Introduction

by Shannon Peet

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you had a good holiday. The Music Section has been working fastidiously in order to keep the new music review/analysis on schedule. Quite a number of people took breaks over the holiday period, but other individuals have kept a steady pace in preparation for the first Advisory Committee Meeting January 21 and 22.

I believe you have all received the summary notes - captured from the three major meetings in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Thank you to those of you taking the time to respond. For those who work in other cities, we are pleased that we have been able to capture your perceptions and issues through the infrastructure researchers: they are included in the papers on infrastructure.

As you are aware, 'researchers' knowledgeable in the field had been contracted to do work identified by Council, including the areas of infrastructure, arts service organizations, electroacoustic and new media practices. For many of you, researchers have already contacted you over the holidays.

With your input through the meetings, the other areas of research have now been clarified. The following is a full list of the researchers and their papers:

Diane Kadota - Infrastructure Vancouver
Lauren Pratt - Infrastructure Toronto, the Prairies and the East
Richard Simas - Infrastructure Montreal

Tim Brady - National Service Organizations national
Robert Normandeau - Electroacoustic Practices and the CEC national
Alexandre Burton - New Media Practices national
Martin Arnold - Alternative Practices national

These are the topics that have been identified so far and that are large enough to warrant a national perspective. There are of course, many more and I would encourage you to feel free to continue to offer your thoughts on any of these topics. These areas have been discussed at the three regional meetings and they have been reflected back to you in the above-mentioned summary notes sent by email to you by Lendre Kearns.

I am also pleased to inform you of the committee members of the January advisory meeting. Many factors guide the make-up of a committee including gender, generation, artistic and linguistic practice, and regionality. In order to reflect at the table the balance of the degree of activity in Montreal and Toronto with that of the regionally based organizations, the meetings will include two members from Montreal, two from Toronto, and the rest equally distributed from all regions of the country over the course of three meetings. For continuity in the process some members will participate in more than one meeting, while new members will be added as meetings proceed. The complete list of participants for the February meeting will be announced shortly.

Participating in the first advisory meeting in January are:

Francois Houle Vancouver
Therese Costes Winnipeg
Lawrence Cherney Toronto
Pierette Marcotte Montreal
Jean-Francois Denis Montreal

These people will bring forth issues common to many in the field as well as their individual perspective. If you have specific issues of concern, you may wish to contact them.

Thank you all for your contributions to this process. The degree of participation so far has been positive. However, it cannot be stressed enough that this process benefits the community as a whole and any contribution no matter how small, has a place.

Sincerely,

Shannon Peet
New Music Officer