Manitoba Music Announces Board of Directors for 2017-18, Kevin Walters Legacy Award Recipient

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From left: Vanessa Kuzina, Lauren Swan, and Sean McManus at the AGM on June 28 (Photo: Jen Doerksen)

Big Fun Festival Executive Director Receives Kevin Walters Legacy Award

Manitoba Music announced its board of directors for 2017-18 and celebrated another busy and exciting year at its annual general meeting on June 28 at Winnipeg music venue, The Good Will Social Club. View Manitoba Music’s 2016-17 Annual Report

Manitoba Music is the hub of Manitoba’s vibrant music community. A member-based, not-for-profit industry association, it represents over 750 members in all facets of the music industry, including artists and bands, agents and managers, venues and promoters, studios and producers, and more in every genre. Through its programs and services, Manitoba Music provides information, education, and industry development opportunities to nurture, develop, and promote the growth and sustainability of the Manitoba music industry.

“Manitoba Music has continued to evolve as an organization, while holding fast to our principles of growing the Manitoba music industry through innovation, collaboration, and amplification,” said Manitoba Music’s president, Paul Jordan, whose term with the board ends this year. “Thank you to our funders, sponsors, and partners for their continued support of our mandate and work. And thank you to our members for providing that mandate.”

“This has been a year of engagement. We engaged in both federal and provincial cultural policy consultations, we dialogued with specific music communities through our programming, and we engaged the live music scene more than ever through our events, partnerships, and showcases of local talent. I want to thank all of our funders and partners for supporting and championing the efforts of Manitoba Music and our members. Thank you to our board of directors for their passion and expertise, and especially to Paul Jordan for his innovative thinking, wisdom, and leadership during his time as president,” said Manitoba Music’s executive director, Sean McManus.

Manitoba Music would like to thank other departing directors, Don Amero and Rachel Margolis, for their years of hard work, dedication, and commitment to Manitoba Music and its membership. Each has left a lasting mark on the association and their perspective and guidance will be missed.

Manitoba Music is pleased to welcome Mighty Cypress Talent’s Stu Anderson, City of Winnipeg’s Chief Corporate Services Officer Michael Jack, and member of hip hop group The Lytics Alex Sannie to the Manitoba Music Board of Directors. Each brings a fresh viewpoint and invaluable expertise that will be assets to the work of the board and the association.

At the AGM, the board of directors also announced this year's recipient of the Kevin Walters Legacy Award, in honour of Kevin Walters, a long time Manitoba Music board member and music industry legend. The award recognizes an emerging professional in the music industry. This year, the honour went to Lauren Swan. Swan has worked in event coordination, music marketing, public relations, and event management. She is the co-founder and executive director of the Big Fun Festival, an annual Winnipeg music festival held the last weekend of January. Formerly the marketing coordinator for the West End Cultural Centre, she currently works in digital media advertising and is an active member of the Winnipeg music community. Swan also vice-chairs the board of UMFM 101.5 FM, is a founding member of the all-female/non-binary DJ collective The Vinyl Salon, and hosts a weekly record night at The Good Will called Small Talk.

Manitoba Music 2017-18 Board of Directors
Stu Anderson, Mighty Cypress Talent
Stephen Carroll, Manitoba Film & Music
Erick Casselman, The Park Theatre
David “Bucky” Driedger, Royal Canoe
Cheryl Grewar, Frantic Films
Morgan Hamill, Winnipeg Folk Festival
Irina Ivanov Bissonnette, Winnipeg Folk Festival
Michael Jack, City of Winnipeg
Vanessa Kuzina, Interstellar Rodeo
Alex Sannie, The Lytics
Bob Somers, Scatliff + Miller + Murray
 

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