Farzaneh Hemmasi: Tending the Urban “Music Ecosystem”: Cultural, Economic, and Scholarly Cultivation in Policy and on the Ground
In Toronto, “music ecosystem” is a key term in discussions over how, or whether, city government and industry should promote, protect, and invest in music as a distinctive aspect of the city’s economy and identity. With its implied connections to balance, sustainability, and optimal functioning across scale, music ecosystem discourse and investment is in an uneasy relationship with income inequality, rapid urban development, and increasing real estate prices that characterize Toronto’s present moment. This presentation investigates tensions in the use and application of music ecosystem discourse, planning, and action in Toronto between 2016 and 2020.
Dennis William Lee: Coalition TO: Local and Translocal Scene Formations in Toronto’s Punk and Metal Underground
How does space become crucial to musical community—and what happens when that space disappears? Though only open from 2014-2019, Coalition T.O., a basement bar in Toronto’s Kensington Market neighbourhood, was the city’s home base for underground punk and metal.
This presentation examines the rise and fall of the venue as situated within the history of Toronto’s metal and punk scenes, how it became a hub for related networks, and follows scene dispersals after the landlords refused to resign the lease.
This presentation is accompanied by a two blog posts: Coalition TO Part 1, and Coalition TO Part 2.
Jennifer Horton: Sound/Noise in the Gentrifying City:
To better understand the dynamics of a neighborhood undergoing gentrification, we must look at the neighborhood level, focusing on the people who live and work there. This presentation describes one such case: Toronto’s Kensington Market.
Reflecting on participant observation and interviews with Kensington residents and businessowners, this presentation describes issues of relatively new venues and bars in the area and of longtime residents adjusting to the changing neighborhood soundscape.
Bibliography for Jennifer Horton’s presentation.