Last Updated on May 14, 2025 by Owen Fullerton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Kingston musicians will be among those to showcase at the premiere Capital Music Week in Ottawa set to kick off in just over a week.
The event is meant to shine a light on the Capital Music awards, which have been hosted by the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition (OMIC) since 2020.
The city of Kingston is also set to be represented by Music Officer Moira Demorest at the two day Canada After Dark summit which is the first national forum focused on nightlife culture and featuring local and national leaders.
Demorest will be acting as a panelist representative for music in mid sized cities on May 22, while KPP’s Marc Garniss will be part of a different panel on the same day.
Melanie Brulée, Executive Director of OMIC, says while the event is Ottawa focused and meant to highlight the local industry and its musicians but that it was important to include other cities because of how interconnected music cities in Ontario are.
“We know that we have a connection to other music offices and and music across the city,” Brulée said.
“We are we are a fluid country, like we move a lot, we connect a lot… we know that our strengths lie in connecting and collaborating and so if we can have two days of showcases where there are artists coming from different cities and they have the opportunity to meet each other and listen to each other’s music on stage as well, then that sparks collaboration.”
Brulée said that component of the festival is an “import/export mission” that both helps connect artists and showcases Ottawa and its musicians to musicians in other cities.
She says that music offices in Ontario already meet virtually every couple of months to discuss best practices, challenges and what’s happening in the music scene and discussions of collaborating at Capital Music Week were born there.
There are hour long showcases at noon on both May 21 and May 22 during the four day event event, with the band Good Fortune representing Kingston as part of the show on May 21 at the National Arts Centre.
Artists from Hamilton, London, Mississauga, Toronto, and Ottawa are also represented at these showcases.
A Kingston band is also a part of the awards, as The Wilderness are nominated for their sophomore album recorded with Steve Foley in Ottawa.
All events will run from May 20-25.
