Sheldon Kagan’s impressive career as an impresario now spans four decades and includes remarkable early accomplishments

Producing a concert is a challenging task that requires meticulous planning as well as the courage to proceed with the venture despite the potential for major financial losses. To make it work, the producer has to book a venue, secure sponsorship, negotiate a contract with the artist’s manager, lodge the performer, and supervise every operational aspect on the day of the show – praying all the while that he won’t land in the poorhouse because of anemic ticket sales.

A daunting undertaking even for seasoned promoters!

Montreal native Sheldon Kagan, a fresh-faced youngster barely out of his teens in 1970, was already striking deals with high-profile New York talent agents even before he was legally allowed to drink south of the border.

In January of 1971, Kagan produced his first major concert, booking musical luminaries Dizzy Gillespie and Gene Krupa at Place des Arts. An unprecedented feat for someone his age, he was the youngest producer to stage a show at the prestigious Montreal landmark.

After that, while still in his early twenties, the burgeoning impresario produced a string of concerts that catapulted him to the top of Montreal’s musical production scene. His shows featured the biggest names in jazz and Big Band music, including legends The Glenn Miller Orchestra, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Mann, Grover Washington Jr., and Artie Shaw.

Kagan also signed contracts with numerous pop shows featuring such artists as Loggins and Messina, Ravi Shankar, Delaney and Bonnie, Bill Withers, Billy Preston, Buck Owens, Donovan, and others.

Previously an anonymous figure to these musical icons, young Kagan lured them to the city by combining industrious research with his keen negotiating abilities.

“What I did was learn everything I could about these artists through books and by talking to people in the know,” says Kagan. “Then I started making contact with the U.S. agencies who represented these performers and made them offers that made financial sense.”

Although confident of his capabilities, Kagan suspected that his youthful presence might be regarded as a barrier to securing gigs, so he negotiated contracts by phone and cleverly deflected all requests for personal meetings – that is until one persistent agent summoned him to the Big Apple.

“After producing my tenth show, I was dealing with a high-profile agent from New York, with whom I had already booked some very successful shows by phone,” says Kagan.

“When he suggested that we meet in person, I flinched, thinking that he might be put off by my young age, but he insisted. The next thing I knew I was on a first class flight heading for Kennedy Airport, where a stretch limo was waiting to transport me to the luxurious Waldorf Astoria hotel, where he had booked a room for me.

“So here I was, this kid from Montreal, walking into the plush New York offices of a major talent agent who represented giants like Buddy Rich and Duke Ellington. When he came out to greet me, I was sure he wanted to say, ‘Hey son, how come your father couldn’t make it.’

“After the meeting, he admitted that he was actually thinking that very thought. And then he told me he never figured that someone so young could be so professional. We continued to have a solid relationship for many years.”

In 1972, Kagan was faced with a potential nightmare during his third production when Buddy Rich suddenly cancelled the day before a sold-out Place des Arts double-bill that included Woody Herman.

“The show was on a Sunday, and I got a call from Buddy’s agency in New York on Saturday afternoon telling me that he had slipped a disc while rehearsing for the Johnny Carson Show, and that he wouldn’t be coming to perform,” says Kagan.

With no time to advise ticket holders via the media or to book a replacement of Rich’s stature through an agency, Kagan faced the prospect of reimbursing 3,000 fans, so he had to act quickly.

“I immediately put my assistant on a flight to New York to scour the clubs for a replacement. Luckily, he found George Benson at a Manhattan spot called the Village Vanguard. I got him on the phone and he agreed to perform.”

Within hours, the guitarist/vocalist was on a plane heading for Montreal for an impromptu concert the next day.

When Kagan announced the line-up change as people were filing into their seats minutes before the show, less than half of them chose to seek a refund, allowing him to salvage the show and still turn a profit.

Kagan recalls that Benson performed for a mere $1,500. Today, the accomplished R&B/jazz performer commands a fee of $150,000 a night.

“People still talk about that show and I still have the original contract,” says Kagan.

As impressive as his early days as a producer were, Kagan actually made his mark as an entertainment specialist before then. He left school at the age of 13 and became a DJ, demonstrating his adolescent acumen by actively seeking and securing gigs for many events. His clients were so impressed with his professionalism and his ability to animate a crowd, word quickly spread, prompting him to expand his business by hiring other DJs and eventually musicians.

“I realized at a very early age that I was destined to be in entertainment,” says Kagan. “When I was a kid, I used to listen to the radio and memorized the four telephone numbers that one station used for giveaway contests. I often predicted which number would be used, enabling me to call instantly to win the latest album or a trip to see the Beatles.”

In 1971, Kagan was also the youngest person ever hired by the city of Montreal to design a section of a pavilion called “Man the provider” at Man and His World, where his production of an audiovisual presentation titled “An Intriguing Look at Montreal” impressed countless visitors.

Later on, Kagan decided to venture into the domain of matchmaking, organizing hugely successful singles bashes at major downtown hotels.

Kagan’s resourcefulness allowed him to avert a potential ‘crisis’ when he booked a New Year’s Eve mixer at the Windsor Hotel during the historical December 31, 1975 hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Soviet Red Army Team. Attendees were clamoring for the opportunity to view the game while they were mingling, so Kagan complied.

“I set up giant television screens in the Windsor Hotel and on Peel Street. The hotel lobby and the street were jammed with people watching the game. It was quite a scene,” he fondly recalls.

Tickets to his singles’ parties usually sold like hot cakes. To this day, the world will never know how many lasting romances were forged because of Kagan.

During the remainder of the ‘70s and into the ‘80s and ‘90s, Kagan continued to diversify, expanding his event-planning and entertainment services business.

Currently, Sheldon Kagan International is a thriving entertainment firm that provides musicians, DJs, theme décor, and event planning for corporate functions and parties. Kagan and his team manage dozens of top-notch performers and coordinate hundreds of events a year, from conventions to weddings to bar mitzvahs.

Since 1996, the company has been active in Jamaica, supplying resorts with a variety of Canadian performers as well as photographers, videographers, musical acts and clergy for Canadians who want to get married in this exotic locale.

Sheldon Kagan also produces Le Salon de la Mariée at Montreal’s Palais des congrès – the longest-running bridal exhibition in Quebec. The exhibition is a spectacular event that connects brides and grooms with exhibitors who reserve booths to showcase their wedding, honeymoon, travel and home décor wares.

Conceived by Kagan in 1980, Le Salon attracted 400 visitors and less than 50 exhibitors in its first year. It gained considerable momentum thereafter when exhibitors realized its tremendous potential. Our latest show, held on February 2 & 3 2008, attracted over 166 exhibitors and more than 12,500 visitors.

"The company is also already renting booths for the next edition of Le Salon de la Mariée that will be held in January 2009 at Montreal’s Palais des congrès. When I first came up with the idea for Le Salon, I talked to future brides to gauge their reaction," says Kagan. "The feedback was incredibly positive, so I was encouraged and went ahead with its creation. For the first few years, I held the exhibition at different hotels. But then it started mushrooming, so in 1986 I decided to hold it at the Palais des congrès, which has enough floor space to accommodate the enormity of the event."

Always the pacesetter, Sheldon Kagan launched the first Salon des Baby Boomers Plus on May 26 & 27, 2007 at Palais des congrès, a brand new exhibition for the 45+ generation. Today’s mature people are healthier and more vibrant than ever. All the products & services to help them enhance and enjoy their lives are featured at the Salon des Baby Boomers Plus. The next Salon des Baby Boomers Plus will take place on April 12 & 13, 2008 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

On September 24th 2008, Sheldon Kagan will present, at Place Bonaventure, a brand new corporate trade-show: Le Salon des Affaires de Montréal. Thousands of representatives of Montreal's business community are invited to attend. The one-day show is expected to attract thousands of corporate decision-makers searching for ideas and suggestions for off-site meetings, providers of incentive and corporate business travel, of business services and promotional products.

As a community-minded person, Kagan also donates his company’s services to several charities. Over the years, his company has been supplying free entertainment for the Missing Children’s Network, the Starlight Children’s Foundation, Montreal Children’s Hospital, Share the Warmth Foundation, and others.

Kagan is now grooming his young son Barry to carry the torch. “He started at the same age I did. Barry acts as an animator and DJ, and he organizes games and contests both in Canada and Jamaica.”

During Kagan’s illustrious career, the music aficionado has compiled an enormous personal collection of over 20,000 records, some of which date back to his early days as a teenaged disc jockey.

Today, still going strong after four decades as an impresario, event planner, and entertainment provider, the 52-year-old still gets the urge to go back to his roots and goes out to perform at parties as an emcee and disc jockey.

“After 40 years in the entertainment business, I still go out and work as a DJ and emcee, not because I have too, but because I love it.”