My first experience with the Canadian New Music Network was at FORUM 2008 in Toronto. It was clear to me from that introduction that the network offers a rare opportunity to connect across the vast geography of Canada. And every year since, I feel that CNMN has been at the centre of my deeper connections with music makers and music lovers across the country.
As a CNMN board member representing British Columbia, I get a first-hand glimpse of the ongoing work of the organization. Planning, advocacy, and finding new ways for people to connect across cultures, languages, and regions is at the core of CNMN’s work. I strive to bring my artistic experiences as a producer and presenter to the network’s events, and my administrative experiences as an executive and fundraiser to our planning.
David Pay is the founder and Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Music on Main for which he has earned an international reputation as one of today’s leading-edge classical and contemporary music programmers. Since 2006, the series has produced more than 250 classical, new, and genre-bending music events with over 700 musicians and more than 50 world premieres. The UK’s Gramophone Magazine writes that Music on Main “provides western Canada with one of the finest windows onto the post-classical scene” and the Huffington Post says Dave’s programming has “spanned the range of human experience”.
As an independent arts consultant specialising in strategic planning, marketing, fundraising and producing, David has worked with leading arts organizations, musicians and video artists. He has served on faculty at Capilano University’s Arts & Entertainment Management Department and as Associate Director, Fall & Winter Music Programs at The Banff Centre. His essays and interviews about music have appeared at CarnegieHall.org and in Vancouver Review. Other roles include Artistic Producer of the opening night gala of Classical:NEXT (Rotterdam, May 2015) and Artistic Director of the ISCM World New Music Days 2017 (Vancouver, November 2017).