HarmoNNY Performing Arts Community celebrates first year, looks to the future

Jan. 17—WATERTOWN — What started as an idea after a show at a church-turned-performance-venue in Cortland County has grown into an organization focused on creating opportunities for performers.

HarmoNNY Performing Arts Community hosted a virtual kickoff last year, hoping to foster creative local talents to enrich the community. The organization's launch party was held over Facebook Live on Jan. 23, 2021.

According to Joseph S. Foy, president of the HarmoNNY board, the launch went well and the past year has followed suit, even amid a global pandemic. He was inspired to create the organization after he attended an acoustic show at the Center for the Arts of Homer in Cortland County.

"Homer has a really cool venue that was made out of an old church. Instead of letting the church just sit there and deteriorate, they turned it into a venue," Mr. Foy said. "It was just a very cool concept and very low key. They gave you a Post-it note upfront and said you can write your name on this, put it on your seat, and then you can go get some concessions."

Mr. Foy, co-owner of Foy Benefits Inc., got together with like-minded people to brainstorm ideas of how to bring something like Homer to the north country. From there, HarmoNNY was born.

A local musician himself, Mr. Foy formed the band Oceans Below while he was in college, and is in a jazz band called Segue. As a performer, he said he understands the importance of creating opportunities for local talent.

After its launch, HarmoNNY started doing events called Quarter Notes, with a virtual event each quarter, including a kind of variety show and a showcase of senior soloists that would typically be featured at a Bi-County event. Each month for 11 months, HarmoNNY highlighted a different local performer. This month, the group is looking back on all the artists highlighted over the past year. While the artists for the 2022 spotlights have already been chosen, the organization is open to suggestions for the future.

Last year, HarmoNNY opened its Instrument Lending Library, housed at Trinity Episcopal Church in Watertown. The group collects and purchases instruments and lends them to those who want to play and might not be able to afford them. Many of the instruments in the library are acoustic guitars and keyboards, but thanks to a $5,000 impact grant from the LEAD Council of the Northern New York Community Foundation, more instruments will be purchased.

Any donations to the nonprofit HarmoNNY are charitable donations, which allow the organization to host more live events.

"I do feel like even though we're in a pretty intense stage of COVID, by March, April it will make sense to do a lot more live, in-person events," Mr. Foy said. "We'd like to be able to be an organization that pays the artists to perform because I think that's big — to do your craft, you should actually get paid for it."

HarmoNNY does not have a permanent location or venue. The process to find a site has begun, but nothing has solidified yet. The initial goal for HarmoNNY was to create a small venue, with a capacity of between 150 and 200 people, that would work for acoustic shows, comedy acts and other low-key performances. It hasn't lost sight of that goal.

Collaboration with other local organizations is also a goal, Mr. Foy said. Last year, HarmoNNY worked with the North Country Arts Council to do Porch Fest in August. Mr. Foy said he anticipates another collaboration with the council.

The organization posts mostly on Facebook and Instagram and is planning to host an open-mic or open-stage night at a venue other than a bar so students and those who would prefer not to be around alcohol can attend.

"We've posted open mics before and they go well, its a great opportunity," Mr. Foy said. "We did it at The Little Bookstore in Clayton last year and now they have a location in Watertown, so that is a potential location."

HarmoNNY maintains a calendar on its website of performing arts events across the tri-county area.

"We'll ask venues and artists for their lists so we can make sure that we have as much as possible and people can submit to it easily as well," Mr. Foy said. "One of my goals this year with that is to actually go out to the establishments and venues and promote that calendar a little bit more."

Find the calendar curated by HarmoNNY at www.harmonny.org/events.