Organization

Mission and Goals

The Cana­di­an New Music Net­work (CNMN) / Réseau cana­di­en pour les musiques nou­velles (RCMN) con­nects and rep­re­sents artists, ensem­bles, orches­tras, pro­duc­tion com­pa­nies, pre­sen­ters, record labels, music edu­ca­tors, music media, musi­col­o­gists, music lovers and fans who believe in the impor­tance and val­ue of cre­ative music mak­ing in Cana­di­an society.

The CNMN was found­ed as a non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion in Novem­ber 2005, after almost 3 years of dis­cus­sions nation­al­ly. CNMN’s broad and inclu­sive man­date focus­es on com­mu­ni­ty build­ing and net­work­ing. It rep­re­sents any­one prac­tic­ing and sup­port­ing cre­ative art music and sound art in Canada.

CNMN’s spe­cif­ic goals are:

  1. To build a stronger sense of con­nec­tion, and fos­ter pro­duc­tive col­lab­o­ra­tions, between all parts of the new music com­mu­ni­ty (net­work­ing and com­mu­ni­ca­tion).
  2. To offer a plat­form to new music prac­ti­tion­ers all across the coun­try and broad­en aware­ness of new music activ­i­ty (pro­file and visibility).
  3. To cel­e­brate the achieve­ments of Cana­di­an new music artists and under­line the vital con­tri­bu­tion of new music in Cana­da (respect and understanding).
  4. To increase and diver­si­fy sup­port for new music, in order to enhance oppor­tu­ni­ties for, cre­ation, per­for­mance, dis­tri­b­u­tion, and audi­ence par­tic­i­pa­tion (resources).

CNMN pri­mar­i­ly exists for Net­work­ing to improve com­mu­ni­ca­tion, under­stand­ing and knowl­edge with­in the new music com­mu­ni­ty; and Rep­re­sen­ta­tion, to do the same beyond our com­mu­ni­ty and with an ever larg­er audience.

CNMN is com­mit­ted to a diverse and inclu­sive nation­al new music com­mu­ni­ty. Diver­si­ty in all its forms (race, cul­ture, gen­der iden­ti­ty, sex­u­al ori­en­ta­tion, reli­gion, lan­guage, phys­i­cal abil­i­ty, age, and aes­thet­ic) is a guid­ing fac­tor in achiev­ing its goals.

Networking

CNMN offers the fol­low­ing services:

  • a CNMN bilin­gual web site — with a search­able list­ing of mem­bers, resources and/or resource list­ings, and a list­ing of mem­ber activities
  • a bilin­gual, bien­ni­al CNMN con­fer­ence — the CNMN FORUM delves into a dif­fer­ent top­ic and col­lab­o­rates with new music events/festivals in chang­ing host cities/regions
  • reg­u­lar events and con­ver­sa­tions for its mem­bers for knowl­edge shar­ing and networking

Representation

CNMN rep­re­sents its mem­ber­ship and new music on sev­er­al levels:

  • with fed­er­al fund­ing bod­ies such as the Cana­da Coun­cil for the Arts and Her­itage Canada
  • with elect­ed offi­cials in order to high­light the suc­cess of new music in Canada
  • with oth­er arts organ­i­sa­tions in pro­mot­ing art, and in advo­cat­ing for increased resources for the arts in Canada
  • with the media to con­tex­tu­al­ize cre­ative music in Canada