City adds $20K to 110th anniversary celebrations

Money comes from special events budget regularly tapped by sporting groups

The City of Regina will be chipping in $20,000 to help Regina Symphony Orchestra throw its 110-year anniversary party.

Administration was initially recommending a $10,000 contribution for the festivities, which are centred on a production of Gustav Holst’s The Planets set for May 11, 2019.

Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) executive director Tanya Derkson told council’s executive committee the money is needed to help pay for a storytelling piece, efforts to make the event accessible and a free post-concert reception.

“Our application for this is not to support the cost of the concert, but really to support the cost of the celebrations and the anniversary events,” she said at Wednesday’s meeting.

The orchestra had asked for $25,000. Derkson said she was fine with $10,000, but warned it would mean adjustments to some of the “higher-ticket items.”

“We wouldn’t have the ability to fly in people in the same way. We might not do the video but we would still commit to some of the really key aspects,” she said.

But Coun. Barbara Young moved to meet her in the middle, making an amendment to double the recommended contribution to $20,000. It passed. The money will come from the city ’s special events fund, which is a pool of $122,700 dedicated to one-time events.

Young noted that the city regularly funds sporting events. She said it makes sense to do the same for the arts.

“Some of the huge sports events that we have benefit the economy and the people who attend,” she said. “I think that this benefits the children and people of Regina in a different way, because it’s a cultural arts organization.”

The RSO receives about $140,000 per year in operating funding from the city. The organization is financially stable, but Derkson said there wasn’t enough money available to cover the anniversary festivities.

Derkson said the event will share the history of the RSO through a series of storyboards and a video that “will engender pride in the audience.” It is also slated to feature special guests like the nephew of the RSO’S first music director.

The post-concert reception will include a variety of appetizers and desserts, including foods from newcomer and Indigenous communities.

More than 100 tickets will be made available to individuals who could not otherwise afford to attend, according to the RSO’S original submission. A full house is expected. Derkson said it will be “more than just a party.”

“It’s a celebration of our community — the past, present and future.”