(January 9, 2012) Toronto, ON -- The Toronto Blues Society is proud to announce the recipient of the Blues Booster of the Year award, a very special Maple Blues Award honouring outstanding contribution to the Canadian blues music industry.
This year, the Blues Booster of the Year Award goes to Liz Sykes, President of the Ottawa Blues Society.
Sykes, who has been president of the Ottawa Blues Society for ten years, started out as a volunteer writer and editor on the newsletter committee after becoming passionate about blues music through her son. “My older son Marc is the one who got me interested in blues, which would have been in late 1994 - early 1995. He was 18 at the time, too young to be going to the bars to hear blues, but he somehow managed!” she recalls.
The Ottawa Blues Society was formed in 1997, and is led by a small dedicated Board of Directors. The society’s ongoing activities include publication of the quarterly OBScene newsletter that highlights Ottawa area live blues events, bands and CD reviews from artists. The OBS has also participated in the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge, held annually in Memphis TN. For the past four years the OBS has held competitions and fundraisers for Ottawa area bands to participate with all fundraising dollars going towards travel costs for Solo/Duo and Band representatives to attend the IBC competitions.
“I really do believe that the things that we at the Ottawa Blues Society have accomplished and that have made us prominent in the blues community are not because of one person”. Sykes explains. “It is a team effort and the award belongs to all of the directors and volunteers who have helped make the OBS a success.”
Liz Sykes will receive the Blues Booster of the Year Award at the 15th Annual Maple Blues Awards gala on January 16th in Toronto.
Tickets for the not-to-be-missed Maple Blues Awards are $37 - $45 and can be purchased at The Weston Family Box Office, located in The Royal Conservatory building at 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, or online at
https://tickets.rcmusic.ca/public.
The Toronto Blues Society is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the Blues. The Maple Blues Awards is Canada's national blues awards program. Its goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding achievement in the field.
The Royal Conservatory presents more than 80 classical, jazz, pop, cabaret, and world music concerts each season. The Royal Conservatory's magnificent new concert hall, Koerner Hall, is a 1,135-seat venue designed in the tradition of the classic “shoebox” venues of Europe. Recognized as being among the world’s greatest concert halls, the Toronto Star has called it "the best concert venue in Toronto" and The Globe and Mail has dubbed it "the temple of tone." In addition, The Royal Conservatory is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2011-12, marking 125 years of developing human potential through music and the arts.
