eFlash! 2001-08

eFlash - Summer 2001

From the President

Summer greetings! The CEC is continuing on as always, depending on the life support of its members through fees and volunteer work to improve the conditions of the working electroacoustician in Canada…. We have been spending undue amounts of time trying to argue our case with the Canada Council as they re-examine the status of new music; the latest word is that our reputation is strong and that by early 2002 there will be monies available for projects. More news as it comes along.

Meanwhile, Board members and PeP personnel have been helping reassert the CEC profile and also gathering in reports of its untarnished reputation -- at no cost to the membership! Andra McCartney, Ian Chuprun and Steven Naylor attended the SEAMUS conference of our American sister organization, and Steven Naylor, Darren Copeland, Pete Stollery, and Rosemary Mountain all attended the "Music without Walls? Music without Instruments?" conference in Leicester, England - Barry Truax was also present there.

The Canadian Association of Music Libraries published an issue of its journal this spring that featured a short history of the CEC and a review of the Cache 2000 CD.

We are sad to say goodbye to the outgoing Board members - Yves Gigon and Dave Lindsay, but trust that they will be able to recuperate some energy in order to participate in future projects. We are very happy to welcome Nicolas Basque as a brand-new member to the Board. Those of us who already know him realize what a combination of skills and energy he brings to the post.

The new Board line-up is: Rosemary Mountain (President); Andra McCartney (VP); Laurie Radford (Treasurer); Jean Routhier (Secretary); Members-at-large: Kevin Austin, Nicolas Basques, Steven Naylor; Ex-Officio: Steve Beck, Ned Bouhalassa, Ian Chuprun, Jean Francois Denis, Daniel Leduc, Al Mattes, Pete Stollery; Administration: Yves Gigon; Special Project Manager: Ian Chuprun.

Annual General Meeting 2001 of CEC Membership: This year's AGM will take place on Tuesday August 28 at 4pm at the Concordia University Downtown Campus (H 760 - Hall building, 1455 de Maisonneuve West). Everyone is invited. We need to have as many members as possible to attend, as we want to thrash out some new ideas for the future and tap into the collective expertise as much as possible. For instance, we are working to see if we can scrounge up enough funds for a long-overdue conference / festival, and any and all suggestions for funding and / or volunteers to bring that off will be gratefully scrutinized. If you cannot attend, consider writing an e-mail note with issues you would like to have discussed -- we will let you know the outcome.

Membership Dues Reminder: Each year as of June 1 CEC membership fees become due. These dues are increasingly important as they form the bulk of the financial support for the CEC, due to a continuing reticence on the part of government funding agencies to support community-based arts. Your membership fees are a tangible and valuable statement indicating that you believe in supporting the only national arts organization dedicated to electroacoustics. Remember that our organization works best with a membership that covers many professions: education, radio, TV and concert programming, librarians, arts administrators…. Encourage your friends and colleagues to join as well -- the more members we have, the more we can do!

Rosemary Mountain
CEC President