Music Festival Programming Project Grants

Deadlines

15 September 2010, for festivals taking place between 1 December 2010 and 31 May 2011
15 February 2011, for festivals taking place between 1 June and 30 November 2011

Program Description

Music Festivals Programming Project Grants help Canadian non-profit music festivals to produce specific projects within their overall festival programming. The Canada Council for the Arts’ assistance is intended to support original and interpretive programming involving professional Canadian artists that includes elements of artistic risk and vision, and that challenges audiences.

Assistance is designed to encourage music festivals to develop new programming initiatives, enhance existing programs, and introduce Canadian artists from diverse regions and cultural backgrounds to new audiences.

The Music Section supports music made for artistic and cultural purposes. It values distinctive artistic voices and supports excellence, innovation, experimentation and creativity in all established and emerging traditions of music. Competitions for funds are national in scope.

The presentation of Canadian works is a priority of this program. Projects involving forms of music such as baroque and early music, where few Canadian works exist, must feature Canadian soloists and (or) conductors.

These are a few examples of eligible projects:

a special concert or series of concerts resulting from a collaborative artist residency
the premiere of a large-scale Canadian work commissioned by or for the festival
innovative thematic programming as part of a single or multi-venue festival
the programming of artists performing styles of music that are new to the festival and that enhance its general programming.

The overall music festival is not the project. These project grants are intended to fund specific components of festival programming. Applicants must clearly define their project, as in the examples above. Applicants submitting their entire program for funding will not be eligible.

Eligibility

Music festivals eligible for support under this program:

present the music festival as the applicant’s core activity
feature a number of artists and last more than one day, but take place within a concentrated time period and typically use more than one performance venue
have as their purpose the dissemination of music, and feature music as their sole or primary artistic discipline
are curated events displaying a distinct artistic vision
are national in programming scope and have representation from three provinces or territories in addition to their own (new applicants must submit a list of out-of-province artists who performed at the previous two editions of the festival)
(Note: The purpose of the program is not primarily to bring out-of-province artists to the festival; representation from a variety of provinces and territories is understood to be a core part of an eligible festival’s regular activity.)
have presented at least two full editions by the date of application and are produced by a Canadian non-profit organization
demonstrate community support through earned revenues (usually in the form of ticket sales), funds raised, gifts- and(or) services-in-kind, and volunteer support
pay professional artists’ fees.

Music festivals may submit only one request to this program per calendar year (1 January to 31 December). For example, if you apply to the 15 February 2009 deadline, you are not eligible to apply to the 15 September 2009 deadline. Organizations currently receiving operating funds from the Canada Council for the Arts are not eligible to apply.

Multidisciplinary festivals that do not feature music as their primary artistic discipline should contact the Canada Council’s Inter-Arts Office to discuss other possibilities for support.

This Canada Council program is accessible to Aboriginal artists or arts organizations, and to artists or arts organizations from diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.

First-time applicants must contact the appropriate Music Section Officer to clarify the eligibility of their project before applying.

Grant Amount

Applicants may request contributions toward:

artistic costs (artists’ performance fees, travel expenses, accommodation and per diem expenses, etc.)
production costs (sound equipment, crew, staging, lighting, venue rental)
promotional and publicity costs, including programs.

Only costs directly related to the proposed project may be included.

Any costs associated with a foreign artist are not eligible.

Applicants must not claim expenses already funded through other granting programs, such as the Canada Council for the Arts’ Music Touring Grant Program and the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Arts Presentation Canada Program. Operating costs, administrative salaries and other costs not directly related to programming are also not eligible for support.

Contributions are available to a maximum of $20,000 per festival. Given the limited funds available for this program, successful applicants may not always receive the full amount they requested. You may not receive more than one grant from this program per edition of your festival.

Applicants who begin their project before they know the results of their grant application do so at their own risk.