In the Fall, I will enter U2 of my History major and Communication Studies minor in the Arts Faculty. Thus far in my History undergraduate, I have concentrated most heavily on Medieval Mediterranean History and Jewish studies. Within my minor, I have focused on Artificial Intelligence development and its impacts on internet culture, exploring questions of digital justice, privacy, and ethics. Outside of university, my primary area of interest is music, specifically of the “alternative” and/or “countercultural” sort, as I am a self-taught musician and an active member of Montreal’s DIY music scene.
I wanted to do the internship with Suoni Per Il Popolo because of its near seamless alignment with my interest and local participation in DIY music scenes. Suoni Per Il Popolo occurs between the two venues, La Sala Rosa and Casa del Popolo, both beloved institutions in Montreal’s local alternative music scene, as show venues and, more generally, as gathering spaces. Suoni Per Il Popolo has functioned as a “lifeblood” for both venues, annually bringing in some of the most prominent musicians and organizing some of the most exciting shows. Through its eclectic approach, the festival’s goal is to provide a space for musicians usually excluded by mainstream music organizing either due to the experimental nature of their art or due to cultural, economic, and ethnic exclusion by the Western World. I deeply agree and identify with Suoni Per Il Popolo’s mission. I wanted to participate in a justice-oriented arts organization that understands the importance of music as an agent of social change. Simply put, I respect and value Sala Rosa, Casa del Popolo, and Suoni per Il Popolo, and I wanted to learn how the creative spaces and events that I admire so greatly function from an organizational standpoint. That said, I don’t think I would have been interested in the internship if it was for any festival/venue.
My main learning objective for the internship was to gain insight into arts, specifically music programming and organization, or how larger shows/festivals are orchestrated from start to finish. This I certainly learned through my responsibilities as a Suoni intern. I assisted the promotion team with social media management by programming posts and monitoring Suoni’s Facebook and Instagram accounts using Meta Business Suite. This included a lot of communication with artists, asking for consent to use certain photographs, and running event descriptions by participating musicians and artists. I also helped promote the festival in person, postering and delivering programs to local community organizations and stores around the city. I even played a role in planning and programming the production of a radio show about the festival on CKUT radio McGill. Before the festival began, I populated Suoni’s website with event and artist descriptions and assisted in setting up digital ticketing.
Once the festival started, I was the "office person" a couple of days a week, answering questions, greeting artists, updating the information for the production team, and helping get things ready for the shows. But more exciting was my participation in show production, welcoming artists, supervising sound checks, running the door, managing volunteers, paying artists and logging attendance and profit from the festival side.By the end of Suoni, I actually ran shows on my own. My supervisor was very attentive to my musical interests, tasking me with production for the shows of bands I was interested in. Shows, like the “Punk Night” on June 3rd and the Slash Need show on the 27th, were highlights of my experience. However, other nights I helped produce at Suoni exposed me to music communities I wouldn’t otherwise have encountered, like the experimental and free jazz scenes.
Although I will not receive academic credit for the internship, it enriched my university experience as the AIO connected me with local arts organizations like Suoni Per Il Popolo that I likely would not have partaken in from my academic focus alone, being a History major. My internship also enriched my understanding of my Communications minor, which focuses on how independent and counterculturally oriented communities like Suoni utilize social media platforms.
Essential to my very positive experience interning at Suoni Per Il Popolo was the funding provided by the Arts Internship Award. By providing for most of my financial needs during the duration of the internship, it allowed me to prioritize my work at Suoni, focusing all of my efforts and energy on learning as much as I could from my experience as well as enabling me to bring my most engaged self to the table.
Thanks to the AIO, my supervisor Kiva, and the Suoni Per Il Popolo team, I had a fantastic experience this summer, learning how independent arts organizations function and making rewarding and valuable connections with the festival’s community members.
