Charlie’s Back!!

Harmony Centre is pleased to host another Pay-What-You-Can family concert.

Once again in December we are bringing back a performance of the much-loved music from A Charlie Brown Christmas with Tyler Wagler, Adam Bowman and Thomas Hammerton.  Deanne Hallman’s Children’s Choir will add to the holiday fun.

A Charlie Brown Christmas is an Emmy Award-winning holiday tradition enjoyed by children everywhere. Equally magical is the soundtrack created by Vince Guaraldi. Tyler and friends evoke all the memories and attachments people have surrounding the music and the annual animated special. Who doesn’t know the popular Christmas Time is Here?

Join us for milk and cookies following the performance.  (All will be nut-free. Gluten-free options available, as well as non-dairy milk.)

Get tickets in advance here or pay what you can at the door.

Singer-songwriter Kevin Moyse sets to song compelling historical highlights of the golden age of Georgian Bay steamships for a special Harmony Centre fundraising event on November 9 at 7:00 pm.

“Songs of Georgian Bay” combines descriptive lyrics with evocative music, rare photographs, and newspaper clippings collected from museums and archives throughout the region.

“Songs of Georgian Bay,” tells true and sometimes mysterious stories of life, triumph, loss, and tragedy. It paints a vivid picture of the severe and unpredictable waters of Georgian Bay, which brought both riches and regret to those who sailed it. Set to song, these stories come to life with a poignant and unforgettable sensitivity that sends shivers up the spine.

Admission is pay-what-you-can at the door, or pay in advance here. Proceeds go to the Greaves Auditorium Improvement Plan.

This event is made possible by Harmony Centre’s community event sponsor: VanDolder’s Home Team.

As Kevin said, the mosh pit was wild at Saturday’s Splash ‘n Boots show. Kids were on their feet and having a blast as the talented combo Nick Adams (Splash) and Taes Leavitt (Boots). This beloved Canadian children’s music duo had their audience singing and dancing and playing along, children and parents alike. What fun!

photo by Edward Mathews Photography

Changemaker Pub Night brings together representatives from nine local social change groups to deliver a series of three-minute pitches about the organizations they represent, what they do, and what they need. These pitches are sprinkled throughout an evening filled with music from Paul and Olivia Williamson, Joanna Mackie and Charlie Taylor-Gillespie.

Pub food will be available to add flavour and fun to the event. Changemakers presenting their three-minute pitches are: Rebound Owen Sound; Glassworks; Art Banner Project; OSHARE/Grey Bruce Food Share; REACH; Roselawn Bowling Club; Poverty Task Force; Beyond Reach Productions; and, the Sydenham Bruce Trail Club.

This event sold out last year, so get your tickets in advance.
Get tickets here or pay what you can at the door.

Contrary to common belief, Leigh and Frank Greaves do not own Harmony Centre and never have. It is owned by a Canadian charitable corporation that has complete control over it’s governance and finance. Leigh and Frank, however, were the initiators and founders and have been the ever-present energy behind it’s growth and success. This year, Harmony Centre has honoured them by naming the largest event space in the building the Leigh and Frank Greaves Auditorium.

The plaque marking this change reads as follows:

“This room is named to honour Leigh and Frank Greaves for their leadership in founding Harmony Centre Owen Sound, and for their tireless effort and commitment to making it the thriving social and cultural centre and invaluable community resource it has since become.”

We cannot thank the Greaves enough for creating and sustaining this remarkable social enterprise and giving Owen Sound a place to Share • Create • Educate * Perform.

Holly Sled has a special connection with the Harmony Centre. She was a member of Knox Church, which occupied the facility for more than a century, and she fondly remembers practising and performing here as a child at many Kiwanis festivals held in the lovely old building.  When she later took over as director of Rock the Sound she found Harmony Centre to be the perfect venue for the choir’s eclectic brand of energetic rock and pop music. The acoustics, of course, are superb – but the versatility of the building is what really makes it ideal for Rock the Sound. “The facility offers multiple spaces, so we can split up and practice sectionals, then come back together in the Auditorium, where the sound is unbelievable,” Holly explains. 

Holly admits that times where tough during Covid when restrictions made it nearly impossible to operate a choir. But she was determined to make a go of things. “We held some outdoor choir sessions when it was safe to do so,” she recalls. “Eventually things returned to a state where we could gather and sing again indoors and we are loving the return to Harmony Centre.”

Rock the Sound Choir meets three times a month at Harmony Centre, and puts on public performances throughout the year. Look for notice of their holiday concert. To find out more about the choir and how you can become involved, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/rockthesoundchoir/.