Kitchener City Council Approves Amanda Bram as 2026 Artist in Residence

The Kitchener Finance and Corporate Services Committee unanimously approved Amanda Bram as the city's 2026 Artist in Residence. Her proposed residency, "Words of Wisdom and Hopes for the Future," would bring together youth and older adults for intergenerational songwriting sessions and a community concert.

Topics Discussed

• 2026 Artist in Residence appointment: The committee unanimously approved Amanda Bram as Kitchener's 2026 Artist in Residence. Staff said the city received 13 eligible submissions through its call for proposals. As staff member Miss Von told the committee, "Through this call, we saw proposals from musicians, music educators, and music entrepreneurs interested in delivering innovative community-engaged music programming that would create meaningful musical experiences for Kitchener residents of any age."

• Selection process and criteria: Staff said the selection emphasized community connections, artistic merit, feasibility, and the potential for lasting impact in Kitchener. Staff also offered information sessions and consultations to support applicants.

• Amanda Bram's proposed residency: Bram's project, "Words of Wisdom and Hopes for the Future," would focus on youth aged 13 to 18 and older adults aged 65 and up. The residency would involve participants co-writing original songs in intergenerational sessions centered on wisdom, lived experience, aspirations, and future generations, followed by a community concert.

• Bram's background and approach: Bram described herself as a music educator and performer with experience working with both youth and older adults. She told the committee, "And as well on on top of all of those things, I I'm a music educator and I'm of course a performer. I I love to write songs. I love to perform songs and I I love to play with other people. That is that's something that I find incredibly valuable. And when I heard about this uh this artist and residence proposal, I I wanted I thought that I I could do a pretty good job to be honest with specifically working with an intergenerational population as I've had the privilege of getting to work a lot with youth through my uh most recent internship at Starling Community Services and getting to work a lot with older adults as well through various uh music therapy placements and long-term care facilities and retirement facilities."

• Council remarks: Councillor Dave Schnider congratulated Bram after the vote, saying, "I'm really looking forward to the healing power of music that you're going to help spread through our community. So, congratulations."

Motions

• Approval of Amanda Bram as Kitchener's 2026 Artist in Residence — Passed unanimously

Attendees

• Councillor Schnider