A Canadian Music Network

Last week I waded into the debate about classical versus non-classical on the CBC. The quote in the Winnipeg Free Press was a bit out of context, but not much. I said something like “if you want to listen to the dead German guys, you can buy a CD.” Don’t get me wrong, I love the dead German guys. But I think our public broadcaster should be the place where Canadians can hear Canadian music.

In the early days of the New Music Festival in Winnipeg, I remember Glenn Buhr asking a bunch of us if we knew all of R. Murray Schafer’s String Quartets. They were still difficult to get hold of in those days, so most of us hadn’t heard them all. Glenn’s point was that it’s almost impossible to come up with a shared musical identity if you don’t even share a core repertoire as a reference.

So when this debate started, I had to decide if my allegiance was more to the European art music tradition or to the rest of Canada’s musicians who create new music – no matter what the genre. We’re not really talking about commercial music, but I’m sure some of that will find its way onto our airwaves as its own kind of reference point.

It’s still too early to know what the new shows will be like, but my experience with The Signal is that there is a jaw dropping diversity in Canadian music. There are so many great acts out there – like The National Parcs, Veda Hille, Inhabitants, Shout Out Out Out Out, John Kameel Farah, vitaminsforyou, Woodhands (who I just saw last night!), and the list goes on. I think that Canadians should have a national radio service where they can share Canadian music – in all its forms.

The dead German guys are great, but you will still be able to hear their music on CBC – and you can buy their CD’s way more easily!