Author: Xenia

Re-imagining music and arts events and activities to make them inclusive, relevant, and accessible to all members of society.

Xenia’s New Brand Identity

Check out our new look! Xenia is refreshing its branding to align it with our current mission, vision, and values. 

A bright pink ribbon-like emblem that resembles the Greek lowercase letter "xi," with the words "xenia concerts" to the right, written in lowercase black block serif font. The two words are stacked vertically.
The new logo for Xenia Concerts

[ID: A bright pink ribbon-like emblem that resembles the Greek lowercase letter “xi,” with the words “xenia concerts” to the right, written in lowercase black slab serif font. The two words are stacked vertically.]

Why change?

  1. It improves accessibility. The new branding materials are accessible for people with low vision and reading-related disabilities. Colour contrast, font choice, font size, and the way visual information is presented all affect the accessibility of our materials. We want as many people as possible to be able to access our materials!
  2. Xenia Concerts is evolving. Xenia’s Mission and Vision have evolved in recent years, and our strategic plan involves new activities that are better represented by this new brand identity. It’s an ongoing process.

What does the brand identity represent?

The new Xenia emblem is a stylized version of the Greek letter “xi,” the first letter in the word “Xenia.” The ancient Greek practice of “Xenia” involves welcoming new people into your home and your community, and celebrating their arrival. By paying tribute to the concept of Xenia, we are celebrating the joy of inclusion and paying homage to the founding principles of our organization. We hope you love our new look as much as we do!

Special thanks to Parth Shah (@typechronicles) for his amazing accessibility-focused design work. Thank you, Parth!

What does the new logo make you think of? A ribbon? A dance move? A musical gesture? Let us know! When you see materials like the mock-up images below, you’ll know that’s us.

A mock-up of a person sitting on a chair with a Xenia Concerts branded tote bag over their shoulder
Tote bags coming soon!
Four pin-on buttons. Two of them are facing towards the viewer with the new Xenia Concerts emblem on them and the words "Xenia Concerts" in small writing at the bottom.
Pick up a button at your next concert!
A mock-up of nametags using the new Xenia Concerts logos and branding colours
You’ll be able to recognize Xenia staff and volunteers by our nametags.
A mock-up of a young woman wearing a white t-shirt with the pink Xenia Concerts logo on it.
Xenia Concerts t-shirts coming soon!
The pink Xenia Concerts "xi" emblem on a black background
Black, white, and pink are Xenia’s new colours.
A mock-up of Xenia Concerts branded stationery, including envelopes, business cards, a pen, and a CD.
Keep an eye out for Xenia stationery and business cards in the future!

Welcome to Our 2023-24 Season!

Join Xenia Concerts as we launch our 2023-2024 Season!

We’ve got a packed season this year, filled with lots of chances to enjoy our signature adaptive concerts. From September through May, we’ll be featuring an array of talented artists bringing with them the excitement of their music to our Xenia community!

Our first concert of the year features the Sisu Ensemble on September 23rd at Meridian Arts Centre. They bring their joy of music to audiences of all kinds, carefully curating programs that are entertaining while evocative. This concert will feature songs of love and longing from across 300 years of music history. This concert is presented in partnership with TO Live and One Health partners – which means that there will be THERAPY DOGS!

2023-24 Season

 

Fireside Chat for Autistic Youth: Social Justice and You

Fireside Chat for Autistic Youth: Social Justice and You

with Kayla Carter

Are you an Autistic person/person with autism between 14 and 24 years old, with an interest in social justice? Join us for an online fireside chat with disability justice advocate Kayla Carter!

When is it?

Wednesday July 26, 5 PM ET

What can we expect at this event?

This online “fireside chat” will be focused on intersectionality and social justice. During the chat, we will delve into the following questions:

  • What is social justice?
  • Equality vs. Equity
  • What is intersectionality?
  • What is allyship?
  • Turning the gaslight off

More specifically, through the chat council members will get a better understanding of the intersections of race, class, and gender. The chat will be a space where the council members can ask questions in a judgment-free zone. There will also be room for discussion on their place within social justice and how social justice and intersectionality can better help them understand themselves in the world. Additionally, the council members will discuss ableism, what it is, the social model of disability, and how it operates in our society. Through this conversation on ableism, they will understand how ableism affects their lived experiences, and that they are not “wrong” but there is a wider society that disenfranchises disabled people as a whole. Finally, the council members will have time to ask me questions about my experience as an autistic person and ample room to vent and be affirmed about their frustrations and their experiences as an autistic person/person with autism.

Who can sign up?

If you identify as an Autistic person/person with autism and are between the ages of 14 and 24, you are welcome to sign up.

REGISTER




About Kayla Carter

Accessibility Coordinator, Xenia Concerts

Kayla Carter is a Tkaronto-based facilitator, writer, consultant, and community educator. Kayla’s work focuses on disability justice, anti-racism, co-design, curriculum design, collective care, and unpacking the institutional, social, and material effects that race, gender, disability, and class and their intersections have on our collective lives. With over 10 years of experience as an internationally acclaimed facilitator, consultant, writer, and educator their approach to their work has been by engaging with equity, diversity, and inclusivity from a disability justice, anti-racist, and trauma-informed practice. Their deep love for all things policy and policy accessibility has allowed them to work with universities and not-for-profits across the country on revising accessibility, sexual misconduct, and anti-racism policies. Kayla has merged their lived experience as a Black, disabled, queer, femme, and their M.A. in Critical Disability Studies, to create a career that is rooted in nourishing, fostering, and amplifying the voices and experiences of those who are institutionally, structurally, and systematically silenced. Kayla merges their love for music, performance, storytelling and accessibility as the Accessibility Coordinator for Xenia Concerts.



Welcoming Our New Accessibility Coordinator

Xenia Concerts is thrilled to welcome Kayla Carter to our team in the role of Accessibility Coordinator. Kayla brings a wealth of experience in facilitation, disability consultancy and justice, and education. We’re looking forward to the work and knowledge that Kayla will be bringing to the Xenia Concerts experience! Welcome, Kayla!

About Kayla

Kayla Carter is a Tkaronto-based facilitator, writer, consultant, and community educator. Kayla’s work focuses on disability justice, anti-racism, co-design, curriculum design, collective care, and unpacking the institutional, social, and material effects that race, gender, disability, and class and their intersections have on our collective lives. With over 10 years of experience as an internationally acclaimed facilitator, consultant, writer, and educator their approach to their work has been by engaging with equity, diversity, and inclusivity from a disability justice, anti-racist, and trauma-informed practice. Their deep love for all things policy and policy accessibility has allowed them to work with universities and not-for-profits across the country on revising accessibility, sexual misconduct, and anti-racism policies. Kayla has merged their lived experience as a Black, disabled, queer, femme, and their MA. in Critical Disability Studies, to create a career that is rooted in nourishing, fostering, and amplifying the voices and experiences of those who are institutionally, structurally, and systematically silenced. Kayla is so excited to merge their love for music, performance, storytelling and accessibility as the Accesibility Coordinator for Xenia Concerts.

Thank You Toronto Arts Council!

We’re THRILLED to announce that we are the recipients of a Toronto Arts Council Open Doors grant! This funding will allow us to create the Xenia Concerts Accessibility Accelerator, a launchpad to a more accessible future in the arts. Through this project, we will create a diverse network of paid advisors who identify as neurodivergent or as having a disability. Facilitated by an Inclusive Designer, the advisory network will develop design recommendations that enhance the accessibility of our programming AND help us guide other organizations to make their events more neurodiversity- and disability-friendly. Using their recommendations, we will develop training materials for musicians to help them deliver accessible programming for a range of neurological and physical diversities.

 

Thank you so much Toronto Arts Council! Watch this space in the new year for more information about this exciting new chapter for Xenia Concerts.