Manitoba Music and APTN Team Up for Aboriginal Day Live Mentor Sessions and Showcase

June 14, 2016

Manitoba Music and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) are teaming up this month to connect Aboriginal artists and music entrepreneurs with key music industry pros from across Canada and beyond. Running June 25-26 in Winnipeg through Manitoba Music’s Aboriginal Music Program, the project provides a unique opportunity to meet with and learn from a delegation of managers, presenters, and mentors during APTN’s annual Aboriginal Day Live (ADL) event.

Delegates making their way to Winnipeg for one-on-one mentor meetings at Manitoba Music include reps from the Shambhala Music Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Festival Innu Nikamu, The Red Sky Agency, Coalition Music, Warner Chapel Music, Polaris Music Prize, The Remix Project/Dais, Instinct Entertainment, and Edge of the World Music Festival.

They’re also set to take in Manitoba Music’s daytime Aboriginal artist showcase at The Forks’ Canopy Stage on June 25. Featuring performances by two-time JUNO Award nominee Don Amero, double Western Canadian Music Award nominee William Prince, young sibling Métis fiddling duo The Spence Tradition, and acclaimed country acts Kimberley Dawn and Jerry Sereda, the free show is set to run from noon until 5PM. APTN will take over The Forks’ nearby Festival Stage that evening for its massive ADL concert featuring Buffy Sainte-Marie, A Tribe Called Red — which features Winnipeg-based artist and producer Tim Hill, and many more.

This project is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at developing the export potential of Aboriginal artists from Manitoba and the rest of the country and facilitate the connection with key industry players. In March, Manitoba Music launched its inaugural AMP Trade Mission, which connected four artists and one Aboriginal radio executive with talent buyers, publishers, artists, and Native American tribal leaders in Southern California and Nevada.

Manitoba Music’s Aboriginal Music Program was launched in 2004 to help First Nation, Inuit, and Métis people in Manitoba develop sustainable careers in music by connecting them with opportunities within Manitoba Music and beyond. Manitoba Music would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Province of Manitoba, Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Film & Music, and FACTOR through the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters.

NT5