout of the file list. The disk covers a period from 1997 to 1998. Three large posters for Valley Festival performances 2004 & 2006 are stored in Map Cabinet # 1, Drawer 20
SCRAPBOOK - 1994-2002 - Binder from Arthur Coles containing programs, etc., and a photo of the chorus, 1997.
Access Restriction
Membership lists are not available to anyone outside Ottawa Valley Music Festival Board