Agenda
- Verification of Quorum and opening of meeting
- Approve the Agenda (vote)
- Approve minutes from last AGM, of Octobr 14, 2021 (vote)
- Receive the President’s Report — Juliet Palmer reviews the 2021–22 season as CNMN president
- Receive the Committee reports of the 2021–22 season
- Receive the Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2022
- Appoint the auditor for the financial year 2022–23 (nomination and vote)
- Board Member Votes
- Vote to change bylaws on Board Member voting — see new wording here
- Other business
- Adjournment
Reports
President’s Report
After what felt like a period of endless physical separation, the highlight of my personal CNMN year was our board retreat in Montreal this May. It was a palpable reminder of the energy and inspiration that flow from gathering and listening in person. Our two guest facilitators sparked debate and discussion: charles c. smith reviewed CNMN’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion activities to date and outlined steps to take to increase and deepen our work in “widening the circle”. Claude Schryer led a galvanizing workshop on Sustainability and Organizational Change. CNMN has since joined SCALE – Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency. I am excited that we are now part of this new network committed to keeping arts and culture at the forefront of the work to build a more just and green future. In the coming year, regional in-person gatherings will keep it real and local, offering opportunities for further listening and exchange focussed on sustainability. Keep your ear to the ground so you can be part of the conversation. A huge thank you to all the members of the Board for their energy and efforts over this past year in keeping CNMN strong and relevant. Your insight, experience and dedication to the network are deeply appreciated. This year we welcomed Andrew Reed Miller to the board. Originially from New York, Andrew is based in Saint John, NB and brings over 25 years of experience as a creative performer, collaborator, artistic director, and arts leader. It’s great to have you on board, Andrew! We bid Po Yeh a fond farewell and offer our deepest thanks for her eight years of service on the Board member and for offering us fiscal oversight in her role as Treasurer since 2016. Thank you Po for your thoughtful and perceptive contributions to CNMN. We look forward to welcoming a new representative from the Prairies — stay tuned! Executive Director Terri Hron continues to steer CNMN with creativity, organizational panache and compassion. Thank you Terri — your new ideas are what keep us humming! Louise Campbell has been growing the PCM Hub with leaps and bounds into the abundantly well-stocked pantry of creative music and sound resources that it is today. Keep coming back to this corner of the CNMN website for inspiration and fresh ways to create collectively and inclusively. I look forward to working with Terri, Louise, Aurore and the Board, along with our funding and partner organizations to strengthen CNMN’s role as a circle of learning and exchange, an agent of change and a catalyst for new ways of creating and organizing. Thank you for your support, Warm wishes, JulietCommunications & Membership
Report by Aurore Blondelot Committee Members: ED, PR, Juliet Palmer, Linda Bouchard The 2021–2022 season started with a first time 100% online edition of the Forum 2021 – Listen up (due to the pandemic). All of CNMN’s dissemination platforms were mobilized to relay information on the website and social media (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), as well as our weekly newsletters. This Forum was an opportunity to bring together the new music community around events produced by presenters from the Prairies, but also to highlight works in video format by artists in musical and sound creation from across the country. The CNMN also presented 5 thematic videos around the issues of activism in musical creation. The artists featured in these thematic videos were also solicited for the series of Conversations on the same theme, in order to continue the discussions that emerged during the Forum 2021. All of the online videos on the YouTube channel were offered in bilingual translation, for the sake of accessibility. Additionally, the Conversations – Access video is also available in sign language. This year, the CNMN continued its ConneXions mentorship program to support artists in their music and sound creation projects. Similarly, CNMN held a second call for projects for the PCM Hub, aimed in particular at projects linked to the health sector. All of these activities were shared on the CNMN’s social networks at the rate of 2–3 publications per week and in bimonthly newsletters. The number of subscribers to the CNMN mailing list remains constant and the open rate of newsletters is good. The number of subscribers to the Facebook page and to the Twitter and Instagram accounts is up slightly and the number of interactions with the content of the publications is regular. This year, CNMN introduced a new voluntary membership model. Two promotional campaigns were deployed for this purpose and voting members are encouraged to share their activities to amplify them on social networks. To conclude, a renewal campaign for board members was launched in the summer of 2022. Members currently serving on the board got personally involved by sharing short promotional videos. This campaign was primarily aimed at soliciting the appointment of new members located in the Prairies, as well as filling the vacancies of secretary and treasurer. It concluded with the announcement of the dates for the next annual general meeting in the fall of 2022.Forum 2021
Report by Terri Hron Committee members: ED, Megumi Masaki, Jeff Morton, Juliet Palmer, Helen Pridmore Forum 2021, our first online edition, ran from September 27 to December 7 (see Communications report for more info on distribution. . It included work by around 70 artists, presented as the following:- 5 videos on Land, Access, Indigenous, Innovation and Community issues, with the voices and work of artistic leaders. These videos were edited by Jeff Morton. Presenters included: Becca Taylor (Ociciwan Collective), Astrolabe Musik Theatre (Delphine Derickson-Armstrong and Heather Pawsey), Ian Cusson, Geronimo Inutiq and Sandy Scofield for Indigenous Resurgence; Rebecca Caines, Louise Campbell, Giorgio Magnanensi, and Roxanne Turcotte for Community; Col Cseke (Good Host), Chelsea Jones, Julie Richard and Ellen Waterman for Access; Suzanne Kite, Amy Brandon, Teresa Connors, Helga Jakobson and Annie Martin for Innovation/Technology; and Tanya Kalmanovitch, Heather Peat Hamm, Tina Pearson and Jenni Schine for Land;
- A showcase of 20+ short videos of creative music and sound artists from across the country and artistic practice. Artists included Evelin Ramon, Andrew Adridge, Michelle Boudreau, Jenna Turner, Caitlin Sian Richards, Sarah Albu,Lia Pas, Kathryn Ladano, Frank Horvat, Anoush Moazzeni, THIRTYMINUTES, Parker Thiessen, Arlan Vriens, Chenoa Anderson, Erin Donovan, SHHH!! Ensemble, Alexandra Gorlin-Crenshaw and Kim Farris-Manning;
- 4 events produced by presenters from the heart of Canada on the Prairies: the Eckhardt-Grammatté Competition, Holophon Audio Arts, New Music Edmonton and New Works Calgary.
Mentorship
Report by Helen Pridmore Committee: Norman Adams, Müge Büyükçelen, Terri Hron, Juliet Palmer, Helen Pridmore The CNMN Mentorship program ran for a second iteration in 2021–22. This project pairs applicants who have specific projects in mind, with mentors from our CNMN community. Mentors and mentees meet for one to four sessions to develop these new projects. The program is open to anyone interested in creative music and sound practices. Eight applicants were awarded mentorships this year: Jane Chan, David Foley, Paolo Griffin, Alexandra Gorlin-Crenshaw, Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, Andrew MacKelvie, Beverley McKiver, and Michael Selvaggi. Mentors included Sarah Albu, Darren Copeland, Emilie Lebel, Giorgio Magnanensi, Chris Mayo, Cléo Palacio-Quintin, Helen Pridmore, and Jeffrey Stonehouse. Topics shared included: advice on compositional structures; working with computer software programs such as MAX/MSP; curation of solo shows; performance coaching; and running a small arts organization. For more information, please see the ConneXions page. You can find information for prospective applicants there. The next round of the Mentorship program is underway, with a deadline October 21, 2022. On a personal note, I can add that as a mentor this past year, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of meeting someone new from the Canadian musical community, sharing creative ideas, and developing a new project.Conversations
Report by Juliet Palmer, Sept 15, 2022 Committee: Terri Hron, Juliet Palmer, Aurore Blondelot This past year’s CNMN Conversations series dug deeper into the activist themes of FORUM 2021: Listen Up. Watch the original FORUM videos and then learn more as an invited moderator leads a wide-ranging and thought-provoking conversation with the creators. All conversations are available on our Youtube channel with English and French captioning. Thanks to Terri and Suzu for getting this up and running. CNMN Board Members and staff took turns hosting the series, helping viewers get to know the people behind the scenes and across the country.Indigenous Resurgence — January 18, 2022
How do Indigenous artists and communities respond to the current notion of Indigenous resurgence? How does language and definition affect or effect Indigenous work? Does mentorship play a role in the work of Indigenous artists and how? Watch the Indigenous Resurgence FORUM 2021 video Moderator: Becca Taylor CNMN Host: Rob Thomson Guests: Astrolabe Music Theatre (Heather Pawsey & Delphine Armstrong Derickson), Ian Cusson, Geronimo Inutiq, Sandy ScofieldLand — February 15, 2022
What is sound relationship with land? How can we encourage and practice right relations? What are the ethics of recording landscapes and places? Whose consent do we need to seek? Watch the Land FORUM 2021 video. Moderator: Wende Bartley CNMN Host: Andrew Miller Guests: Tanya Kalmanovitch, Heather Peat Hamm, Tina Pearson, Jenni SchineInnovation/Technology — March 15, 2022
New directions in technology, and new definitions of innovation. How do we work with non-humans? What is unknowable in our practice? Where do our compositions come from? How do we define listening? Are all things heard, audible? Watch the Innovation/Technology FORUM 2021 video. Moderator: Suzanne Kite CNMN Host: Megumi Masaki Guests: Amy Brandon, Teresa Connors, Helga Jakobson, Annie MartinAccess Apr 12 2022
Access can be a bridge to cultural exchange where multiple people or communities benefit equitably from a barrier free space to meet, connect, find commonalities, celebrate difference, and share their cultures with each other. How do we identify barriers and increase acess? Is there a place, an experience, a community that we are not able to access? What would need to change to make it accessible? Watch the Access FORUM 2021 video. Moderator: Col Cseke CNMN Host: Terri Hron Guests: Chelsea Jones, Julie Richard, Ellen WatermanParticipatory Music Hub
Report by project lead Louise Campbell In 2019, CNMN received funding through the Canada Council’s Digital Strategy Fund to create an on-line Participatory Creative Music Hub. Participatory creative music is a variety of practices in which all people involved have active input into the process of creating music. A facilitator may guide and participate in the process, and decision-making and authorship is shared. The Hub is full of inspiring, innovative projects hailing from the fields of education, health, community, social services and incarceration. The two key achievements of the 2021–22 season was a successful Open Call for project with a focus on projects occurring in the sector of Health, and the launch of the Sector Focus Resources. The first resource is up and on-line: Creative Music In Education, which profiles 5 music education programs across Canada, featuring their creative music activities and thoughts by teachers and students about what success in music education means to them and how creative music practices may help towards decolonizing the music classroom. Hub activities in 2021–22 season included:- 17 consultants hired to provide expert advice
- Open Call with a focus on projects occurring in Health completed
- 8 successful Open Call projects completed and uploaded by Naila Kuhlmann, Sherry L. Dupuis, Laura Gillis, Julia Weder, Pia Kontos, Leah Abramson, Ira Lee Gathers, and Geremia Lorenzo Lodi
- Dissemination through partner orgs Canadian Network for Arts and Learning, Canadian Music Educators’ Association, Coalition for Music Education, provincial music ed orgs, Room 217, Canadian Association for Music Therapy and more