The first time I walked into a CNMN FORUM, I walked into a room full of people whom I knew from many different times and places in my life, all of whom were passionate about making new music. Before that moment, I didn’t think it was possible to have all these people in the same room together. Canada is, after all, a very big country, and, like many other CNMN members, I’ve travelled and lived in many different places. Not only is it possible to get people from across the country in the same room at the same time, CNMN was and continues to be the organization that makes this happen. From that moment on, I became a strong supporter of CNMN and its mandate – Networking – which for me means developing our community by reinforcing existing relationships and discovering new ones, and Representation, which for me means working together to collectively improve our situation.
Having been on the board from 2008–2012, I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to have an active role in CNMN. During this time, I was part of the organizing committee for FORUM 2009 in Montreal, developed and implemented Language Facilitation with Stacey Brown for FORUM 2012 Vancouver and FORUM 2014 Calgary, and chaired the Public Engagement Committee (2010–12). I feel that it is very important for CNMN to remain inclusive and open to new members. As a board member, I use my experience with emerging musicians and my practice of playing genre-crossing music to reach out to potential new members, in addition to continuing to participate in the Language Facilitation Committee to ensure ease of communication in both official languages at CNMN events.
Louise Campbell is a clarinettist, music educator and arts advocate. As a performer, Louise seeks to interrogate and renew the traditional concert format while fostering the creation of new works. Her specializations include commissioning new works, cross-disciplinary creation, works in situ and outreach and audience development. She is a founding member and co-artistic director of In Extensio and core member of Plumes.
Career highlights include co-creating R with In Extensio, a cross-disciplinary work involving music, movement and video (2013); performing music for Hope for the Haunted, a new circus work directed and created by Valerie Dean and Don Rieder (2013); writing and performing music for film director Jeanette Pope (Dust, a sculptor’s journey, Festival du nouveau cinéma 2011; Berson Boys, Kodak Emerging Filmmaker Program at Cannes 2009); the creation of reeds, a cross-disciplinary site-specific work based on birdsong (Sound Symposium, 2010); and collaborating with writer Annie Abrahams and director Rebecca Barnstaple in the creation of l’envoyer à mars pour y trouver la quiétude (2008), an installation involving projected text, dance and music. As an educator, Louise teaches through experiential learning so that students learn and understand through doing. She brings together her passion for performing and teaching by developing outreach programs that revolve around participatory music making.