Talented musicians from Barrie and across the region will have a new way to reach new audiences across southern Ontario with the Canadian Musicians Co-operative announcing its new Barns2Beaches music tour taking place this summer.
Based in Barrie, the not-for-profit organization is embarking on its largest project ever with this tour, with three cities announced to be hosting shows including Barrie, Walkerton, Brighton, and more on the way.
The co-operatives received special project funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario to be able to put on this tour.
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"This project has always been about giving back to the community and delivering a wonderful performance that highlights everyone's skills," says percussionist and music director David Peredun. "This time we're going to more places than before. Previously, it more focused around the Barrie area, now we're going to be giving back to as much of Southern Ontario as we can."
"The communities get to have amazing music attractions to generate tourism and economic activity in the communities, says special project manager Carter Duggan "The artists get an amazing stage to perform on, amazing, top-tier training, and they also get to gain more exposure through being a part of our tour."
Since the Co-operative was founded by Tori Hathway in 2018, Barrie has hosted many of its showcases, adding to the local arts and culture scene, which might fly under the radar for some.
"Barrie has more of a music scene than people lead to believe," said local vocalist Anna Goldsmith. "There's always music happening around the local downtown and everything and the co-op is a big part of that
However, the Barns2Beaches tour is different than what the organization has put on before.
"The Barns2Beaches music tour is its own, standalone program, distinct from our previous showcase model," Duggan adds. "This shift allows us to provide deeper, more focused performance training for our participants and has resulted in the most complex and polished production we've ever put on."
This year, the co-operative is focused on incorporating a fully Canadian setlist, which includes hits from Canadian artists from the 1960s to the present, but also original works from emerging artists within the productions.
"It's so important right now," says Duggan. "We see it as incredibly important to be showing off that Canada has amazing art, art that people don't even realize is Canadian. We're giving people an opportunity to engage with that and start to understand Canadian arts and culture."
The shows will be larger than ever as well, featuring professional lighting, colourful costumes, and fast-paced delivery.
"Over the past few weeks, I've had the privilege of witnessing incredible growth as a result of the effort and dedication from our cast and crew," said Peredun "With that, I am assured that the performance we will be delivering will be nothing short of exceptional."
"It's a great opportunity to grow as a performer and to work with a great team of musicians and to make great connections in the industry that will hopefully last way beyond what we're doing this summer.," says vocalist Francesca Panetta.
Music is not just an art form, it's a journey of growth
