It is, by all accounts, the ideal breakup – a difference of opinions, a parting of ways and continued success afterward for both parties.

After a dispute with the board of Ottawa’s Chamberfest, artistic director Julian Armour left to run his own classical festival called Music and Beyond.

Now in its third season, the new event features 80 concerts over 12 days, drawing in as many as 35,000 fans.

“I’ve never tried to do anything but program things that I really want to program, that I find interesting, that I think people will find interesting and then fill a need,” Armour said.

“That’s been my goal, to bring absolutely world-class concerts and events to Ottawa.”

Chamberfest’s executive director said ticket sales for their festival, which starts July 26, are still strong and there's no rivalry between the two similar events.

“Julian has an incredible imagination and he’s very good at putting together programs that are interesting and that go beyond the usual concerts,” said music teacher Claudia Cashin-Mack.

Audiences at Music and Beyond said they agree.

“Each year the performances seem to get better and better, so this year again we’ve not gone wrong,” said Paul Lynch. “It’s just incredible, the performances and skill level of the people performing.”

 “There’s a lot of pizzaz, (Armour) has just got such originality of thinking and things that broaden your mind, things you don’t expect,” said Madeline Joseph.

One of those things Armour is spotlighting is involving visual artists with the musical ones.

“We’re gone up to eight visual artists and we let them choose a piece of music that they wanted to create a painting to,” he said.

“They listened to the music and that inspired them to do the painting and we’re going to project the painting while we play the piece.”

“It’s extraordinary, to take music and pair it with all the arts,” said artist Sheryl Luxenburg. “He has performances that are acrobatics, I’m an artist, (there are) fine arts.”

Music and Beyond runs until July 15.

With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Katie Griffin