Folk Music Ontario Staff
Rosalyn Dennett
Executive Director
Rosalyn joined FMO as Executive Director in April 2022, bringing with her a wealth of experience in the music industry and non-profit organizations through her roles at the Canadian Federation of Musicians, the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA), Music Canada, the Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA), and MusicOntario. She cut her teeth in the music industry as a musician, performing with artists such as Ken Whiteley, Kaia Kater, Fred Penner, and Oh My Darling.
Rosalyn currently sits on the executive board of Folk Alliance International, and has previously served on the board of directors of Folk Music Ontario (2017-2021) and the Travelling Musicians Union AFM Local 1000 (2018-2020).
Joel Elliott
operations manager
Joel joined Folk Music Ontario in January of 2020. Prior to that, he spent 10 years at The Conference Board of Canada, planning, marketing, and delivering upwards of 20 conferences and 100 webinars per year.
Joel is active in the Ottawa Music scene. He and his partner are the former co-hosts of The Monday Special Blend, a weekly show on 93.1 CKCU FM. He is the former host of The Ottawa Music Video Showcase and Live! On Elgin Open Mic on Rogers Cable 22. He is a former board member of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, and continues to sit on the programming committee, where he recently helped to organize and deliver the 4th Annual Capital Music Awards in June of 2023. He currently sits on the board of the North Eastern Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA).
Joel is also a singer, composer, and entertainer who has performed with various bands and theatre productions over the course of 20 years. He is the Bandmaster of The Magic Machine, who released their first EP in 2018. In 2017, Joel wrote the score and acted as Musical Director for Phantom of the Opry, a play which ran for 5 sold-out shows at Ottawa’s Gladstone Theatre.
Jaymie Karn
Program Assistant
Jaymie is working as the in-house graphic designer and Program Assistant at Folk Music Ontario. She was previously based in Toronto and active in its bluegrass and old time music scene. Jaymie is a new resident of the Ottawa Valley and is slowly building new music community there. While not being a musician herself, she has always committed to promoting and supporting live music and musicians. Jaymie's graphic art career focuses heavily on album art, merch, and promotional design. Additionally, she illustrated and designed the branding for Folk Music Ontario 2022.
Jaymie studied Drawing and Painting as well as Fibre and Textiles at OCAD University in Toronto. Shortly after, while working in youth education, she excelled in building visual arts and ceramics programs in Arts Based Curriculum schools as well as lead community-driven arts events.