The newly-formed Nunavut Music Association announced its presence to the territory on Jan. 17.
The association is a non-profit formed by Qaggiavuut, Alianait and Hitmakerz, among others, the previous month.
It’s designed to advocate for and support Nunavut musical artists and industry workers, as well as to support professional development, fundraising, networking and travel support.
“We’re very happy about finally getting Nunavut Music off the ground!” wrote Thor Simonsen, the organization’s new executive director and CEO of Hitmakerz.
The Nunavut Music Association will be run by volunteer staff and will be forming a steering committee whose members will lobby and represent Nunavut’s music needs.
“We’re undoubtedly going to face some upstart challenges,” said Simonsen, “but I’m excited that we have so many great Nunavummiut music industry people working together to make it a reality.”
According to the association, steering committee individuals, groups and organizations meet at least some of the following criteria:
-Nunavut industry professionals with two plus years experience
-Canadian industry professionals with 15 plus years experience, or
-rrepresentatives from Nunavut-based arts, cultural and economic development organizations, who are either democratically elected, demographically representative or reputable advocates of Nunavummiut artists
The formation of this non-profit has been in the works for years, said Simonsen, and it’s very much needed, he added.
“With a growing pool of export-ready artists and music industry professionals, an organization like this has been needed for a while,” he said. “For me personally, I hope that Nunavut Music will help ‘put Nunavut on the map,’ like K-Pop did for Korea and Motown did for Detroit!”
Consultations with the Government of Nunavut, Travel Nunavut and the Francophone Association of Nunavut are underway, according to the association.