During the summer of 1979, renowned pianist Anton Kuerti purchased a summer home near Parry Sound and organized three concerts by outstanding Canadian musicians. The enthusiastic response to these programmes inspired him to propose an annual concert series. Local residents accepted the challenge, and the FESTIVAL OF THE SOUND formed a Board of Directors and became a non-profit corporation with Mr. Kuerti as Artistic Director. The 1980 FESTIVAL OF THE SOUND (FOTS) marked the beginning of Ontario's first annual international summer classical music festival. In 1985, James Campbell began his tenure as the Festival's second Artistic Director, a position he still holds today. Hundreds of Canadian and international musicians have performed at the Festival over 35 seasons, among them: string quartets of the stature of the Tokyo, St. Lawrence, New Zealand and Penderecki, and the Gryphon and Beaux Arts Trios; singers Jean Stilwell, Russell Braun, Mark DuBois and Kevin McMillan; pianists André Laplante, Jane Coop, Menahem Pressler and Angela Hewitt; violinists Pinchas Zukerman, Corey Cerovsek, Martin Beaver and James Ehnes; cellists Janos Starker, Yo-Yo Ma, Denis Brott, Shauna Rolston and Denise Djokic; choirs such as Christ Church Cathedral Choir, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and The Elmer Iseler Singers. Orchestras appearing at the FOTS have included the Toronto Symphony and the World and National Youth Orchestras. Composers-in-residence such as Srul Irving Glick and Robert Rosen have written works on site during the Festival and several premieres of works by Canadian composers are featured each year.
