Career Development Program: Project Grants to Artists
Deadline
1 October
Program Description
The Career Development Program assists Canadian professional musicians in the development of their live performance and touring careers.
These grants support activities that enhance public performances by artists in classical and non-classical (popular traditions) music of all world cultures. The Music Section supports music made for artistic and cultural purposes. It values distinctive artistic voices and supports excellence, innovation, experimentation and creativity in all established and emerging traditions of music. Competitions for funds are national in scope.
The Project Grants to Artists provide three categories of grants (you may apply for more than one category):
a) Management Grants
To allow professional musicians to obtain the services of a qualified professional manager/agent to accomplish projects, with defined goals, which will enhance public performance and touring opportunities and increase audience access to works of excellence at the national and international levels.
b) Promotional Tool Grants
To allow professional musicians to contract with arts professionals for the development and design of promotional tools such as media kits, photographs, posters, flyers and website design.
c) Audition Grants
To allow professional classical musicians (singers and instrumentalists) to audition for live performance engagements. The schedule of proposed auditions must be planned by a manager or an agent. Eligible expenses include coaching prior to the audition, as well as travel, accommodation and per diem costs.
Audition Grants are intended primarily for emerging artists who demonstrate potential for a professional international career. More established artists may sometimes be considered
Eligibility
Artists (individual musicians, groups/ensembles) must:
- be Canadian citizens or have Permanent Resident status, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada; Canadian citizens need not be residents of Canada when they apply
- be professional musicians (see definition below)
- have demonstrated the commitment and ability to undertake a live performance career at the national or international level, and
- be recognized professional practitioners of classical or non-classical (popular traditions) music, with a history of at least three years of public performance.
In addition, non-classical applicants to this program must have recorded at least one commercially available CD, released under their name or the name of an ensemble that they lead.
The Canada Council for the Arts defines a professional artist as someone who:
- has specialized training in the field
(This training will be consistent with the standards of their practice. Training may include post-secondary academic study, mentorship, private instruction, workshops, periods of self-directed study, community-acquired knowledge, or any combination of the above.)
- is recognized as a professional artist by his or her peers
(Other music artists working in the same tradition identify the applicant as an artist of superior achievement and/or potential. Peer acknowledgement may include a history of support or recognition at a local, regional or provincial level.)
- is committed to devoting more time to artistic activity, if he or she can afford to
(The applicant pursues their own artistic vision, retains creative control and is committed to the creation and/or promotion of original work. The applicant exhibits high professional standards and is dedicated to the ongoing development of their artistic practice.)
- has a history of public presentation.
(The applicant receives compensation for the public presentation of their work, and actively seeks to maximize the audience for their work, regardless of market appeal.)
Please note that orchestras and choirs that wish to apply to this program must first meet the professional definitions and eligibility criteria of the Canada Council’s core orchestral and choral programs. For further information, consult a Music Section Officer.
Important
- Artists already on the roster of managers or agents currently receiving multi-year or annual support from the Canada Council for the Arts cannot apply for a Management Grant. However, they are eligible to apply for Promotional Tool Grants and Audition Grants.
- Artists requesting funds to develop or promote their career on the international scene must demonstrate that they have had an active performance career in Canada, and that they have the ability to undertake an international performing career.
- Artists who receive a Promotional Tool Grant must wait three years before applying for this category of grant again.
- The applicant artist or ensemble members may not use these funds to pay themselves to complete the project (i.e., self-management and design of one’s own promotional tools are not eligible activities).
- Professional musicians applying to this component cannot apply to the Grants to Individual Musicians program for the same project.
- Priority will be given to applicants who are not receiving operating support from the Canada Council.
All Canada Council for the Arts programs are accessible to Aboriginal artists and artists of diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.
Grant Amount
Artists may apply for a grant of up to $5,000 for each eligible category within a single request. Therefore, the maximum grant available is $15,000 for classical music applicants and $10,000 for non-classical music applicants.
Eligible costs include the salary or fees of the manager, agent or arts professional hired by artists to undertake the project; related administrative costs; and the costs of producing promotional tools. The costs of coaching prior to an audition, as well as travel, accommodation and per diem costs, are also eligible.
Capital purchases of instruments, sound equipment or computers, or the costs of operating a website, are not eligible.
Applicants may not receive the full amount requested. Retroactive funding is not available.
Assessment of applications
Applications are assessed by a peer assessment committee set up for each competition. Committees are composed of experienced professionals from the field, selected for their expertise. Members are also selected to ensure fair representation of gender, the two official languages, Aboriginal peoples, the various parts of the country, and Canada’s cultural diverse communities.
In extraordinary circumstances, the Canada Council for the Arts may provide the peer assessment committee with additional evaluations from independent assessors.
Peer assessment committee decisions for this program are final recommendations for approval by the Canada Council.
Application Form
Career Development Program: Project Grants to Artists (pdf, 432 KB)
This form can only be printed and cannot be filled out on-line.
Further Information
Music Section
Canada Council for the Arts
P.O. Box 1047, 350 Albert Street
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
For further details, contact the appropriate program officer named below.
Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, and enter the appropriate extension number
TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: 613- 565-5194
Music Program Officers:
Ian Babb, Non-Classical Music, ext. 4294
Karen Barber-Ing, Classical Music, ext. 4243
Fax: 613-566-4409
July 2007