Harmony Centre Owen Sound marks its 10th year this month, and plans to celebrate by hosting “Ten for Ten” events, free or by donation, throughout the year.

Kicking off the series will be a pay-what-you-can concert with world-class harmonica player Carlos del Junco and the Blues Mongrels on November 5. The del Junco concert showcases the Centre’s 700 seat Harmony Auditorium and its acclaimed acoustics.

Del Junco is recognized as one of the world’s best diatonic harmonica players (the same 10 hole harmonica that Bob Dylan uses). Simultaneously sophisticated and raw, his playing blurs the boundaries between blues and jazz and adds in influences from swing, New Orleans second line grooves, Latin, ska melodies, and swampy roots rock for good measure.

As a bonus, del Junco will demonstrate and teach harmonica techniques at an intimate workshop the next day,. giving what he calls a ‘crash course on all things possible on the harmonica’. Attendees are invited to bring a C harmonica. He will be sharing a few basic tips on tone building and foundational pucker vs tongue block techniques to access playing single notes. Tickets to the concert and workshop are available through the Centre’s website.

Other Ten for Ten events include a Charlie Brown Christmas featuring Tyler Wagler, Thomas Hammerton and Adam Bowman in December. Earth Day next year will feature a presentation created by community Youth, lead by the Georgian Bluffs Climate Action Team, Sheatre and Grey Bruce Climate Action Network. And in June, the Festival Trio returns with an afternoon of modern chamber music. Stay tuned through Harmony Centre’s Facebook page, website (harmonycentre.ca) and future issues of their newsletter for more.

Harmony through the decade

Harmony Centre’s beginnings trace back to the search for a place for a much-needed soup kitchen. A group of creative and forward-thinking community members formed a charity and purchased the old Knox Church in 2012. It has gradually been re-purposed into a thriving hub for "sharing, creating, educating, and performing," as their tagline says. Harmony Centre is the only place in Owen Sound that makes renting affordable space to the not-for-profit community their primary purpose.

Early years saw the Owen Sound Hunger and Relief Effort (OSHaRE) serving nightly dinners from the 190-seat Lower Hall. Numerous studio and loft spaces throughout the building became home to other non-profits and community groups who needed space for their operations and activities. And the Harmony Auditorium began hosting events from choir concerts to all-candidates meetings, and everything in between.

Since opening, this wonderful community asset has operated with the help of hundreds of committed volunteers, and has had hundreds of thousands of visits, for meetings, and rehearsals, and special events. People of all ages and stages come for a myriad of reasons, and Harmony Centre strives to continue to maintain and improve these facilities for them and keep their rental rates as one of the most affordable in the region.

The fully accessible Lower Hall, kitchen, and washrooms have all been renovated, ready to host new events. There are new windows throughout the building and every room was recently hardwired for internet. The change to a “green” heating system with air conditioning started in September of this year.

With money from fundraising events, donations from the community and government and private grants, over $1million in improvements will have been made by the end of 2022.

“It is time to celebrate Harmony Centre’s success and look to the future,” says founding director Leigh Greaves.