Public Engagement Committee Report – June 2017

Mem­bers: Sarah Albu (co-chair), Emi­ly Doolit­tle (co-chair), Louise Camp­bell, Jason Doell, Kathy Kennedy, Tawnie Olson, Jer­ry Pergolesi.

The Pub­lic Engage­ment com­mit­tee mem­bers have been dis­cussing strate­gies and method­olo­gies illus­trat­ing how pub­lic engage­ment is part of our own prac­tices, and mov­ing for­ward with the goal of shar­ing this knowl­edge of a more inclu­sive and encour­ag­ing approach in all CNMN activities.

We are also in the ear­ly plan­ning stages to sig­nif­i­cant­ly grow our online resource archives, with a focus on community/public engage­ment in new music. Through these online resource archives, we hope to:

• Update and recon­fig­ure the exist­ing Cre­ative Music Edu­ca­tion Online Resource archive, a project that the com­mit­tee launched back in 2015.
• Help new music artists, groups and orga­ni­za­tions wish­ing to under­take com­mu­ni­ty-engaged work (but per­haps do not know where to begin) find guid­ance from, and part­ners for col­lab­o­ra­tion with, peo­ple who are expe­ri­enced in com­mu­ni­ty arts and pub­lic engage­ment, includ­ing allies worldwide.
• Devel­op and main­tain a hand­book of prac­tices and guide­lines for com­mu­ni­ty and pub­lic engagement.
• Reflect infor­ma­tion about and use­ful for all regions across Canada.
• Encour­age Cana­da-wide participation.
• Pro­vide a space where any­body and every­body is wel­come to engage in dia­logue on top­ics of Com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment / Pub­lic engagement.
• Pro­vide a space for shar­ing scores, process notes and record­ings of col­lab­o­ra­tive cre­ative music works, open to any­one with any lev­el of training.

Issues of diver­si­ty and inclu­sion have been inte­gral to our ongo­ing dis­cus­sions about pub­lic and com­mu­ni­ty engage­ment, and we are in com­mu­ni­ca­tion with CNMN’s new­ly formed Equi­ty & Diver­si­ty Com­mit­tee. If the new music com­mu­ni­ty tru­ly wish­es to engage with a wider pub­lic and grow a larg­er com­mu­ni­ty, it’s clear that it needs to con­tin­ue to make space for a more diverse num­ber of voic­es to be heard, devel­oped at all ages and stages of train­ing, and in dif­fer­ent types of spaces. Per­haps this also includes stretch­ing our own def­i­n­i­tions of what “new music” can be and what/whom it is for, in the ways we con­ceive of projects and in how and where we exe­cute them.

Also, the com­mit­tee plans to con­tin­ue its tra­di­tion of shar­ing and cel­e­brat­ing Pub­lic Engage­ment Suc­cess Sto­ries, a series first launched in the 16^th edi­tion of CNMN’s Bul­letin, May 2013. Have you heard of or par­tic­i­pat­ed in an ini­tia­tive that you found par­tic­u­lar­ly inspir­ing in regards to pub­lic engage­ment? Are you inter­est­ed in sub­mit­ting a suc­cess sto­ry for a future bulletin?

Don’t hesitate to get in touch, we want to hear from you!
Please contact Sarah Albu: sarah.c.albu@gmail.com

Read more from this committee:

Cre­ative Music Edu­ca­tion Online Resources
Pub­lic Engage­ment Com­mit­tee Annu­al Report – Octo­ber 2016 (n° 23)
Pub­lic Engage­ment Com­mit­tee Report – June 2016 (n° 22)
The Vir­tu­al Mega­Band – June 2016 (n° 22)
Pub­lic Engage­ment Com­mit­tee Report – Octo­ber 2015 (n° 21)
Pub­lic Engage­ment in Schools – Lind­say Place High School (n° 21)
Pub­lic Engage­ment Com­mit­tee Report – May 2015 (n° 20)
Cura­to­r­i­al and Art Crit­i­cism stu­dents meet Con­tin­u­um in The OCADU Project (n° 20)
Pub­lic Engage­ment Com­mit­tee Report – Dec. 2014 (n° 19)
I.S.S. Is Some­body Singing (n° 16)
Toronto’s New Music 101 (n° 16)
Youth/Music Edu­ca­tion Com­mit­tee Reports (p. 5–6) – 13^th edi­tion (pdf)

Direct link: Pub­lic Engage­ment Com­mit­tee Report – June 2017
Return to full Bul­letin – June 2017