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.

Thank you to Unity for Autism for funding an exciting Xenia project in 2023! With funding from Unity for Autism and planning support from community partners, we are creating a (paid) Youth Autism Advisory Panel that will make recommendations for our accessible, neurodiversity-friendly concerts! By consulting directly with young Autistic adults, we hope to make our concerts even more inclusive and welcoming for the neurodiversity community. This funding also allows us to offer a valuable paid work opportunity to our panelists. 

There’s more to come so stay tuned to hear more about this project! And if you’re a young Autistic adult, watch for our call for applicants!

DONATE TODAY

Dear Xenia Family,

This Giving Tuesday, we are reflecting on the growth that comes from facing continued challenges. Thanks to the strength of our community and the creativity of our team, 2021-2022 was a year of transformative growth for Xenia Concerts. Here are a few things we accomplished last year with the support of our funders and donors like you:

• Completed the ground-breaking sound.colLAB program, in which seven participants  of identify as neurodivergent or having a disability worked together with nine professional musicians to compose a new work for The Rolston String Quartet: Seven Miniatures for String Quartet and Electronics. We presented the first performances of the work in Toronto this July, and in Calgary this August. More performances are planned in 2023, and the recordings will soon be available on our YouTube channel.
• Presented 15 sensory-friendly and dementia-friendly concerts through partnerships with TO Live, Hand Over Hand, Alzheimer Society of Toronto, and Sunshine Centres for Seniors
• Reached over 900 audience members with sensory-friendly and dementia-friendly programming (an increase of over 80% compared to our previous year)
• Presented our first sensory-friendly concert in Parry Sound, ON, through a new partnership with Festival of the Sound, Hands TheFamilyHelpNetwork, One Kids Place, ASO, and Autism Ontario
• Developed the Xenia Concerts Artist Training Program, which launched this September

We have ambitious plans for 2022-2023, and you can help make them happen! Here’s what’s happening this year:

• 14 sensory-friendly concerts (twice as many as last year!), including the return to Flato Markham Theatre and our first concerts in North Bay, Stratford, Campbellford, and Halifax
• 7 dementia-friendly concerts, delivered in person and online in partnership with Alzheimer Society of Toronto and Baycrest@Home
• The launch of the Xenia Concerts Artist Training Program, which teaches professional musicians how to design inclusive, accessible events
• A new series of educational music videos for children with exceptionalities, created in partnership with The Lotus Centre for Special Music Education
• The launch of our new Accessible Concert Training Program for Young Artists, in partnership with Scotiafest
• Our first D/deaf-friendly concert featuring musical ASL interpretation by Phoenix the Fire, in collaboration with the AGO (details to be announced soon!)

Here’s how your donation will be used:

$10-50 Send a child or a senior to a concert

$51-100 Fund the creation of an accessible e-program

$101-250 Help us provide visual aids and other accessibility features for one concert

$251-500 Help put one artist through the Xenia Concerts Training Program 

$501-1000 Sponsor one artist’s performance

$1001-5000 Sponsor an ensemble for one concert

$5001+ Want to make a big impact? Write to me at rory.mcleod@xeniaconcerts.com to discuss funding opportunities for our upcoming projects.

As always, if you have suggestions for how we can make our concerts and the broader performing arts scene more accessible for individuals and families in the neurodiversity and disability communities, please don’t hesitate to let us know! 

Sincerely,

Rory McLeod

Executive and Artistic Director

Xenia Concerts

Call for Applicants

Are you passionate about advancing inclusion and accessibility in the performing arts? Do you want to help provide exceptional musical experiences to people who face systemic and social barriers to inclusion? You might be a good fit for the Xenia Concerts Board of Directors!

Xenia Concerts is welcoming applications for the positions of Treasurer and Director on its Board of Directors. You can find complete descriptions, skill requirements, and responsibilities of the Director and Treasurer positions within the job postings below. These are volunteer positions with a three-year term.

Xenia Concerts is committed to improving equity both within its institution and across the performing arts sector. Applicants from all equity-seeking communities are encouraged to apply, including, but not limited to, those who identify as neurodivergent, D/deaf or disabled, Black, Indigenous, and people of colour, recognizing that both lived and learned experiences will inform the success of this role. At all levels of the organization, Xenia Concerts promotes equal opportunity, fair treatment, and the elimination of barriers for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require accessibility accommodations to complete the application process, please email Executive and Artistic Director Rory McLeod at rory.mcleod@xeniaconcerts.com or call 647-896-8295.

Apply today or share this posting to spread the word!

Xenia’s Mission

Xenia Concerts works with the neurodiversity and disability communities to design, produce, and present exceptional performing arts experiences for children, their families, and others within those communities who face systemic and social barriers to inclusion.

Xenia’s Vision

To serve as Canada’s leading resource for the creation and promotion of family-friendly, accessible, and inclusive performing arts experiences for neurodiverse and disabled audiences through professional training, productions, and presentations.

Apply Today

To apply, please send your CV and a brief cover letter explaining why you are a good fit to xeniaboard@gmail.com.

Accessible PDF Job Postings

Board Treasurer

New Workshop Series Begins May 26

At Xenia Concerts, we recognize that there are many people whose life circumstances create barriers to accessing arts and culture experiences. One group that often gets overlooked is caregivers, people who often have to put their own needs aside to care for their loved ones. That’s why we’ve partnered with Baycrest@Home and singer-songwriter Avery Florence to create Exploring Our Stories Through Song. This special series of 8 creative workshops is designed specifically for family caregivers of people living with dementia. The workshops will take place online via Zoom.

Professional singer-songwriter Avery Florence will invite participants to explore self-expression through journaling, mindfulness, and poetry within the context of songwriting. The goal of these workshops is to help participants connect with their creative voices in a supportive social environment.

Combining a sense of play with the connective power of singing, the sessions will culminate in a creative musical project. This program is meant to bring comfort, fun, and a sense of discovery to those participating.

Here’s what Avery says about what makes these workshops meaningful:

“Writing music changed my life indefinitely. Before I discovered songwriting at 21, I didn’t have a clear way of both expressing myself and processing my feelings. Music allows you to tap into an open, vast, part of yourself that maybe can’t be expressed in spoken language. Music is the language of emotion. And as humans, our emotions create how we see and act in the world. 

These free online workshops run every Thursday 2-3:30pm ET from May 26th-July 14th.

Register Here

We wanted to give you an update on what we have been up to this season!

Main Stage Series

Over the past seven months we have presented a number of performances in both sensory-friendly and dementia-friendly formats, in partnership with T.O. Live and the Alzheimer Society of Toronto. These concerts have featured incredible artists such as Ahmed Moneka & Friends, Jenna Marie Pinard & Jay Yoo, the Bridge-Wolak Duo, VC2 Cello Duo, Min-Jeong Kohn & Bo-Yon Koh, the Queer Songbook Orchestra, as well as Payadora Tango Ensemble. 

We have even more exciting events coming up in May and through the Summer, so remember to check your inbox for updates from us!

sound.colLab

Between November and April, we held three workshops for the sound.colLab project in partnership with National accessArts Centre. At this first workshop, our participating composers were introduced to the instruments of the string quartet as well as musical terms and compositional techniques in a presentation led by composer Bekah Simms. In workshop number 2, our composers presented sound offerings from cats purring, to toy xylophones, to dragon roars. Bekah introduced them to ways that these sounds can be manipulated and integrated in to their pieces for string quartet. In our third workshop, held in both Toronto and Calgary, composers presented the first drafts of their new pieces, heard them performed by the Rolston String Quartet, and finalized their scores. 

Congratulations to our participants Anthony Hodgetts, Laura Lapeare, Nathan Neutel, Rory Berk, Thomas Sinclair, and Maddux Ma, who are now officially published composers!

On Saturday July 16, you can hear the WORLD PREMIERE of these brilliant new pieces of music. We’ll be announcing more details soon, so watch this space!

Special thanks to our partners, TO Live and NaAC, and our supporters The Canada Council for the Arts and Unity for Autism for supporting this groundbreaking project.

Donate Today!

Our upcoming projects include:

• Touring the sound.colLAB project to new audiences across Ontario and beyond
• Post-production on the sound.colLAB documentary that shares our participants’ creative journey
• Our neurodiversity-focused Artist Training Program
• An innovative co-creation project called “Sharing Our Stories Through Song” for family caregivers of people living with dementia, in partnership with Baycrest@Home and singer-songwriter Avery Florence
• A Pride celebration concert for the older adult 2SLGBTQIA+ community in partnership with Sunshine Centres for Seniors
• Bringing Xenia Concerts to Northern Ontario through new partnerships (details to be announced soon!)

Your donation helps us continue to deliver sensory-friendly concerts and innovative creation projects in a welcoming environment. Donate today to help us celebrate neurodiversity through music and advance inclusion in the arts!

Thank you to our partners and supporters

Land Acknowledgement

Xenia Concerts Inc. is based in what is now known as Toronto (Tkaronto), on the homelands of the Huron-Wendat First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River.

This territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.

Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and Xenia Concerts is grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.

We are delighted to announce that we are launching our 2021-22 season in just a few weeks! We are changing the format of our concerts a little bit so that you can have a more direct connection to our musicians. These concerts will still be online, but we are going to use Zoom so that you can interact, see each other, ask questions, and have more fun! 

Read more

The board of directors of Xenia Concerts Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Rory McLeod as the organization’s new Executive and Artistic Director.

Rory comes to Xenia with an impressive background both artistically and corporately as the innovative co-founder of Pocket Concerts, a thoughtfully curated chamber music series that provides intimate, extraordinary listening experiences in homes and other unconventional venues in the Greater Toronto Area. He is also a teacher and performer of the viola and has performed with many musical organizations, including the Caledon Music Festival and at The Four Seasons Centre with the Canadian Opera Company and National Ballet Orchestras.
 
Rory is passionate about understanding and promoting accessibility and inclusion in the performing arts. In his own words:
 
“I’ve been consistently inspired by Xenia’s commitment to inclusion and accessibility over the years, and I’m thrilled to be joining the organization as Executive and Artistic Director. Continuing in the spirit of collaboration and co-creation that Xenia espouses, I look forward to cultivating new partnerships across Canada, nurturing and expanding Xenia’s programming, and finding new ways to create high-quality arts events that welcome people across the full spectrum of human diversity.”
 
Sarah Nematallah is the founding Executive and Artistic Director of Xenia Concerts.  After creating a strong foundation for the organization, she will be stepping down from that role as of August 1st. Sarah will continue to advance the mission of Xenia Concerts as she will be joining its Board of Directors.
 
Rory will assume his duties beginning July 1st. 
 
For additional information, visit xeniaconcerts.com. You can also contact us at 416-927-1555 or xeniaconcerts@gmail.com.

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About Rory McLeod 

Xenia Concerts heads into Summer with a series of monthly concerts.

Join Xenia Concerts as we enjoy the Summer with a series of concerts streamed right to your home! This summer, just like last, we will be streaming our main-series concerts live in June and July. On June 6th, we welcome Alex Samaras (voice) and Alexa Belgrave (piano) to the stage! On July 31st, Luri Lee (violin), Hezekiah Leung (viola) of the Rolston String Quartet, will join us for a show.

Stay tuned for more information. We look forward to seeing you all online soon!