Hornby Island Community Archives
R.G. 8
Acc. Nos.: 2016-04-04/6; 2016-04-27/28;
2019-05-02/74
Finding aid created by Hannah Wiseman
Last updated: May 2019
Title: Hornby Festival Society Collection
Level of description: collection
General material designation: textual records, graphic materials, and objects
Extent: 52 cm
Creator(s): Hornby Festival Society (1981-present)
Dates of creation: 1978-2000
Administrative history:
The Hornby Festival Society is a non-profit charitable society located on Hornby Island that produces and presents an annual performing arts festival, as well as a number of cultural events throughout the year. The society has hosted many Canadian artists and their works, such as Loreena McKennitt, Peggy Baker, Maureen Forrester, Richard Margison, Jane Coop, Alpha Yaya Diallo, Heather Schmidt, Jim Byrnes, Sarah Chase, Rick Mercer, and André Laplante.
The society was formed as the Hornby Island Chamber Music Society in 1981 by Leigh Cross, a past Hornby resident, chamber music enthusiast and amateur cellist. In the summer of that year Cross arranged to have the Purcell String Quartet perform a series of concerts and teach a string workshop at the Community Hall. The first summer was successful and the six-day chamber music concert series became an annual summer festival. In the summers of 1982 and 1983 the society also offered two-week string workshops with the members of the Purcell String Quartet and in March 1984, two concerts featuring cellist James Hunter.
Leigh Cross acted as Manager of the Chamber Music Society. In 1984 Judith Cross was President and Robert (Bob) Cain was Treasurer. When Leigh Cross left Hornby in 1985 several committee members decided to keep running the society. While the society focused primarily on the classical genre in its early years, the committee decided to host numerous events throughout the year and to also include jazz, world and traditional music, modern dance, spoken word, theatre, films, and the visual arts.
To reflect these changes, in 1985 the name of the society was changed to the Hornby Festival Society. Tom Durrie was appointed Manager and the committee created policies and a mission statement. In 1988 Bob Cain served as President, Helen Onorah (Gerow) was Secretary, and Mary MacKenzie was Acting Secretary.
The Festival continues today. The annual nine-day Festival occurs in late July/early August. The primary venue is the Community Hall, with outdoor performances and art shows at locations such as Olsen Farm, Sandpiper Bluffs, Tribune Bay, and the Recycling Depot. Festival 2010 brought the highest attendance ever and showcased many Canadian performers, including Jets Overhead, Jelena Milojevic, Adrian Dolan, and Le Vent du Nord. Hornby artists were also featured, in particular at the Hornby Hall Art Show. The society is located at 2125 Sollans Road on Hornby Island.
Scope and content: The records pertain to the formation, history, events, and activities of the Hornby Festival Society. The collection includes textual records, correspondence, newsletters, programs, meeting minutes, photographs, negatives, financial documents, press releases, newspaper clippings and other ephemera, and objects.
Source of supplied title: Title is based on the creator of the collection.
Immediate source of acquisition: The collection contains several previously accessioned files, which were donated by Helen Gerow (985.52, 991.35.1) in 1985 and 1991, David Gerow (985.89, 985.90, 985.100) in 1985, Jan Bevan (991.23) in 1991 and collected by the archivist and/or committee members (985.57, 985.94, 987.2, 992.49, 993.14) between 1985 and 1992. All other original accession date(s) and donor(s) are unknown as Hornby Island Community Archives acquired the records several years prior to their being accessioned in 2016.
Arrangement: The original filing scheme of the records was reconstructed during archival arrangement on the basis of file markings on the documents in order to retain as much of the original order as possible. However, some rearrangement of the records may have occurred between donation and accessioning as the records were stored for a number of years and then transferred to the archives building before being accessioned and processed in 2016-2017.
Language of materials: English
Record no.: R.G. 8
Repository: Hornby Island Community Archives
Rights: Copyright held by Hornby Festival Society.
Terms governing use, reproduction and publication: Photographs by Bob Cain and David Cooper may be copied for reference purposes only. Use of photographs for any other purpose cannot be made without written permission of Bob Cain and David Cooper.
Finding aids: Finding aid available with file level control.
Accruals: Further accruals are expected.
File Inventory
Box 1
1-1 Purcell String Quartet – bios, contracts, correspondence, and ephemera, 1980
1-2 Hornby Island Chamber Music Society – financial documents, promotional material, 1981
1-3 Purcell String Quartet – Beethoven String Quartets concert series – program and ticket, 1981
1-4 Hornby Island Chamber Music Society – Notices, correspondence, notes and ephemera, 1982
Re: billeting, school facilities, concert series tickets, press release, free concert for hall building fund, programme and miscellaneous
1-5 Purcell String Quartet – concert correspondence, 1982
1-6 Purcell String Quartet – contracts, 1982
1-7 Purcell String Quartet – concert series program draft and newsletter, 1982
1-8 Purcell String Quartet – concert series program draft (includes drawings), newsletter, correspondence, and notes, 1982
1-9 Hornby Island Chamber Music Society – financial documents, 1982
1-10 Hornby Island Chamber Music Society – correspondence and ephemera, 1983
Re: CBC sponsorship, school and hall facilities, solicitation for funding, programme and miscellaneous
1-11 Concert correspondence re: contracts, and photograph, 1983 (1 photograph)
1-12 Hornby Island Chamber Music Society – correspondence and ephemera, 1984
Re: Vancouver Foundation, use of school facilities, programmes, summer concert series and miscellaneous
1-13 Hornby Island Chamber Music Society – Canada Council Explorations Program grant – correspondence, notes and ephemera, 1984
1-14 B.C. Arts assistance applications – correspondence, application form, financial documents, and ephemera, 1984
1-15 Hornby Island Chamber Music Society – Program draft and financial documents, 1984
1-16 James Hunter concert – correspondence, press releases, and financial documents, 1984
1-17 Purcell String Quartet – David Becker – offer of employment form, correspondence, and résumé, 1984
1-18 Hornby Island Chamber Music Society – financial documents, 1984
1-19 Purcell String Quartet – photographs, 1978,1980,1981,1984 (11 photographs)
19-1 The Mount Geoffrey Trio Quartet
19-2 Leigh and Judy Cross with children, 1978
19-3 Purcell String Quartet by David Cooper, n.d
19-4 Purcell String Quartet by David Cooper, n.d
19-5 Purcell String Quartet at SFU, 1980
19-6 Purcell String Quartet by David Cooper, n.d
19-7 Purcell String Quartet by Bob Cain, 1980 (3 copies, with typed caption)
19-8 Purcell String Quartet by Bob Cain, August 1981 (2 copies)
1-20 Purcell String Quartet – press releases and reviews, c. 1981-1984
Box 2
2-1 Correspondence and ephemera, 1985
Re: Hall rental fee, Hornby Midsummer Festival, renaming of Chamber Music Society, newspaper articles and miscellaneous
2-2 Correspondence, financial documents, press release and notes, 1986
Re: itinerary and announcement for Island Chamber Players, Hornby Midsummer Festival financial statement, and billeting
2-3 Adverts and programmes, 1986
2-4 Hornby Midsummer Festival ephemera, 1986
2-5 Newspaper articles, 1986
2-6 Correspondence, Reports and financial documents, 1987
Re: press release, funding appeal, “yupee services”, billeting, Midsummer festival proposed budget and schedule of events, newsletter, AGM agenda, Managers Report, minutes and financial statement and miscellaneous
2-7 Quilts Exhibit, 1987
2-8 Hornby Midsummer Festival ephemera, 1987
2-9 Adverts and programmes, 1987
2-10 Caravan Stage Company – correspondence and ephemera, 1987
2-11 Newspaper articles, 1987
2-12 Correspondence, financial documents and ephemera, 1988
Re: culture club, ticket lottery license, press release, ticket sale comparison, meeting minutes, newsletter, financial report and miscellaneous
2-13 Historical Hornby Island Exhibit, 1988 (23 photographs, 1 contact sheet, 35 negatives)
2-14 Hornby Festival ephemera, 1988
2-15 The Summer Edition (The First Edition), 1988
2-16 Adverts and programmes, 1988
2-17 Newspaper articles, 1988
2-18 Danny Grossman Dance Company – ephemera and newspaper clippings, 1988
Box 3
3-1 Correspondence, minutes, newsletters, and financial documents, 1989
Re: meeting minutes, funding appeal, workshop, culture club newsletter, front of house, newsletter, statement of income and expenses, comparison on ticket sales, and miscellaneous
3-2 Audience survey, 1989
3-3 Hornby Festival ephemera, 1989
3-4 Adverts and programmes, 1989
3-5 The Summer Edition (The Fist Edition), 1989
3-6 Newspaper articles, 1989
3-7 Hornby Festival ephemera, 1990
3-8 Correspondence, ephemera and financial documents, 1991
Re: newsletters, funding appeal, AGM Report and miscellaneous
3-9 Hornby Festival ephemera, adverts and programmes, 1991
3-10 Newspaper articles, 1991
3-11 Correspondence, ephemera, minutes, and financial documents, 1992
Re: newsletter, board meeting minutes, ticket sales comparison, AGM material
3-12 Hornby Festival ephemera and adverts, 1992
3-13 Newspaper articles, 1992
3-14 Correspondence and ephemera, 1993
Re: newsletters, operations, timeline for Festival events, First Edition, newsletters, reviews and miscellaneous
3-15 Photographs displayed at Festival 1993, n.d. (1 contact sheet)
3-16 Hornby Festival ephemera and adverts, 1993
3-17 Newspaper articles, 1993
Box 4
4-1 Correspondence, financial documents and ephemera, 1994
Re: events, balance sheet, newsletter, art show, programmes, posters (2)
4-2 Hornby Festival ephemera and adverts, 1995
4-3 The Festival Edition (The First Edition), 1995
4-4 Hornby Festival ephemera and adverts, 1996-2000
4-5 Hornby Festival ephemera and adverts, n.d
Accural 2019-05-02/74
4-6 Correspondence, 1986-1989
Re: correspondence from Bob Phillip to Tom Durrie about the future of the Festival, Charles Scott and Grace Melvin retrospective, contributors to and miscellaneous
4-7 Epemera, 1985, 1991-1992, n.d
Re: Purcell String Quartet, Bob Cain photograph exhibit, “Offering. Music by Three Hornby Island Composers” (2 compact discs) and miscellaneous