Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
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Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Guelph Spring Festival, founded in 1968, was sponsored by the Edward Johnson Music Foundation. Originally conceived by Murdo MacKinnon and Niki Goldschmidt of the University of Guelph, it was held annually during the months of April and May in Guelph, Ontario (Ratcliffe). It presented concerts and operas to the public, and also included master classes, seminars, and music competitions for professional musicians. It attracted some of the best musicians in Canada and internationally, including the Orford String Quartet with pianist Anton Kuerti; sitarist Ravi Shankar; conductors Mario Bernardi, Alexander Brott, Elmer Isler; contralto Maureen Forrester; tenor Garnett Brooks; commissioned composer Godfrey Ridout; solo artists such as actors William Hutt and Eric Donkin, and many others (Keeling, Benson).
The Guelph Spring Festival declared bankruptcy and ceased operations in 2006 (Hallett).
Through the years, the Festival's Artistic Directors have been Nicholas Goldschmidt (1968-87), Billie Bridgman (1988-9), Louis Applebaum (interim artistic advisor, 1989), and William Lord (briefly, 1989), Simon Streatfeild (1989-?) (Kidd).
Sources
Benson, Eugene. "The Guelph Spring Festival: A Retrospective View, 1968-1972." News Bulletin University of Guelph, March 28, 1972. Accessed October 8, 2024. Available at http://hdl.handle.net/10214/12881.
Hallett, Doug. "Guelph Musicfest Founder Riding 10th Anniversary Momentum." Guelph Mercury Tribune. May 19, 2006. Accessed October 8, 2024. Available at https://www.therecord.com/things-to-do/guelph-musicfest-founder-riding-10th-anniversary-momentum/article_0fd0e869-3d72-56ba-a60b-c93e96e6f43d.html.
Keeling, Betty. "Guelph Spring Festival." Department of Information, University of Guelph, April 1971. Accessed October 8, 2024. Available at http://hdl.handle.net/10214/12830.
Kidd, Edith. "Guelph Spring Festival." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Accessed October 8, 2024. Available at https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/guelph-spring-festival-emc.
Ratcliffe, Susan. "Creating a Culture and Heritage of Change: Fifty Years of Arts, Culture and Heritage in Guelph." Historic Guelph. Vol 50. (2011). Accessed October 8, 2024. Available at https://www.guelphhistoricalsociety.ca/archives/historic-guelph/volume-50/creating-a-culture-and-heritage-of-change-fifty-years-of-arts-culture-and-heritage-in-guelph.