The Orillia Concert Band is set to put on a show in support of Information Orillia.
The concert, titled Renaissance to Broadway, comes to St. Paul’s Centre on June 4 at 7:30 p.m. The Orillia Concert Band will perform songs from artists including Leonard Bernstein, Glenn Miller, Puccini and other world-famous musicians.
Brady Aubin, president of the Orillia Concert Band, says Information Orillia is a worthy cause for the fundraiser.
“We are giving up all of our revenues and letting all the revenues from the concert go to Information Orillia,” he said.
The band received a grant from the Community Foundation of Orillia and Area to cover the costs associated with putting the concert on.
The event will run for 90 minutes without an intermission as the band travels "through the most beautiful periods in music history."
From the court of King Henry VII, through the Baroque music of J.S. Bach, to the classical, romantic and impressionistic periods and finally attending the musicals, there will be music to please all musical tastes, explained Aubin.
“The music is really exciting,” Aubin said. “We have music from the Baroque periods right up to the modern Broadway hits. It will be a lot of fun.”
He says people in Orillia don’t often get to see live bands with 40 or more people in them, like the Orillia Concert Band.
“It exposes people to music that they don’t normally hear on the radio. Half the audience will have never heard this (type of music),” he said.
Dawn Therrien, Information Orillia’s operations manager, says the Orillia Concert Band initiative means a lot to her organization.
“We have to cover 75 per cent of our budget through donations and fundraising,” she said. “We are excited to be partnering with Orillia Concert Band to get people back out and involved with the community.”
Therrien says the concert is in keeping with Information Orillia’s goal of connecting people with their community.
“We connect people with agencies, we do a lot of referrals, and system navigation,” she said. “We help people find housing, connecting them with food supports, and we do a lot of work with the government to make sure people are getting the funding and services that they need.”
Information Orillia has played a key role in the community during the pandemic and the housing crisis, Therrien says. It is now playing an even bigger role in getting people back on their feet after being isolated for months at a time over the past two years.
“People want to get back out into the community and want to know what’s happening,” she said. “People want to get out volunteering with things and get back involved. So, we try to support in that area.”
There are no tickets to purchase for the concert. Rather, the Orillia Concert Band will accept donations of cash or cheques at the door, with a minimum donation of $15.
“When we do fundraisers, we expect the audience to be doing a lot more in terms of the donation than the typical ticket cost,” Aubin said. “We are hoping for what people can afford, but generally speaking, we are hoping between $50 (and) $100.”
Mike Gollinger, chair of the board of directors of Information Orillia, says the money raised will be used to pay staff and keep the doors open in the office located in the Orillia Public Library.
“The way we stay open is through donations,” he said. “It will help pay for our staff, our phone, and everything we need to stay open."
Those who can’t make the concert but would like to make a donation can do so here.
Aubin said the concert could not happen without the aid of generous sponsors: Steve Orr of Dapper Depot; Len Skok (Mr. Lakefront) of Pine Tree Real Estate; Marites Mendoza of RBC Wealth Management; and the Community Foundation of Orillia and Area.
