The Treble With Rosemary
An opera conductor diagnosed with ADHD during COVID uses creative ways to keep the music alive in her community.
Pitch video
Synopsis
In early 2020, Rosemary Thomson, the well-loved artistic director of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, took on a second hat as artistic director of Opera Kelowna. A month later COVID hit. A few weeks into lockdown she was diagnosed with ADHD. Faced with pandemic restrictions, the financial challenges of her non-profit organizations, the fears of board members and peers, and learning new tools to manage ADHD, she finds unconventional ways to carry on. She fights to serve the community, care for her family, and manage her mental health, all with an unstoppable commitment to keep the music alive. Through incredible creativity and strength she has become a hero and advocate for those who feel lonely, long for live music and want to feel hope for the future of the arts.
Production
Interview Roster
Rawle James, local leader and advocate for the arts, culture and inclusivity, is the founder of the Inspired Word Cafe, another local arts organization that is struggling to survive. He speaks on his experience as the head of an arts organization once largely dependent on crowds and social gatherings, and why it’s important to think out of the box and have local heroes that keep things running.
Barbara Leadbetter is a resident at Mountainview Village, (assisted living complex for seniors) and will speak about her experience being isolated from physical contact with family and friends throughout COVID and being unable to leave the complex, and also about her love of music and how much she’s missed seeing her favourite performances, and what a visit from Opera Kelowna’s Sidewalk Serenades meant to her.
Susan Schaffer, a lead violin and assistant concertmaster at the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, sheds some light on the journey for the musicians over the past year and talks about what it’s like being led by Rosemary.
Dan Duncan, coach and consultant at ADHD Inside Out, Kelowna, will speak on navigating ADHD, how it can be an asset rather than a setback, and how many people like Rosemary may have the condition without knowing it. He will both help normalize and demystify the condition and speak to how dealing with disorders head on, especially in times up upheaval, can actually serve to bring out the best in people.
Lead Subject. Rosemary is the Artistic Director of Opera Kelowna and the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and an advocate for adults with ADHD. She is a hero in our community for the ways she supports and fights for the arts as well as her transparency with and resiliency through her own journey with ADHD.
Production Design
