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Almost 25k tuned into TD Ottawa Jazz Festival's online performance series TENACITY

(Via TD Ottawa Jazz Festival)

“Ottawa loves its festivals, and 2020 is no different. Rising to the challenge of broadcasting from home and reaching audiences virtually, TD Ottawa Jazz Fest has been online blowing minds all week. They have dubbed this season “Tenacity” because it turns out that you can’t lock artists down, and you can’t stop the music.” – apt613.ca

Ottawa (Wednesday, July 8, 2020) – From living rooms to al fresco dining, more than 24,299 viewers streamed the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival’s first free online series with 12 shows entitled TENACITY over 10 days from June 19 – June 28.

Programming Manager Petr Cancura invited musicians from all over the world to come together for this series of unique collaborations. “These committed musicians, from all genres of jazz, were eager to get involved. Their creative energy inspired them to produce projects with other artists from cities as diverse as: Berlin, Belgrade, Boston, Brooklyn, Calgary, Montreal, Amsterdam, New York, St. John’s, Toronto, Victoria, and of course Ottawa.”

Ever resourceful, 85 musicians in isolation became overnight, their own audio and video engineers while simultaneously learning new music prepared by the band leader. Maintaining the truest spirit of the genre, several combinations of artists had never worked together before and some did not know one another’s work – and still hungry to play and anxious for any collaboration – enthusiastically jumped into the project to produce some of the most memorable concerts ever produced by the Festival! So, over 10 days, a beautiful and compelling and richly diverse series of concerts, exists as a testament to human creativity and ingenuity!

“TD is so proud to continue supporting the Ottawa Jazz Festival through this year’s event, TENACITY, which we were thrilled to be a part of " said Tara-Lynn Hughes, Senior Vice President, Retail Banking, Greater Ontario Region. “In a time when so many of us are unable to be together in person, it’s inspiring to see so many people join online and support the awesome artists and the rich and diverse musical talent involved in the festival.”

The Festival is grateful to the audio and video engineers and to the broadcast team all of whom rose to the challenge of learning complex technical media in a very short period of time! We’re also grateful to Downbeat Magazine’s esteemed jazz columnist and critic James Hale for adding to the experience with the live artist interviews during the OLG Chats sessions.

TD Ottawa Jazz presents TENACITY and OLG Chats is alive and well on the Festival’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

Here’s a sample of some of the exciting media coverage during TENACITY:

The Ottawa Jazz Festival extends its gratitude to:

TD, the Festival’s long-standing title sponsor, for their continuing commitment during these challenging times.

OLG for supporting the OLG Chats sessions.

Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries for its support through the Celebrate Ontario program.