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Dear Reader,
Robert Rabinovitch and Jennifer Mcguire will be appearing before the Heritage Committee this Thursday, March 22, 2007.
The Canadian League of Composers encourages you, as concerned CBC Listeners and contributors, to write to the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, and express your views and questions they could ask Mr. Rabinovitch and Ms. McGuire. Email addresses of the members of the Heritage Committee are listed below as are sample letters you may refer to.
The theme is:
"Full investigation of the role of a public broadcaster in the 21st century"
Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Members
Chair: Gary Schellenberger - Schellenberger.G@parl.gc.ca
Vice Chairs: Mako Kotto - Kotto.M@parl.gc.ca; Andy Scott - Scott.A@parl.gc.ca
Members:
Jim Abbott - Abbott.J@parl.gc.ca
Diane Bourgeois - Bourgeois.D@parl.gc.ca
Ed Fast - Fast.E@parl.gc.ca
Tina Keeper - Keeper.T@parl.gc.ca
Chris Warkentin - Warkentin.C@parl.gc.ca
Charlie Angus - Angus.C@parl.gc.ca
Gordon Brown - Brown.G@parl.gc.ca
Hedy Fry - Fry.H@parl.gc.ca
Francis Scarpaleggia - Scarpaleggia.F@parl.gc.ca
As a list of just emails:
Schellenberger.G@parl.gc.ca,
Kotto.M@parl.gc.ca,
Scott.A@parl.gc.ca,
Abbott.J@parl.gc.ca,
Bourgeois.D@parl.gc.ca,
Fast.E@parl.gc.ca,
Keeper.T@parl.gc.ca,
Warkentin.C@parl.gc.ca,
Angus.C@parl.gc.ca,
Brown.G@parl.gc.ca,
Fry.H@parl.gc.ca,
Scarpaleggia.F@parl.gc.ca
Dear members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
I am writing on behalf of the Canadian League of Composers (CLC), the organization that represents Canadian professional composers of contemporary music. It is our understanding that you will be speaking with the President and several Vice-Presidents of the CBC this Thursday (March 22) at 9 AM in a meeting whose theme is: "Full investigation of the role of a public broadcaster in the 21st century."
According to published reports in yesterday's Globe and Mail, CBC Radio Two is unhappy with the fact that the majority of its listeners are over 50 years old, and they would like to appeal to a younger audience, specifically the 35 to 49 year old demographic.
CBC Radio Two has therefore cancelled almost all of its current evening/night programmes and, beginning this week, will be replacing the cancelled shows with new programmes in which there will be significantly less classical music.
The CLC understands and supports the fact that Canadian culture is an ever-changing landscape, and that the CBC needs to "serve to safeguard, enrich and strengthen the cultural, political, social and economic fabric of Canada," according to the 1991 Broadcast Act. Representing the broad range of cultures and the regional interests across this wonderful country cannot be an easy balancing act for the CBC.
We also wholeheartedly support two oft-stated goals of these programming changes, which are (i) to broadcast more contemporary music, and (ii) more Canadian music, since we represent the over 1000 living composers of concert music in this country.
What we take issue with, however, is the WAY in which CBC Radio seems to be going about making their programming changes, which has included the cancellation of "Two New Hours," the only CBC Radio show that was devoted to broadcasting Canada's best contemporary classical music for the past 29 years, (a show that, according to ratings, has a significant and enthusiastic audience base), and the introduction of new shows in the past year such as "Freestyle" and "The National Playlist," which featured mostly "soft pop" and "adult contemporary" music, music that is played on many, many other radio stations, presumably in an effort to draw a younger audience.
This, as well as other events over the past two years such as the cancellation of the CBC Young Composers' Awards (biennial prizes for this country's top young composers) and the introduction of programmes , has had a profound and disturbing effect on Canada's composers and fans of contemporary classical music.
We would be very grateful if the Heritage Committee could ask the CBC executives to provide a rough sense as to how much contemporary Canadian classical music it plans on broadcasting in their new schedule. There has not been an abundance of this kind of music on CBC Radio in recent years, and we are concerned that the recent events described above may be part of a trend leading to very little support for Canadian composers in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Clark Ross
Secretary, Canadian League of Composers
(709) 737-7484 (w); (709) 576-0673 (h)
http://www.clarkross.ca
Dear Members of the Heritage Committee,
I understand that as a member of the Heritage Committee you will perhaps be present at this Thursday's CBC Hearing which will be attended by CBC executives, Sid Robinovitch and Jennifer Mcguire. As a Canadian composer of Classical Music (long-time member of the Canadian Music Centre and Canadian League of Composers), I am writing to express some concern for the future place of Canadian music on CBC English Radio.
CBC recently cancelled a long-running program entitled, TWO NEW HOURS, that was well loved by myself and many listeners across Canada. I do know that much of Radio 2's programming is changing and I appreciate that change can be an invigorating process that provides many opportunities for renewal and growth. My concern simply is that CBC needs to ensure that in their Classical music programming, emphasis continues to be given to Canadian music and Canadian performers. As a country we have a wealth of creativity that needs an opportunity to be shared and appreciated.
If you have an opportunity, can you ask CBC to clarify how they will ensure Canadian Classical compositions are heard by the Canadian radio audience. You might also ask when CBC plans to have Radio 2 broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio in the same way that Radio 1 is broadcast.
Sincerely,
John Burge
Dr. John Burge
Director - School of Music
Queen's University
Kingston, ON
K7L-3N6
613-533-6000, ext. 74210
fax: 613-533-6808
Dear members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage,
I am writing to you as President of the Canadian League of Composers, and request that you enforce the Broadcast Act of 1991 with regard to CBC Radio. Recent changes in CBC's broadcasting diminish the long-standing working relationship between Canadian composers of contemporary music and the CBC, as well as their required commitment as public broadcaster to provide rich, original content that reflects the diversity of Canada.
You may refer to my report on the meeting I had with CBC Senior Management. Link to report..
Please note the lack of commitment to contemporary music created by Canada's professional composers -- a group whose number we estimate to be in excess of 1000, approximately 700 of whom are also Associate Composer members of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC), Canada's national resource of music scores, recordings, and information by and about Canadian composers".
Most importantly, recent changes at CBC Radio Two meant the cancellation of Two New Hours, the only program dedicated to Canadian Contemporary Music. It had a devoted and plentiful following, and it's loss is devastating to our field. Moving more closely to the commercial broadcasting category of "Adult Contemporary". the CBC begins to emulate commercial radio, counter to its mandate as a culture-driven, not numbers-driven broadcaster. Radio One's Freestyle and The National Playlist are recent examples of the move to commercialism prior to the changes at Radio Two.
Significantly, Canada was instrumental in formulating and signing a recent UNESCO act pledging to support and respect diversity of creation in all its forms. In making the current changes, we feel that the CBC is, by including content available on commercial radio, reducing the diversity of public broadcasting. Canadian poets, scientists, writers, composers, etc. are losing their place on Canadian Public Radio, and we request that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage carefully review and enforce the CBC's mandated role in our culture.
Unfortunately, as stakeholders in the CBC, we were not informed of this meeting, and are therefore unable to arrange our presence on such short notice, but as president of the organization representing Canadian Composers, I represent to you the collective views and concerns of our membership.
Sincerely,
Dr. Paul Steenhuisen
780-488-2286
10611 126 St NW
Edmonton, Alberta
T5N 1V5
The Canadian League of Composers/La Ligue canadienne des compositeurs
Chalmers House -- 20 St. Joseph St./20, rue St. Joseph , Toronto , ON M4Y 1J9
www.clc-lcc.ca ~ [416] 964-1364 ~ Fax: [416] 961-7198 ~ info@clc-lcc.ca
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