eFlash! 2026-04

A Few Words from the CEC Board

Canadian Electroacoustic Community
A sound network.

I'm afraid it's been rather longer than usual since our last eFlash!, so apologies to our members for the radio silence... But, not to worry: we have been very busy behind the scenes, with quite a lot of change happening, and quite a lot to look forward to in the near future!

First, we would like to draw attention to the call for this year's JTTP competition for new creative work by young and/or emerging electroacoustic artists from (or living in) Canada, with a deadline of May 31st. Full info here: https://jttp.ca/call.html

Relatedly, this is a good opportunity to thank our many donors to JTTP — the competition wouldn't be possible without you, so: thank you!!

On a less positive note, we are still waiting for quite a number of this year's membership payments, despite reminders having been sent out. Please consider making your payment for this year if you haven't already; these payments are essential to the running of the CEC. This only takes a few moments for an online payment — more info here: https://cec.sonus.ca/members/membership.html

We have received some difficult news on the funding front. For many years now our primary funding has been via the SOCAN Foundation; we have now been informed that there is some reorganisation happening, as a result of which this funding will be winding down, with reduced amounts over the next two years, at which point the current funding will cease. We are investigating what this will mean for the CEC and exploring other means of funding, so we will keep members updated on this critical situation as it continues to evolve.

Some recent concert activity: As part of the JTTP 25th anniversary outreach activities, the CEC partnered with BEAMS (Boreal ElectroAcoustic Music Society) to present a double-header concert in Edmonton featuring the 2025 JTTP prize-winning works in 8-channel surround, alongside the sixth edition of Together Apart, curated by BEAMS President Shawn Pinchbeck. The event brought together national and local electroacoustic practices, with Barry Truax Award winner Graeme Dyck present for the performance. 

Coming up at the end of May, 2025 JTTP prize winners Michele Selvaggi (winner of the Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux Award) and James Player (winner of the Hildegard Westerkamp Award) will lead an afternoon workshop at Pulsworks Audio Arts in Saskatoon, followed in the evening by an 8-channel performance at Remai Modern, organized in collaboration with Tiess McKenzie and Brian Garbet.

In publishing news: we are happy to report that, after a hiatus of a few years due to significant administrative change, we are hard at work on the soon-to-be-relaunched eContact!, hopefully later this year, with a new look and a new publishing format. Stay tuned for more news on this as the year progresses!

In international news, the CEC has recently re-joined CIME/ICEM (the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music). We welcome this as another avenue for communication and cooperation with our many peers from around the world.

In admin news, Etienne Mason has joined the CEC admin team on a part time basis, and has been doing a splendid job helping to keep the train on the tracks, so our thanks go out to him — and as always to our admin powerhouse Yves Gigon! — as we continue to try to fill the void left by the departure of jef chippewa in 2025.

And finally, belated congratulations to CEC Patron and Honorary Member Barry Truax, who was appointed to the Order of Canada in December!! Much deserved, and something for us all to celebrate.

James Andean
President of the CEC
April 10, 2026