Meet Margot Holmes
Manager, Agent, Presenter, Promoter of Canadian Music

Margot Holmes has been a promoter of Canadian culture for the past three decades through her work in the performing arts. She has owned Caline Artists International for the past 38 years, playing an integral role in developing the career of hundreds of Canadian musicians. These artists have toured North America and around the globe as cultural ambassadors for Canada. In addition, Margot is the CEO of the Vancouver Island Symphony, a position she has held for 26 years.

In 2023, Margot was awarded the City of Nanaimo’s Honour in Culture Award for her contribution to the performing arts. In 2015, Margot was awarded Agent of the Year by Canadian Arts Presenters (CAPACOA) and in 2014 she was awarded the Cultural Champion Award for Arts Leadership by Business for the Arts, Canada and the City of Nanaimo Award of Distinction for her contribution to the Arts. In 2008 she was awarded Agent of the Year from the BC Arts Live and in 2007, she was named Arts & Culture Advocate of the Year. She has sat on numerous Boards including B.C. Live Performance Network, CAPACOA (Canadian Arts Presenters), Tourism Nanaimo, and was a founding member of AASPAA – Agences des arts de la scène Performing Arts Agencies Canada.

In fall of 2017 Margot Holmes formed the Maverick Cooperative with Debbie Peters of Magnum Opus Management (Yukon, Canada) where both agencies promote the artists on each of their rosters together with two experienced managers. They were awarded the B.C. Arts Live – Agent of the Year Award in 2018 for this innovative collaboration. In 2021, the Maverick Cooperative launched and created a project called Music from the Edges of Canada showcasing 22 artists in 11 Live and Streaming shows from four theatres across Canada. In addition, they developed software for an online showcasing platform called thepitch.ca.

Margot has intentionally worked with youth and emerging artists, in addition to professional artists in her practice. She managed and toured internationally with the British Columbia Boys Choir in her role of Executive Director for 25 years (1993 – 2018). Prior to this, she worked with the award winning Amabile Choirs in London Ontario, and the London Youth Symphony.

Margot is sought after as an arts consultant offering training to emerging artists and managers. From 2017-2020, she was a trainer with the B.C. Arts Live’s On the Road Workshops in various communities in British Columbia. She is a frequent lecturer at post secondary music schools on the role of arts management in the performing arts sector.

Margot created and coordinated the Nanaimo Big Band Festival (September 2022) and Festival Nanaimo (2015-2020) a month-long Festival held each March in Nanaimo. She has held positions with the Filberg Festival (Artistic Director: 2014, 2015); North Shore Sinfonia (North Vancouver); the Jewish Festival of the Arts (Vancouver); the Historical Markers Project of Southeast Vancouver (Public Art & Heritage Project); and the Banff International Festivals at the Banff Centre (1996-2000).

Margot studied Oboe Performance at Western University in London, Ontario allowing her to see and understand first-hand the practice required to present art at a high-performance level.

Margot is an avid traveller, arts enthusiast and always up for an adventure! Her canine sidekicks, Watson and Solomio are rarely far from her side.

Meet Valerie Hillier
Project Manager

Over the past 30 years Valerie has built a career in the performing arts sector that combines experience in marketing, fund development, event management and artist curation. Her past roles as Program and Marketing Assistant at the Banff Arts Centre and Event Manager of Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival eventually lead her to the Fredericton Playhouse where she spent 15 years in several different roles; most notably as the Director of Programming, where she honed her skills and knowledge curating a diverse lineup of national and international artists, companies and groups for nine seasons.  In November 2019 she joined the team at the Atlantic Presenters Association working remotely from Liverpool, England as the Block Booking Coordinator where she cultivated tours for Canadian and international artists throughout the Atlantic Canadian region. Valerie is thrilled to now be working with Margot Holmes and her team at Caline Artists International supporting a brilliant roster of artists including Piano Heist, BUWA, and Joelle Rabu.