FilKONtario
{{Short description|Filk Convention}}
{{Infobox Convention
| name = FilKONtario
| image =
| caption =
| status = Active
| genre = Filk music
| venue =
| location = Ontario
| country = Canada
| first = 1991
| last =
| organizer =
| filing =
| attendance =
| website = https://www.filkontario.ca
}}
FilKONtario is a fan-run convention in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario area dedicated to filk, the music of science fiction and fantasy fandom. Established in 1991, it is the only filk convention in Canada.[http://www.sfwriter.com/2009/04/filkontario.html Robert Sawyer comments on his appearance at Filkontario] In its fifth year (1995), the convention initiated the [http://filkontario.ca/filk-hall-of-fame/ Filk Hall of Fame], which continues to recognize those who have made significant contributions to filk music and the filk community, worldwide. This international awards program is administered through FilKONtario, with an international jury.[https://filkontario.ca/from-ties-and-tails-to-dead-penguins-filkontario-8-revisited/ From Ties and Tails to Dead Penguins: FilKONtario 8 Revisited By Lloyd Landa, The Voyageur June 1998].
History
At the time FilKONtario was founded, there were only five filk conventions worldwide: Consonance (San Francisco area), ConChord (Los Angeles area, started 1983{{cite web |url=http://www.conchord.org/ |title=Home |website=conchord.org}}), the Northeast Filk Con,{{Cite web |url=http://www.nefilk.us/pastcons.shtml |title=NEFilks Past |access-date=2016-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422014418/http://www.nefilk.us/pastcons.shtml |archive-date=2016-04-22 |url-status=dead }} and Ohio Valley Filk Fest (Columbus area, started in 1984[http://www.ovff.org/history/OVFF-pastguests.html OVFF History]), and the British Filk Con (started in 1989[http://www.contabile.org.uk/hosting/past.html Past British Cons]). Heather Borean, the first conchair, wanted something a little closer to home and proposed the idea of founding a new con. The name is a concatenation of "Filk", "KON" (for "convention") and "Ontario." The early days of FilKONtario were a bit challenging. Attendance was low the first few years, but a feeling of relaxed inclusiveness, following the lead of the con's first year guests, [http://www.bsutton.com/ Bill and Brenda Sutton], became the norm. In 1994, the convention drew a large crowd, with guest Kathy Mar, and has been quietly growing since that time.D. Hayman, FKO Treasurer
In the first year the convention mascot was established, which is a penguin with a guitar.[http://therealmadhatter.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/filkontario-20-april-9-11-2010/ FilKONtario 20]blog entry by a former FilKONtario convention organizer
Like most filk conventions, other than the Ohio Valley Filk Fest, FilKONtario is a small event, usually with about 130-150 attendees. Gradually the convention has grown from modest beginnings to offer programming Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, with requisite filk circles until the early morning, workshops in the mornings and a "Dead Penguin" (a play on "dead dog") sing Sunday evening. In addition, the guest roster has grown from a single guest of honour, to having a GoH, a Filk Waif, an Interfilk Guest and an occasional Special Guest, an author or artist from Southern Ontario. "Filk Waif" is an idiosyncratic term honoring the first waif, [http://www.mewsic.com Mary Ellen Wessels], whom two of the concom members brought to the con at their expense because she couldn't afford it. (Hence, "waif".) The role is identical to Toastmaster.
In 2007, in cooperation with [http://www.interfilk.org Interfilk] and after two years of fundraising, FilKONtario's only guest was the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110317211101/http://www.mich-sampson.com/nmc/ n'Early Music Consort], a choir of sixteen performers from England. This is thought to be one of the largest guest slates offered at a small convention.
FilKONtario has been the honoured recipient of guests funded by [http://www.interfilk.org Interfilk] since 1994. Interfilk is an international arts charity registered as a 501(c)(3) in California. FilKONtario is one of the recognized cons on that charity site.
Typical convention activities
Programming typically includes: Concerts, song-writing contests, workshops on guitar, voice, performance, etc., one-shots, dealers' room, a fund-raising auction for Interfilk, theme circles, and, especially, open song circles where everyone who chooses can sing and play, and listeners are especially welcome. The circles start in the late evening and go into the early hours of the morning, or later. There is an opening reception, and sometimes a CD release. Some children's programming is usually available.
Recording of the concerts and filks has been done since the first year of FilKONtario, resulting in the following releases, the first two on tape, the remainder on CD:
- Make Believe (FilKONtario 1), Wail Songs[http://www.kayshapero.net/filkWAIL.htm Wail Songs Catalogue]
- Let's Have a Filksing (FilKONtario 2), Wail Songs[http://www.kayshapero.net/filkWAIL.htm Wail Songs Catalogue]
- Songs From FilKONtario 7: Why Can't Penguins Filk?, Love Song Productions, A Dozen Cats Studios (Savedsounds and USB Studios) {{Cite AV media notes | title=Why Can't Penguins Filk? | year=2003 | type=CD | publisher=A Dozen Cats Studios | location=Nepean & Whitby, Ontario
}}
- Where the Magic is Real (FilKONtario 8), a joint production of FilKONtario and USB Studios{{Cite web|url=http://cdtrrracks.com/FilKONtario%208/Where%20the%20Magic%20is%20Real/|title=Where the Magic is Real • FilKONtario 8 • cdtrrracks}}
- Filk Dreams — music from FilKONtario 9, USB Studios[http://www.usbstudios.ca/ USB Studios]
- Filk Memories — music from FilKONtario 10, USB Studios[http://www.usbstudios.ca/ USB Studios]
- FilkNotes — the music from FilKONtario 11, USB Studios
- Filk Together — music from FilKONtario 12, USB Studios
- Triskaidekafilkia — music from FilKONtario 13, USB Studios
Filk Hall of Fame
Inductions into the Filk Hall of Fame take place at the Saturday evening banquet. The Hall was created to honour "contributions to filk music and the filk community". Each year a jury reviews the nominations and votes anonymously for their selections. Once the votes are tallied, the Administrator contacts the inductees for the current year. The citations noting the inductees' contributions are read at the banquet, and those inductees present are given a copy of the citation and a plaque. These items are mailed to those not present.
The next day there is a concert in honour of the new Hall of Fame inductees. Each new inductee selects five pieces of music significant to him, her or them. These are performed at the concert.
There is additional extensive material about how to nominate and what constitutes contributions to the filk community on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120406145749/http://www.filkontario.ca/hof/hofmain.html Filk Hall of Fame] web site. In addition there is a complete list of inductees and their citations.
Citation: Songs noted in citations for inductees to the Filk Hall of Fame were used as part of the empirical database for this academic articleTatum, Spoo & Pope, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=1393611 Does Gender Influence Attitudes Toward Copyright in the Filk Community], 18 American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & Law (2010)
Outreach
The FilKONtario Concom (convention organizing committee) has twice produced the filk track at a Worldcon: At Torcon 3, 2003, Toronto, ONTorcon 3 Program Book and at Anticipation, 2009, Montreal PQ.Anticipation Program Book
In preparation for Anticipation, two of the concom developed a multi-media presentation called "From the Earth to the Moon: a celebration of manned space flight". This presentation included PowerPoint, live narration and live music, with many members of the concom and filkers who were present at the con. It was the keynote filk track item for Anticipation.
Since then the concom has staged "From the Earth to the Moon", four more times: FilKONtario 2010, a meeting of the [http://www.idic.ca/ USS Hudson Bay] (a local science fiction fan club) June, 2010; SFContario, November, 2010; and ConFusion, January, 2011. The latter three were by specific invitation of the organizing group.
In addition a similar performance focusing on both manned and unmanned space exploration was performed at the invitation of the University of Toronto's Astronomy and Space Exploration Society presentation on 26 September 2009 as an opening act for keynote speaker Dr. David Charbonneau.{{Cite web |url=http://www1.astro.utoronto.ca/~gasa/public_talk/iWeb/Entries/2009/9/Keynote_Public_Lecture.php |title=UofT Astronomy Public Tour |access-date=2011-03-02 |archive-date=2011-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706211333/http://www1.astro.utoronto.ca/~gasa/public_talk/iWeb/Entries/2009/9/Keynote_Public_Lecture.php |url-status=dead }}
Previous conventions
| class="wikitable" |
| #
! Dates ! Location ! Guest of ! Official ! Interfilk ! Special ! Songwriting ! Hall of Fame ! Committee |
|---|
| 1
| Apr 12–14, 1991 | Holiday Inn | Bill and Brenda Sutton | -- | -- | -- | A theme song for FilKONtario | -- | Heather Borean (chair), Howard Scrimgeour, Wayne Borean, Joan MacDougall, Terri Neal, Lidia Tremblay |
| 2
| Apr 10–12, 1992 | Holiday Inn | -- | -- | -- | Buttons and T-shirts | -- | Heather Borean (chair), Howard Scrimgeour, Lidia Tremblay, Wayne Borean, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 3
| May 7–9, 1993 | Holiday Inn | Mary Ellen Wessels | -- | -- | Aliens | -- | Heather Borean (chair), Howard Scrimgeour, Judith Hayman, Dave Hayman, Wayne Borean, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 4
| Apr 15–17, 1994 | Regal Constellation | Mary Ellen Wessels | Heather Rose Jones | -- | Technology | -- | Heather Borean, Wayne Borean, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (chair), Howard Scrimgeour, Lynda Hurdis, Linda Baker |
| 5
| Mar 31-Apr 2, 1995 | Holiday Inn Yorkdale | Decadent Dave Clement | -- | -- | To the Stars and Fools that Go Filk in the Night | Bob Asprin | Heather Borean, Wayne Borean, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (chair), Howard Scrimgeour, Rob Sutherland, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 6
| Apr 19–21, 1996 | Venture Inn Airport | Mary Ellen Wessels | Barry and Sally Childs-Helton | Steve Dixon | -- | Magic and Magicians | Juanita Coulson | Heather Borean, Carolyn Brown, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (chair), Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 7
| Apr 11–13, 1997 | Venture Inn Airport | Clif and Carol Flynt | Doug Wu | -- | Songs based on written SF or Fantasy | Lee and Barry Gold | Heather Borean (co-chair), Carolyn Brown, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (co-chair), Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 8
| Apr 17-19 1998 | Travelodge Hotel | John Hall | Juliane Honisch and Katy Dröge | -- | A place you'd like to go to | Rafe Culpin | Carolyn Brown (co-chair), Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Sally Headford, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Glenn Simser, Peggi Warner-Lalonde (co-chair), Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 9
| Mar 26–28, 1999 | Quality Hotel | Don Neill | Harold Groot | -- | To Space | Gary Anderson | Heather Borean, Carolyn Brown, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (chair), Sally Headford, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Glenn Simser, Peggi Warner-Lalonde (co-chair) |
| 10
| Mar 31- Apr 2, 2000 | Quality Hotel | Larry Warner | Diana Huey | Scott Snyder | -- | Tricksters | Zander Nyrond | Heather Borean (co-chair), Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (co-chair), Sally Headford, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde |
| 11
| Mar 30-Apr 1, 2001 | Quality Hotel | Bill and Brenda Sutton | Steve Simmons | Erica Neely | -- | Mars and Beyond | Gordon R. Dickson | Heather Borean, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (chair), Sally Headford, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 12
| Apr 5–7, 2002 | Four Points Toronto Airport | Joey Shoji | Dave Weingart | Anke Teschke | 1. A song based on Tanya's writing 2. Technology Past and Future | Lissa Allcock | Heather Borean, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Sally Headford (chair), Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 13
| Mar 28–30, 2003 | Delta Toronto | Dr. Jane Robinson and Cynthia McQuillin | Mark Bernstein | Robert Cooke | -- | Travellers of the Deep | Karen and Poul Anderson | Heather Borean, Wayne Borean, Ingrid de Buda, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Sally Headford (chair), Lynda Hurdis, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 14
| Mar 26–28, 2004 | Delta Toronto Airport West | Michael Longcor | Kathleen Sloan | Blind Lemming Chiffon | -- | Based on written military SF | Katy Droege and Juliana Honisch | Heather Borean, Wayne Borean, Ingrid de Buda, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Sally Headford, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour (chair), Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney |
| 15
| Apr 1–3, 2005 | Delta Toronto | Steve Macdonald | Judith Hayman | Carla Ulbrich | Recycling in the Future | Clif Flynt | Heather Borean, Wayne Borean, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Sally Headford (chair), Lynda Hurdis, Ken Lalonde, Sue Posteraro, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde |
| 16
| Mar 31- Apr 2, 2006 | Delta Toronto | Chris Conway | Tanya Huff | Judi Miller | -- | Tolkien's World | Franklin Gunkelman | Heather Borean, Wayne Borean, Dave Hayman (chair), Judith Hayman, Sally Headford, Ken Lalonde, Sue Posteraro, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde |
| 17
| Mar 23–25, 2007 | Delta Toronto | colspan="4" | n'Early Music Consort | Harmony | Chris (Keris) Croughton | Heather Borean, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (co-chair), Sally Headford, Ken Lalonde, Sue Posteraro, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde (co-chair) |
| 18
| Apr 4–6, 2008 | Delta Toronto | Vixy and Tony | Bill Roper | Marilyn Miller | Heather Bruton | Nightmares in the Dark | Bob (Doc) and Anne Passovoy | Heather Borean, Jane Garthson, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (co-chair), Sally Headford, Lynda Hurdis, Ken Lalonde, Sue Posteraro, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde (co-chair) |
| 19
| Apr 3–5, 2009 | Delta Toronto | Heather Dale | Urban Tapestry | Gerry and Sandy Tyra | Robert J. Sawyer | Space Games | Erica Neely | Heather Borean, Jane Garthson, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Sally Headford (chair), Sue Jeffers, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, |
| 20
| Apr 9–11, 2010 | Delta Toronto | Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff | Erica Neely | William Mark Simmons | -- | Time Travel | Jan Dimasi | Heather Borean, Jane Garthson, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Sally Headford, Sue Jeffers, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour (chair), Peggi Warner-Lalonde |
| 21
| Apr 1–3, 2011 | Delta Toronto | Wild Mercy | Karen Linsley | Ghost of a Rose | -- | Coming of Age | Ellen Kranzer | Jane Garthson, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Sally Headford, Sue Jeffers (chair), Tom Jeffers, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde |
| 22
| Apr 20–22, 2012 | Delta Toronto | Paul Estin | Steve and Dorotha Biernesser | -- | The End of Time | Tom Jeffers | Jane Garthson, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (co-chair), Sally Headford, Sue Jeffers, Tom Jeffers, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde (co-chair) |
| 23
| Apr 19–21, 2013 | Delta Toronto | Tim & Annie Walker | Rand & Erin Bellavia | Katt McConnell | -- | FANtastic Canada | Cecilia Eng | Jane Garthson (co-chair), Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (co-chair), Sally Headford, Sue Jeffers, Tom Jeffers, Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde |
| 24
| Apr 25–27, 2014 | Delta Toronto | S.J. Tucker | Gary Ehrlich | Piers Cawley | Music in Space | Michael Longcor | Jane Garthson, Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman (co-chair), Ken Lalonde, Howard Scrimgeour, Peggi Warner-Lalonde (co-chair) |
| 25
| Apr 16–19, 2015 | Delta Toronto | Bill & Brenda Sutton | Kari Maaren | Nicole Dieker (Hello, the Future!) | Heather Borean | Silver | Kay Shapero | Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Ken Lalonde (chair), Peggi Warner-Lalonde |
| 26
| Apr 9–10, 2016 | Toronto | Cecilia Eng | Peggi Warner-Lalonde | Batya Wittenburg | | Animals in Space | Mark Bernstein | Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Ken Lalonde, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Morva Bowman, Alan Pollard |
| 27
| Apr 21–23, 2017 | Toronto | Mike Whitaker | Cat Faber | Shawna Jacques | | Wandering the Digital Highway | Gary Hanak | Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Ken Lalonde, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Morva Bowman, Alan Pollard, Sally Headford |
| 28
| Apr 20–22, 2018 | Monte Carlo | Leslie Hudson | Tim Griffin | Sabine and Michael Kinder | | First Contact | Sibylle Machat | Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Ken Lalonde, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Morva Bowman, Alan Pollard, Sally Headford |
| 29
| Apr 12–14, 2019 | Monte Carlo | Juanita Coulson | Margaret Davis & Kristoph Klover | Summer Loraine Russell | | Cosmic Hotels | W. Randy Hoffman | Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Ken Lalonde, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Morva Bowman, Alan Pollard, Sally Headford |
| 30
| Apr 24–26, 2020 | Monte Carlo | Stone Dragons | The Blibbering Humdingers | PDX Broadsides | | Back to the Moon | Juliana McCorison | Dave Hayman, Judith Hayman, Ken Lalonde, Peggi Warner-Lalonde, Morva Bowman, Alan Pollard, Sally Headford |
From the FilKONtario program book archive.FilKONtario Program Book ArchiveHall of Fame Archive
References
{{reflist|2}}
Sources
- Access to the print archives of FilKONtario—program books, progress reports, etc. 1991 to 2011.
- [http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/viewArticle/139/102 Tatum, Identity and Authenticity in the Filk Community] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724230438/http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/viewArticle/139/102 |date=2011-07-24 }}, 3 Journal of Transformative Works and Cultures (2009). This article discusses what filk is, references the Filk Hall of Fame administered by FilKONtario, and contains excerpts from Sally Childs-Helton's speech at FilKONtario in 2003.
- Solomon H. Davidoff, [http://maurice.bgsu.edu/record=b2173771 "Filk:" A Study of Shared Musical Traditions and Related Phenomena among Fan Groups] (M.A. thesis, Bowling Green State University, 1996). Bowling Green State University Thesis 6673. (At BGSU, call no. LD 4191 O6 No 6673.)
External links
- [https://www.filkontario.ca/ FilKONtario Home Page]
- [http://www.interfilk.org/ Interfilk]
- [http://www.debbieohi.com/ut-filk-faq-index/ Filk FAQ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100928062115/http://www.debbieohi.com/ut-filk-faq-index/ |date=2010-09-28 }}
- [http://www.filkontario.ca/hof/hofmain.html Filk Hall of Fame]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110816082220/http://filk-culture.ca/ Filk Culture]
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Category:Music festivals in Ontario
Category:Science fiction conventions in Canada