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The Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes (OCPA) is a registered non-profit arts organization founded in 1981 by a group of individuals who saw the need for an umbrella group to guide the growth and development of the calypso in Toronto and Canada. Its mandate - as set out in its Constitution and By-Laws - is to promote the calypso art form in all its diversity: storytelling, social and political commentary, and comedy in song, to create opportunities to compose, perform and record calypso, and to facilitate calypso music¹s growth and development in general.
OCPA presents a year-round programme of activities that include workshops, seminars, awards shows, concerts and special events featuring Canadian and International Calypso and Soca artists. The summer programme culminates with the exciting Calypso Monarch competition that is held the weekend before the Caribana Festival. The competition is preceded by a 5-week Calypso Tents music series that has been presenting newly-composed work annually for the past twenty years for the Caribana Festival a remarkable achievement by any artistic community.
OCPA has produced and nurtured Canadian performing artists comparable to those anywhere in the world, such as Jayson - the 1991 Juno Award winner, Structure, Beginner, Victorio, Lady Pearl, Guney, Macomere Fifi, Connector, Mon-T-Hama, Crooner, Susan G, Rajiman, and many more active Toronto-based recording artists and entertainers. Many of the OCPA members have starred in shows and competitions in the Caribbean and the USA. OCPA can count among its ranks several winners of the Miami International Calypso Monarch competition and The New York Calypso Monarch competition.
OCPA affairs are conducted by a volunteer ten-member Board of Directors; elections are held yearly in the fall, at which time five members are elected for two-year terms. OCPA offices are located at the Centre for Social Innovation in downtown Toronto (215 Spadina Avenue) and along with Caribana Festival stakeholders Toronto Mas Bands Association and Ontario Steelpan Association, OCPA is a co-producer of the Caribana International Festival of Arts & Culture - one of North America¹s largest Caribbean festivals.
Organization Of Calypso Performing Artistes 215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 120, Toronto ON M5T 2C7
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