National Music Centre moves ahead with an online focus
The president and CEO of the National Music Centre said the organization will launch three online exhibitions in 2020 as the organization continues to study safety, costs and the sort of visitor experience it can offer patrons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a museum, The National Music Centre was initially slated to be part of Alberta’s first stage of reopening the economy. But Andrew Mosker said that while the National Music Centre will likely reopen in a reduced manner “at some point this summer,” it will also shift to having a digital-first approach to new exhibits.
Three new exhibitions are still planned for the organization, which is housed at Studio Bell. That’s a significant reduction from the nine exhibits launched in 2019. While there are no set dates for the new exhibitions, one will be dedicated to new Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductions. Only Jann Arden has been announced as a 2020 inductee, but four more artists will also be honoured, Mosker says. There will also be exhibitions later this year focused on Indigenous music and one dedicated to music and healing.
“We have to figure out how to realize the three of these in a digital online version versus a physical way,” Mosker says. “We’re going to go digital-first and then look carefully what we can do inside the space as the building slowly begins to reopen.”
The National Music Centre also has a publishing platform on its website called Amplify, which now includes increased content. That includes reposting older videos of interviews with Canadian artists, including Sarah Mclachlan and the Barenaked Ladies, who have been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It is also re-streaming past concerts performed at the centre and general stories written about the Canadian music scene.
The centre has also increased its blogs by Jesse Moffatt, director of collections and exhibitions, about various pieces in its vast collection of synthesizers, recording equipment and other instruments.
A new educational component, which has always been a cornerstone of the NMC, has also been added to the website. Three episodes have been produced and hosted by education program leader Evan Rothery from his home basement. The most recent episode focuses on the Sonica Synthesizer, an electronic instrument used to study the science of sound.
“It’s fun and engaging for parents and kids alike,” Mosker says. “There will be one published a week. They have been shared across Canada and the world.”