KITCHENER GETS NEW ARTS LEADERS

The City of Kitchener’s arts and entertainment department has added two local arts leaders to its team to support the launch of the recently announced Kitchener LIVE destination marketing brand. Green Light Arts’ co-founder and managing director Carin Lowerison will be taking on the role of Manager of Arts and Entertainment Venues and music industry veteran Will Muir will become the city’s Music Officer.  

Kitchener LIVE was first announced at Mayor Berry Vrbanovic’s State of the City address on Oct. 21, 2025 at Centre in the Square. In his address, Vrbanovic said Kitchener LIVE will be a centralized platform for residents to discover events, purchase tickets, and learn how to host an event at a city-owned facility.   

The new brand is a small part of the city’s growing Arts and Entertainment Department. Led by Director of Arts and Entertainment Jeremy Dueck, the department includes three divisions: Arts and Creative Industries, Special Events and Arts and Entertainment Venues.  

Arts and Creative Industries is managed by Andrea Hallam and includes calls for public arts, the 44 Gaukel Creative Workspace, and the city’s film and music offices. Special Events is led by Steve Roth and includes the city’s Canada Day celebration, Way Back Festival, and the Christkindl Market. Music Officer Will Muir will work with the Special Events team to integrate local talent into events like the Roos Island Music Series.  

Lowerison will lead the third division as the Manager of Arts and Entertainment Venues which oversees the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts, the Victoria Park Pavilion, the City Hall Rotunda and Carl Zehr Square.   

The Arts and Entertainment Venues team is also responsible for the Kitchener LIVE platform. Dueck said the platform’s vision of “Your City. Your Stage.” is designed to help audiences and artists connect across all of the city’s venues, from Centre in the Square and The Aud to Roos Island and Carl Zehr Square. Kitchener LIVE will also include information on public art calls that are coming up and camp opportunities at THEMUSEUM and Centre in the Square.  

“How many times have you talked to people and they say they didn’t know that an event or concert was happening? We think all these events are common knowledge, but it’s not. Our community is growing so quickly that even for the people who’ve been here for a long time, they may not always know what’s happening,” Dueck said.  

For audiences, Kitchener LIVE will be the brand for its existing KW Tickets website and will include events at all city-owned venues and spaces. The new platform will also include information and tools for event hosts and producers to help book venue space.  

“There’s never been an easy entry point if you want to organize an event in one of the major event spaces. That’s what Kitchener LIVE will introduce,” he added.  

In addition to Kitchener LIVE, Dueck said the new department structure will help improve communication across the city’s owned and operated venues.   

“When the Mayor and Council created this division, one of the visions they had was, we need our venues to talk more. Now we meet monthly where we can share what’s coming up. Through those conversations, we get more insight as to what the other venues are doing,” Dueck said.  

While the new platform helps guide the public and event organizers, Dueck said the overarching goal is to present a cohesive brand to potential event hosts. The new structure can potentially help the city to attract major destination events, such as national award shows.  

“Down the road, if we’re trying to attract a major destination event, the Canadian Country Music Awards or the Junos, if we’re trying to go after an event brand, Kitchener LIVE helps us package and present our experience in the arts and entertainment scene here in Kitchener,” he said.  

SAPLING AND SKY: A NEW RECORDING IN DTK STUDIO

Located within the 44 Gaukel St. arts space in the heart of downtown Kitchener, Sapling and Sky opened its doors to musicians and artists of all sorts this past June.   

The studio is equipped for mixing/mastering, live tracking, vocal recording and song development along with in-house video and photography available.

For co-owners Doran Leung and Joshua Pascua, this new venture marks the realization of their mutual lifelong passions for music. Leung, who studied classical violin at Wilfred Laurier University is also a member of local band Maria Gabriella and Corduroy Blue.

Pascua studied at Mohawk College and has been performing as a singer and musician for over a decade, drawing on soul funk and disco influences.  

The two met through mutual friends in 2022.  

“I was trying to find someone willing to take that full leap into pursuing music full-time as a career—and Josh had already been doing so for years,” he said. “It was like a prayer answered when Doran hit me up, I would say. I think he saw something in me that I also saw in him,” Pascua said.   

He previously had his own personal studio for just over a year, in which he refined his knowledge of studio production and recording.   

“Ultimately it was a matter of, how can I take what I learned from this personal studio and help others with it?,” Pascua said.  

The space is adorned with an array of records, featuring the likes of Jermaine Jackson, Miles Davis and Esther Phillips.   

“Shout-out to Extra Large Records” Leung said. “Most of the records on the wall, we got from there. The sound panels are from a guy in Ayr who custom makes them.”  

Joining these music greats on the wall are soundproofing panels evenly spaced out, all of it surrounding the studio’s heap of high-quality microphones, amps, and other production equipment.    

Sapling and Sky is equipped to work with and record all varieties of sounds and genre.   

“A few days ago we had a Nigerian artist from Brantford come by,” Leung said. “Tomorrow we’ve got a Punjabi rapper.”  

A notable trait that the two joked about including as an official item on their terms and conditions form is the studio’s shoes-off policy. Rugs cover most of the studio space which combine with the blue sectional couch and warm colour lamps to create a comfortable, inviting atmosphere.   

“It made sense with the rugs and how winter in Canada is with the salt. Plus, we’re Asian,” Leung said.   

“We want this place to feel cozy, we want people to come in and treat this place like their home,” Pascua said.   

Having both grown up in the GTA prior to moving to the Kitchener-Waterloo area, the duo expressed their love and appreciation for both the local music scene and the wider community overall.   

“It’s been a lot of fun so far…here it really feels like community over competition,” Pascua said.  

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