OE TEAM

2025  BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Morgan Lovell

Chair

Kirsten Yri

Bart Pilarczyk

Anna Donahue

Kathryn Ladano

Christy Bertrand

STAFF

Richard Burrows

Artistic Director

Richard has had a substantial career throughout North America, Europe, Mexico, Australia, and Asia. Starting out in his mother’s kitchen on pots and pans, and carrying around his trusty Fisher Price drum, Richard is now the director of percussion at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University. Richard has performed with numerous artists that include: NEXUS, Nebosja Jovan Zivkovic, and has collaborated internationally with artists such as Evelyn Glennie (Scotland) and Synergy Percussion (Australia).  As an active freelance musician within his community and beyond, he has played with numerous orchestras throughout Ontario, performed and recorded with famed bass clarinetist Kathryn Ladano in their duo “Stealth,” and with new music projects for InterArtsMatrix.  In 2012, Richard curated his first festival with Open Ears entitled Environmental Rhythms. This musical weekend included a performance of 70+ percussionists in John Luther Adams’ epic masterpiece, Inuksuit. Richard is a past principal cast member with ScrapArtsMusic and a founding member of TorQ Percussion Quartet. With ScrapArtsMusic, Richard held a one-month residency in Melbourne, Australia to perform for the 2006 Commonwealth Games and was selected to perform in the Percussion All-stars Orchestra. With TorQ, he has performed throughout Canada, USA, and Europe, and competed as the sole Canadian percussion quartet for the International Percussion Ensemble Competition in Luxembourg, EU. TorQ has worked alongside famed Canadian composer Christos Hatzis as the ensemble-in-residence for “Composition for Percussion” at the University of Toronto. They have since commissioned over 100 new works for percussion and have released five albums with critical acclaim. Richard is an artist for Yamaha Canada Music, Innovative Percussion, Black Swamp Percussion, Remo Percussion and Dream Cymbals and Gongs.

Marilyn Adlington

General Manager

Marilyn Adlington is an arts and culture worker with over a decade of experience in curatorial development, programming, and arts administration in the non-profit sector. In 2017, she graduated from Western University with a Bachelor of Arts in Museum Studies and later obtained her Masters of Fine Arts in Criticism and Curatorial Practice from OCAD University. An ever-curious researcher, Marilyn brings a deep understanding of contemporary visual arts, culture, and analysis to this role as General Manager at Open Ears. Prior to this role, she served as the Programming Manager and Interim Director at CAFKA (Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener + Area), and has a dedicated passion for the role that thoughtful, inviting, and accessible public art and performance has to play in the strengthening of artistic communities of all ages and demographics across Ontario. She looks forward to continuing to support and advocate for these communities throughout Waterloo Region and beyond.