Toronto Kiwanis Festival Administration

Martha Gregory grew up in Rochester, New York where she studied violin, piano and voice at the Hochstein School of Music,The Eastman School of Music, and Roberts Wesleyan College. Her early administrative training was at Hochsteins where she worked her way up to assistant to the Dean of the School to help pay for her and her siblings’ lessons. She also spent summers working for the Federal government programme to bring arts to the Inner Cities .

Her string studies involved classical and Suzuki methods. In College, she worked at a Major in Music Education and Classical Voice with double minors in Violin and Piano. Marrying in 1974, she moved to Toronto and continued her Voice Studies with Megan Rutledge at the Royal Conservatory of Music and free- lance performing with many orchestras. She also taught for The Toronto District School Board in an out reach programme for strings in Cabbagetown schools. 

Martha established a private studio in Pickering in 1982, that she still maintains, and also spent 12 years touring with the Jean McDonald Singers, performing in Choral, Opera and Musical Theatre. Jean was also her first introduction to the Music Festival world by entering her in local competitions.Jean involved her in the Pickering Rotary Festival and also trained her as first Vice-President in the Pickering Metro East Festival. In 2000, Martha took over the Festival and has run an independent Music Festival, the Pickering GTA Music Festival ever since by herself. 

After accompanying her competitors from her local to Provincials she was approached to be a Member of the Provincial Board of Directors. Starting as a Member-at-Large and eventually becoming the President of OMFA, she was President for 8 years and has been Past-President for the last 3 years. 

After commiserating with Pam Allen about adjudicators, Pam invited her to try her hand at adjudicating in the Toronto Kiwanis, a daunting task indeed!  Adjudicating has become her passion for the last 13 years. Martha has enjoyed performing, teaching and promoting Canadian music through her work with music festivals across the country.

She has been performing with the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra  for the last 27 years under Marco Parisotto’s baton and was principal violinist with the Hamstrings of Durham Trio for 12 years, performing at weddings and corporate events. She also enjoyed Christmas Carolling for several years for Corporate and Community Events.  Not long ago she was awarded an Ontario Volunteer Service Award for 20 years.  Martha has been involved with music festivals for the last 32 years and has retired as the Ontario representative on the National Board of Governors.  

Her slice of Heaven is her 2 and a half acre island in the Kawartha’s where she spends as much time as possible 3 seasons of the year. This is where she also met her husband of 48 years.

In July of 2019 she became the Artistic Director of the Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival, the largest festival of its kind in Canada. She is proud of her local festival that celebrates 21 years this year and having its second virtual festival this February.

email: martha@kiwanismusictoronto.org

Ruth Ostrower has been involved with the Kiwanis Festival for over 25 years. She began as a member of the Dance Advisory Committee, before being invited to join the Music Festival Board a few years later. She is currently the Past President of the Festival, while continuing to hold primary responsibility for the Dance Festival.

A long time folk dancer, Ruth is a member of the Performing Arts Educators of Canada (PAEC) at the Fellowship level in International Folk Dance and is also an advisor to their Board of Directors. Ruth is also a member of the organizing committee for the Ontario Folk Dance Camp.

In her other life, Ruth is the Executive Assistant to Michael MacMillan, CEO of Blue Ant Media, a media company he began 10 years ago, after selling Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. in 2007 to Canwest Global and Goldman Sachs. She also sits on the Board of The Samara Centre for Democracy (which Michael co-founded) – an independent charitable organization that encourages citizen engagement with Canadian democracy.

Hubert Eng is an investment advisor and amateur musician. Hubert has been helping clients make money on their investments for the last 14 years. Prior to becoming an investment advisor, Hubert spent 25 years as a consultant helping businesses make effective use of information technology. Hubert’s motto is “everyone is entitled to my opinion”

Barry has worked for RBC for the past 8 years and is currently Senior Manager, Initiatives and Implementation for the RBC Group Advantage business. Previous to that, he worked for 11 years in politics spending 8 years at Toronto City Hall and 3 years at Queen’s Park with two Cabinet Ministers. Barry dedicates a great deal of time to volunteering with different organizations and mentoring colleagues. He is the National co-Chair of RBC NextGen, he sits on the Fringe Festival Board, and is the Chair of AS2YP (Autism Speaks 2 Young Professionals).

Barry enjoys baseball (Go Jays!), playing the drums and exploring new places locally and abroad. After growing up in Rockwood, Ontario, Barry now calls East York home where he lives with his partner Jennifer.

Jen Bell is the VP Chief Communications Officer for Open Text. Jen is a seasoned communications, public affairs, marketing and sustainability professional with more than 25 years experience in senior executive roles across a broad range of private, public and not-for-profit organizations. 

Most recently Jen served as Principal of Bellwether Communications, providing communications and public affairs guidance and advice to a wide range of clients across numerous sectors. Previously, Jen served as the Vice President of Communications and Corporate Affairs for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). Additionally she has held senior roles at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Vale and Alliance Atlantis. Jen also spent more than eight years as a senior political advisor within the Ontario government. 

Jen is currently a Trustee for the Royal Ontario Museum and a Director of the Toronto Kiwanis Festival. Previously Jen has served on a number of boards including the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, MaRS Mavens, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Canadian Media Fund and the Empire Club of Canada. 

Heather enjoyed a 35 year career in the investment industry.  Her last position was Senior Vice President, Client Service, at Greystone Managed Investments.  She retired in 2014.

Heather has been a member of the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma since 2000, inspired by the opportunities the Club offered to volunteer in the community.  She has served on both KCCL’s Board of Directors as well as the Board of Trustees.

In 2018, Heather joined the board of the Toronto Kiwanis Festival as the representative from the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma.  The Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma has been a proud sponsor of the Toronto Kiwanis Festival since it was founded in 1944.

Dr. Feihong Nan is currently working as the Manager of Divisional Research, Analysis, and Assessment in the Office of the Dean at UTM, providing comprehensive, timely and user-friendly information to support data-informed planning, decision-making and continuous improvement at all levels of the university.  She was nominated for the 2016 Emerging Leader from the City of Mississauga, recognizing her leadership qualities and business acumen through the development of innovative business solutions.   She was also the research and analytical lead for 4 innovative research projects during her PhD study at McMaster and published 12 high impact journal papers. In addition to her work at the university, Feihong is very active in her community and founded the Canadian Division of Yuan Yin Group, organizing annual fund-raising concerts and managing over 200 volunteers and performers in support of the community and accelerating the impact of music collaborations and diverse cultural heritage. She is the recipient of the Heritage Legacy Award from Heritage Mississauga which recognizes her contributions and work in bringing generations together to work towards a common purpose. Also, she was invited to perform Guzheng (Chinese Zither) and Qin (UNESCO Intangible Heritage) music for the Album of ”Asia Beauty”, which received 2016 Grammy Nominations for Best New Age Album.

Heather Newsome is a retired Music Teacher. She has taught in England, and Kenya, and for the last 15 years of her career at St. Clement’s School, Toronto where she conducted the Choirs, taught Music in the Elementary School, and co-directed 6 Musicals with the Upper School. Heather is enjoying supply teaching at Havergal Junior School, and organ playing, as well as singing with two Church choirs, and a Rock Choir.