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Music Touring Grants

Deadlines

  • 15 December 2005, for tours occurring between April 2006 and October 2006
  • 1 June 2006, for tours occurring between September 2006 and April 2007
  • 1 December 2006, for tours occurring between April 2007 and October 2007
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Program Description

Music Touring Grants are for Canadian and foreign professional music artists who wish to tour within Canada. For this program artists include individuals, ensembles, bands, collectives, groups or companies.

The objectives of these grants are to:

  • increase touring opportunities for music artists and companies
  • increase opportunities for Canadian compositions to be performed
  • facilitate access to music across Canada
  • increase audience knowledge and appreciation of all music forms
  • enhance programming options for presenters
  • extend the life of music works and provide performance opportunities.

Music Touring Grants contribute to direct touring costs, such as transportation, accommodation, per diem and publicity costs.

All Canada Council for the Arts programs are accessible to Aboriginal artists or arts organizations and artists or arts organizations of diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.

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Eligibility

Eligible Applicants

You may apply if you are a professional Canadian artist, or you represent a professional Canadian group (for example, ensemble, band, collective or company) or organization. You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada (if you are a permanent resident, you must provide evidence of your legal status).

If you are a foreign professional music artist, you may also have access to the Music Touring Grants program. You may not apply directly to the Canada Council, however. Your application must be submitted by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada who is involved in the tour project.

Definition of a Professional Artist

The Canada Council for the Arts recognizes a professional artist as someone:

  • who has specialized training in the field (not necessarily in academic institutions)
  • who is recognized as such by her or his peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition)
  • who is committed to devoting more time to the artistic activity, if financially possible
  • who has a history of public presentation.
Orchestras and Choirs

To apply to this program, you must represent an orchestra or choir that first meets the eligibility criteria of the Canada Council’s Professional Orchestra Program or Professional Choir Program. Then you must demonstrate that the orchestra or choir is receiving professional fees, as determined by the professional touring market.

If you are planning to apply to this program on behalf of an orchestra or choir, you must inform the appropriate Music Section Officer as soon as possible (preferably 18 months in advance of the tour start date).

For an assessment of your eligibility, contact the appropriate Music Section Officer as follows:

  • Orchestras:
    Angela Birdsell, ext. 5248
  • Choirs:
    André Jutras, ext. 5071
Payment of Professional Fees

Your application cannot be considered if you, or the applicant you represent, are not receiving professional fees. The peer assessment committees that evaluate applications generally use the salary scale of the American Federation of Musicians to determine a “fair” minimum.

Eligible Genres

This program provides assistance to artists touring in Canada, performing a wide variety of music. Eligible genres include classical, electro-acoustic, Aboriginal, folk, jazz, musique actuelle, contemporary and new, world and other non-commercial forms of popular music.

Definition of a Tour

For the Music Touring Grants program, the Canada Council defines a tour as a series of at least three consecutive performances in three different cities or towns, outside your province or territory of residence. Within large provinces or territories, tours to regions over 800 kilometres from your place of residence may be eligible.

The peer assessment committee will give priority to tours that cross more than one provincial/territorial border or that access remote or seldom-visited areas.

Government Assistance

If you are touring within your own province or territory, you must already have a commitment of provincial/territorial government assistance to be eligible to apply to this program. This is, of course, not a requirement where such assistance is not available.

If you have questions about your eligibility, contact the appropriate Music Section Officer in one of the ways indicated on the cover page of these guidelines.

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Grant Amount

There is no minimum or maximum grant amount that you may request or receive through the Music Touring Grants program. Grants will vary according to individual requests and will be based on the peer assessment committee’s recommendations.

You might not receive the full amount that you request, and retroactive funding is not available.

You may apply for support of more than one tour per deadline, but you must put the tours in priority order for the peer assessment committee.

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Application Form

Music Touring Grants (pdf, 220 KB)
This form can only be printed and cannot be filled out on-line.

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Further Information

Music Section
Canada Council for the Arts
350 Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8

Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or (613) 566-4414, plus the Music Section Officer’s extension number

TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: (613) 565-5194

Music Section Officers:
Richard Davis, Non-Classical Music, ext. 4294

Karen Barber-Ing, Classical and New Music, ext. 4243

Fax: (613) 566-4409

November 2005