The Canadian Music Centre Welcomes New Ontario Regional Director

December 3, 2008 (Toronto, ON) - The Canadian Music Centre (CMC) is pleased to welcome back Jason van Eyk to the post of Ontario Regional Director. Jason returns to the CMC after a one-year absence in which he helped establish the University of Toronto ArtsZone, a tri-campus support office dedicated to improving communication, coordination and collaboration with U of T’Äôs arts community.

’ÄúWe’Äôre delighted to have Jason back with us’Äù said Elisabeth Bihl, the CMC’Äôs Executive Director. ’ÄùWe trust that all he has achieved in this past year will bring a fresh approach to our ambitious new plans to build a great future for Canadian composers’Äô music.’Äù

While serving as U of T ArtsZone’Äôs Director, Jason was involved with many key initiatives, including: delivering the office’Äôs multi-year strategic plan; launching the inaugural U of T Festival of the Arts; rolling out the collective arts promotion campaign ’ÄúU of T: Creativity Lives Here’Äù; coordinating the University’Äôs six-project contribution to the 2008 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche; and facilitating the initiation of a multi-level partnership with the Luminato festival.

’ÄúMy work with U of T ArtsZone has helped me broaden my perspective and my scope of experience in the arts,’Äù said Jason. ’ÄúWhat is most important for me now is to put this new perspective to work where it best matches my passion. This is why I’Äôm very excited to return to the Canadian Music Centre, and to be collaborating with this great community again.’Äù

Founded in 1983 as the second-youngest branch of the Canadian Music Centre, CMC-Ontario works province-wide to advance the CMC’Äôs mandate: to promote the music of its Associate Composers, to encourage the performance and appreciation of Canadian music, and to make this music widely available and accessible around the world.

CMC-Ontario serves the largest population of professional composers within the CMC network, just over 250 music creators. For these Associates, CMC-Ontario delivers a balanced portfolio of programs, projects and services to help promote and distribute their music for performance, recording, broadcast, research and general appreciation by a broad public.

Arts manager, musician and writer Jason van Eyk originally joined the CMC in 2003. He is an accomplished violist, having received a B. Mus. (magna cum laude) from the University of Ottawa and a M. Mus. from the Eastman School of Music. Jason has performed in Canada, the United States, France, Germany and Italy - on stage and in broadcast - with various ensembles and under a range of conductors including Jeanne Lamon, Leon Fleischer, Brad Lubman and Robert Shaw.

Jason completed an MBA specializing in Arts and Media Management at York University's Schulich School of Business in 2000. Since then, he has worked as Marketing Manager with the Canadian Stage Company and Marketing Coordinator (Music and Visual Arts) with Harbourfront Centre. In 2003, shortly after joining the CMC, Jason received a special commendation in the Pfizer Award for Emerging Arts Managers, a unique national honour given to deserving candidates in the earliest years of their careers.

More recently, Jason has expanded his interests into writing abut sound and music. He has contributed two essays to Coach House Books’Äôs uTOpia series and has served as a new music columnist for the Wholenote magazine (2004 ’Äì 2007), as well as a contributor to numerous music industry publications.