SaskMusic Initiatives
Open House Livestreaming Series (2020)
We hosted livestreamed concerts from Saskatchewan artists throughout April and May 2020 on our Facebook page. You can still watch the artists' livestreams at the links below.
- April 2: Jay Semko
- April 5: Yellowsky part 1 and part 2
- April 7: Marissa Burwell
- April 9: Oral Fuentes
- April 12: Ellen Froese
- April 14: Shantaia
- April 16: Too Soon Monsoon
- April 19: Zann Foth
- April 21: The North Sound
- April 23: Eli Barsi
- April 26: Aaron Karpinka
- April 28: Aurora Bella
- April 30: Carson Shmyr part 1 and part 2
- May 3: JJ Voss
- May 5: Anna Haverstock
- May 7: Patient Hands
- May 10: Earl Pereira
- May 12: Sylvia Chave
- May 14: Chris Carlier
- May 17: velours
- May 19: The Sex Geckos
- May 21: Annora
- May 24: Munro & Patrick
- May 26: The Northwest Kid
- May 28: Last Birds
- May 31: Eliza Doyle
COVID-19 Emergency Financial Relief Fund
SaskMusic distributes $55K through Emergency Financial Relief Fund
(April 23, 2020) In response to pandemic ramifications on our industry, we launched the EFRF in March, with an intake deadline of March 30. We received requests for approximately $111,000 in assistance to help cover losses from mid-March through the end of April, with a cap of $1000 per application. We are pleased to have been able to provide over $55,000 in support to musicians, music teachers, sound and lighting technicians and others. These numbers, of course, reflect only a small portion of lost revenue for our industry members during this very challenging time.
The EFRF is an unprecedented initiative for SaskMusic. Although we have no new intake announcements at this time, we will continue to accept donations to the fund and may be able to extend additional funding if further fund donations are received.
We have also gathered a list of additional resources to our industry here on our website. While our offices will remain physically closed for the interim, our staff and mentors remain available for questions and consults at this time, and we encourage you to reach out if you need any assistance.
You can view the original intake info for the EFRF here.
Office Updates
(Updated March 31, 2020)
The health and safety of our staff, members, colleagues, and our communities is our top priority at this time, and we’re closely following public health updates and new developments related to COVID-19, aka Coronavirus. We recognize that these circumstances are particularly stressful for those in the arts community, many of whom rely heavily on public performance and the gathering together of audiences to make a living.
As of March 17 our two offices will be closed to the walk-in public, with staff working from home. We are postponing all in-person events such as workshops and gatherings. We will be considering ways to deliver alternative programming such as web-only presentations. Staff and our career track mentors are happy to meet with you for one-on-ones via phone or video chat during this time.
We encourage you to follow all health region-advised practices, and monitor news releases for updates to these recommendations. Current important items of note (in our own wording):
- Effective March 26, no more than 10 people should gather in one room.
- Practice physical distancing, and self-isolate if you are sick for any reason.
- All international travel should be avoided. If you are currently working outside of Canada, you must self-isolate for 14 days upon return
- Province-to-province travel is not advised unless essential. Check for any restrictions (ie gathering sizes) imposed by the province you are travelling to. Note that there are similar organizations to SaskMusic in every province and territory, and they may helpful in directing you to the current guidelines.
- Review your show contracts and any insurance coverage you may have as you handle cancellations.
- Check in with the venues, festivals, and promoters for events coming up between now and June 30 (at minimum) about their plans and systems.
- Check in with any funding agencies attached to your projects about the status of your funding for any cancelled or rescheduled activities.
- Stay vigilant about your health, handwashing, and making sure the spaces you’re going to are doing the same.
- If you have underlying medical conditions that put you at higher risk, talk to your health care providers, friends, and family about a plan.
In all cases, refer to the local health authorities’ guidelines as your main source of info.