How are you? I hope well! After February’s edition, I got several suggestions of contents, as well as some feedback and a proposal for collaboration. That is really nice, I am very thankful! And two of the suggestions came from Canada.

By chance, although each contact was completely independent, a father and daughter ended up starring in this March edition. He is known to many of you who will receive this newsletter. He is Alfredo Caxaj. But if you don’t know him yet, I’ll introduce him to you below. He is a true personality, an earthquake. He is the director of the Sunfest festival and this time he tells us about a new initiative: Culturas 360.

And the daughter is Mercedes Caxaj. She has also worked for Sunfest but today she will talk to us about Global Toronto and the organisation from which it was born, Small World Music, which she joined at the beginning of 2021.

Don’t miss the rest of the content, like the open calls. I hope they will be useful and if you have anything to share, just let me know!

Learn more about them, and much more, here below. Happy reading, happy Springtime ?

Click here to listen to this second part.

Alfredo himself chose this photo to illustrate this interview. With the Sunfest stage in the background, his smile and open arms. I think it portrays quite well this person, who arrived in Canada in 1985 as a political refugee, fleeing the civil war taking place in Guatemala. He settled in London, Ontario and began working at London’s Cross Cultural Learner Center, helping New Canadians. In 1995 he founded Sunfest. He has been awarded on several occasions for his work. And you might have seen him dancing tirelessly in front of a stage.

There is a very nice profile and interview with Alfredo on the website of Roots Music Canada, I really recommend you to read it. And here, Alfredo explains to us about a new initiative: CULTURAS 360. Take note and don’t miss it: 27th and 28th March

Alfredo Caxaj: Absolutely, it is the intention of the festivals’ collective not only to establish this initiative as an annual celebration, but to evolve as an alternative platform to support artists, and to strengthen relationships within our sector. It is the hope that sometime this year we’ll be able to go back to live music performances at festivals and venues, and our vision is to have CULTURAS 360 actively involved at different conferences, markets and festivals. As hard as the pandemic has been for all of us, it has also given us the opportunity to be creative and innovative, and I truly believe that this project is precisely the result of it.

MM – Which or which ones do you think is/are the common element/s between all the festivals involved? 

AC: I think that the fundamental element that has brought us all together, is the commitment to change and social transformation through music. We believe that music is such a powerful vehicle in bringing people together, and through CULTURAS 360, we’ll contribute to nurture cultural diversity and solidarity between peoples

MM – And which are the common elements between the different artists, if there are any? 

AC: CULTURAS 360 is presenting a diverse line up of artists that combines, some well established and recognized groups, and a great number of new and emerging ones. While some share common elements, whether in terms of its musical genre, language or geography, each group is unique and has its own identity.

MM – Which has been the most complicated issue to deal with in this ambitious project? 

AC: For years, some of us have been discussing this kind of initiative. We see each other all the time at different music markets and conferences, and always we were postponing the planning and concrete steps to make this project a reality. Ironically, in one way or another, the pandemic made us reflect on the need of coming together and launching a program like this, so we can continue supporting artists and keeping in touch with our audiences at this difficult time.

I believe that one of the most complicated issues we faced in order to bring this project to light was the pandemic itself, especially for the artists who had to overcome all kinds of safe and health restrictions in their own countries. Initially we had the intention of launching CULTURAS 360 at the beginning of the year, however, due to the limitations the groups were facing, we had no choice but to delay it for several weeks.

AC: As you are aware, when festivals were cancelled last year, it represented the loss of all kinds of revenues for them. In the case of Sunfest, we were not the exception to this and the cancelation affected us tremendously.  We were able to adapt quickly in the transition to a digital format and fortunately, we did a virtual version of the festival.

The level of support from government agencies and private sponsors varies from country to country. In Canada, we have been very fortunate that during this difficult time, government grants and emergency funds for the cultural sector have been available and they have been essential in keeping our operations at a certain level.  We were also very fortunate that our main private sponsor understood the challenges of the current situation, and continued supporting our programming and activities in the digital format.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case for many other festivals in other countries, and that’s why I believe that initiatives like CULTURAS 360, can create spaces for mutual support, collaboration and solidarity within our sector.

MM – Was it easy to convince them to keep the support in this new format? AC: At the beginning of this transition, our main corporate sponsor hesitated a little bit, but I also think it was a natural reaction during this process, since all of us were trying to digest and understand these radical changes in a very short period of time.  At the end, they recognized that this was going to be the new reality at least for some time.

We did lose some other sponsors for which it was going to be challenging to justify their financial support in this new format.

MM – I think there are disadvantages for them, like that this format will provide a reach to a widely geographically distributed audience, which can be bad for brands that work just locally. But also advantages, like a potential presence of their brand for a longer time, in case you plan to keep the contents available after the specific dates of the event. What can you tell us about this negotiation that could be useful for other colleagues? 

AC: What I’ve been learning during the past year is that, sponsors in the private sector, have began slowly to understand and recognize the value of supporting the arts in this new format. Their brands can be seen now instead of several hundred by thousands of people, and in many instances, they stay in the web for some time.
Based on our own experience, I would advise my colleagues to be perseverant and patient at the same time. Corporations are acknowledging now the great number of possibilities for their brands in this new format, and I truly believe that from now on, the proposal of hybrid activities will be essential in the process of negotiating sponsorships.

There is nothing better than the live experience and all of us are eagerly waiting to go back to festivals and venues, but I also believe that the digital component, can tremendously enhance our activities, and help us in reaching out to new and diverse audiences.

? Download a brochure with more information about Global Toronto 2021 and more about Small World Music, here ⬇️ ?

It will be very useful for you to check the brochure before reading the interview.

Mercedes Caxaj: The artists are paid a modest honorarium for their work.  We don’t believe that artists should showcase for free and we wish to engage the artists in a way that our partnership does not just begin and end at Global Toronto. In addition to being paid, the artists are offered various professional development opportunities and are then considered part of the “GT Family” – where we will always suggest them for future professional engagement opportunities.

MM – About “Going Global”, I understand from your brochure that it is like a development support service/guidance, specially focused on the internationalization of the artists. Is that right? What are the concrete future events in this frame?

MC: One of the goals of Going Global is to continue to take artists and professionals from the Global Toronto family out to other industry events. Digitally and in these non-international travel times means producing online showcases and attending virtually. If we receive notice about a conference, where there’s interest in a delegation, programming partnerships, or showcases from the Global Toronto family of artists, we will assist in facilitating a presence to ensure as many voices are included as possible.

MM – And the artists that showcased from your side in Folk Unlocked (the online event by Folk Alliance International in 2021) are the ones included in the first edition of Going Global, is it right? (they are Al Qahwa, Zal Sissokho’s Kora Flamenca, Beny Esguerra and New Tradition Music and G.R. Gritt).

MC: All of the artists have either showcased at Global Toronto in 2018 or in 2020, and/or are co-presented with a Global Toronto partner. G. R. Gritt, for example, was co-presented by the International Indigenous Music Summit, but has not yet showcased at GT. Beny Esguerra showcased in GT18, and Al Qahwa and Zal Sissokho showcased at GT20.

MM – How were they selected, which were the criteria? The deeper you define the criteria, the best!

MC: Global Toronto engages a jury of five dedicated industry professionals – artists, presenters, agents/managers, media, etc – who score each artist based on three categories: artistic quality, market readiness and equity. We are so thankful for our jury members because they can receive up to 250 applications to listen through and have the daunting task of narrowing down the list to about 20 or so. The jury meets to deliberate the final scores and ensure that a range of voices, genres and experience are showcased.

MM – This is all very exciting and seems very ambitious. How is it financed? As you know, the models for such initiatives are quite different in Europe than in the USA and I think also very different between Canada and the USA. You are a team of people working all year round in Global Toronto, but not only, right? GT is a Small World’s initiative, which also has a recording studio, a concert hall that, without pandemic, programmes all year round. How does it normally work in financial terms and how are you overcoming the pandemic crisis?

MC: The team works year-round on all initiatives produced by Small World Music, including the Global Toronto music conference, the eMERGEnce mentorship program, Small World Music Festival and Asian Music Series, as well as managing the Small World Centre which mainly functions now as a broadcast and recording space for virtual presentations. In addition to managing all of these programs, we are continuing to develop our Going Global and international outreach partnership building. On top of all this we are continuously seeking new forms of funding, including government grants, sponsorships and partnerships.  The pandemic period is tough but we are very lucky in Canada to have access to some emergency funding, as well as grantors and corporate sponsors that continue to support even in limited capacities.

MM – About GT again, we are now in the middle of March and the second online edition 2021’s edition, that will be online like in 2020, will take place from 14 to 18 June. What is your schedule for the near future? I think you will announce the artistic selection by the end of the month, won’t you? What else, what other dates shall we write in our calendars for not to miss anything?

MC: The launch of GT21 will take place on March 30th, via the SWM and GT social media channels, where we will be announcing the lineup of showcasing artists, jury and programming committees, partners as well as themes that will be explored during the conference. Registration for the conference will open at the same time. Expect exciting content to be released before June 14th, and exact dates will be confirmed soon!

MM – I have one more question. This is about your strategic vision. The guiding theme of GT21 is “Now What: Making Space, Enacting Change” and you state that it is not a temporary fix to the short term problem of the pandemic. What do you mean with this theme? Making Space and Enacting Change. Please, elaborate a bit more on these ideas.

MC: We are continuing to build upon GT20s theme, which was “Acknowledging Opportunities, Envisioning the Future”. This was framed at the beginning of the pandemic and explored the state of affairs for the industry, how we felt and how we wanted the industry to be rebuilt in a more equitable, sustainable and accessible manner. We created safe spaces to the best of our ability so that participants felt comfortable sharing their lived experiences, as well as aspirations for the future. The need to make spaces for underrepresented voices at all levels and aspects of the music industry – from funding to producing, presenting and programming – as well as how to kick-start these changes. Thus, Making Space and Enacting Change for GT21 is about exploring the pragmatic aspects of these needs and themes explored last year.  We are very excited that we have engaged an amazing programming committee that has actively been participating in the preparation for this year’s conference.