Posted by: Janet Uren
Peter and Paul Sutcliffe and their families have been living in Old Ottawa South for some years now, and they have made a big contribution to neighbourhood culture. This summer, they are bringing back their concert series – even bigger and better than last year – to the Ottawa Tennis Club (OTC).
The extended Sutcliffe family was on full display at the Ottawa Tennis Club on the evening of May 4, as 60-odd people gathered among the tulips and daffodils for the kick-off. Peter’s granddaughter, age 6, got into the mood as she bopped to the lively strains of Nova Scotian fiddler Anna Ludlow, supported by pianist John Mitchell. Ludlow has been recognized with multiple prestigious awards and was the principal fiddler for the Juno-nominated and critically acclaimed touring production of DRUM! Originally from the East Coast, she is based in Ottawa now, where she combines Celtic and contemporary threads into foot-stomping classics of her own.
The Sutcliffe’s come originally from Montreal. Peter studied acoustics and electronics engineering at McGill University and, since coming to Ottawa, has worked on such projects as the acoustic design of the Algonquin College Theatre, Centrepointe Theatre and the Great Canadian Theatre Company, as well as a monitor and broadcast system for the Peace Tower Carillon. Tennis is also part of his life. One of Canada’s top 10 tennis players at age 18, he later served as OTC’s club pro and as president.
Paul made his way here less directly. After studying radio and television programming in Thunder Bay, he went on to a career as a producer in film and various other media, ending up in Chicago for 13 years before coming to Ottawa. In 2015, he and his brother – lifelong lovers of music – collaborated to offer a series of four concerts a year at OTC between 2015 and 2019. COVID put an end to that.
“In 2024,” Paul recalls, “the club asked me if I wanted to come back with a 12-concert series at The Cameron, and I put together a mix of community performers and five featured artists. It was a success, and this year they gave me carte blanche to do whatever I liked.”
And what Paul likes is to present 16 Canadian artists and groups representing the best of blues, folk, bluegrass and Celtic music, along with one extraordinary “heavy metal cellist.” This includes artists nominated for 12 Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA) in 2026, including for Ensemble, Singer, Young Performer, Vocal Group, Contemporary Album, New Artist, Indigenous Songwriter and Producer of the Year.
Three-quarters of this year’s line-up comes from the Ottawa area. “People think that Montreal and Toronto have all the music,” says Paul, “but – according to artists I spoke to at the Ottawa Grassroots Festival – Ottawa has an even more vibrant local music community, with more open mic nights and opportunities for musicians and songwriters to share their love of music.”
The artists at OTC may be local, but they are collectively hitting the big time nationally and internationally: for example, Steve Marriner, who, on top of nine Maple Blues awards, walked away with the 2026 Juno for Blues Album of the Year. Others in the program – namely, Valdy and Ian Tamblyn – are legendary in the world of folk and are joining the line-up alongside young Claire Morrison, winner of the CFMA New Artist of the Year in 2026.
Chris White of CKCU, who was MCing the May 4 event, asked Paul how he managed to get such a prestigious line-up. Paul shrugged in a self-deprecating way. “I’ll tell you my secret,” he said. “I just asked.” CKCU is sponsoring the Music series.
Some of the summer lineup was featured at the kick-off, including Ottawa-based singer-songwriter, Lynne Hanson – winner of both English Songwriter and Ensemble of the Year at the 2018 CFMAs. As critics say, her work is “Too tough for folk and too blues-influenced for country.” In introducing her, Chris White recalled that she has produced “umpteen” albums (“and that is a precise number,” he added). In fact, Hanson is going to Nashville very soon to record her eleventh album.
Joining Ludlow and Hanson at the kick-off was internationally recognized “heavy metal cellist,” Raphael Weinroth-Browne, “known as one of the most innovative cellists of his generation.” You don’t often hear a cello throb and wail as it does in the hands of Weinroth-Browne, with sounds that range from the cool discipline of classical music all the way to sounds of the Middle East and on to the primal complaints of metal.
Shows will be featured every Sunday night between June 7 and August 30. Come for dinner starting at 5:00 pm and get priority seating, with the music beginning at 7 pm. Your neighbours, Peter and Paul Sutcliffe, invite you to make music part of your life this summer in the neighbourhood.
Janet Uren is a professional writer who lives in Ottawa.
OttawaConcerts.ca and CKCU FM’s
Summer Music Series at the Ottawa Tennis Club
In the Cameron restaurant, 176 Cameron Ave.
Sunday from 7-9 pm
Tickets and reservations: $30-$40 at ottawaconcerts.ca
June 7 Moonfruits, alt folk roots
June 14 Anna Ludlow, Celtic fiddle, kitchen party
June 21 Ian Tamblyn, folk
June 28 Boreal, Indie folk harmonies
July 5 Steve Marriner, traditional blues
July 12 Jeremy Fisher, alt Indie, folk, pop
July 19 Lynne Hanson, roots, grit, Americana
July 26 Jessica Pearson & The East Wind, roots, America and Celt
August 2 Amanda Rheaume, folk, roots, Canadiana, Indigenous
August 9 Valdy, folk
August 16 Claire Morrison, folksinger-songwriter
August 23 Raphael Weinroch-Browne, heavy metal cello
August 30 Old Man Luedecke, bluegrass, alt-country, folk
Featured in the June 2026 OSCAR.