Wanted: 5 Young Aspiring Female Music Journalists

Granville Online is sponsoring five young aspiring music journalists to attend the first annual women’s festival of digital culture at the W2

 

Do you dream of a career in music but lack the musical chops to join a band? Do you get excited about sharing new tunes with friends? Find yourself up late at night writing album reviews in the commenting forms of obscure music blogs? Ever thought of being a music journalist?

 

Granville Online is sponsoring five women, ages 15 to 25, wanting to learn the ins and outs of music journalism to attend Utopia Festival, the first-ever women’s digital music celebration, March 5, 2011, at the W2 Storyeum.

 

This will be a unique opportunity to work with established music journalists to learn how to craft a pitch, tell an original and compelling story, conduct interviews and use social media in an environment inclusive of female musicians. Media ethics and other topics will also be covered.

 

To apply, email Granville Online editor Hilary Henegar (oh, hey, that’s me!) with your name, age, neighbourhood, a statement about why you want to be a music journalist, and any relevant experience you might already have.

 

The deadline for submitting applications is Friday, February 25 at 12 p.m. Notifications will be sent out by end of day that day.

 

(btw do you know how hard it was to find a photo of a female musician being interviewed by a woman? Let’s change that, yo! After too much time combing Flickr for a good pic to go with this post, I settled on the one above of CBC Radio 3’s Lana Gay interviewing Vancouver singer-songwriter Dan Mangan, who is not a woman 😉

 

W2’s Utopia Festival day of events

The day will begin with hands-on creative technology workshops in electronic music production, turntabling, video production and music journalism in the morning; workshops are geared toward beginners so no need to have previous experience to join.

 

Then in the afternoon, attendees gather for a mobile dance party down Commercial Drive in celebration of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, followed by an afternoon unconference, featuring an opening keynote address, a panel discussion, and time for collaborating and producing music.

 

Then, after a dinner reception, the evening programing begins with a keynote address by none other than the right and raunchy Peaches herself, with music by Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq and guests, plus readings by women writers in association with W2 Real Vancouver Writer’s Series.

At 10:30 p.m., the evening opens up into a big three-room electro, bass and hip-hop dance party starring Peaches, Isis Salam, Betti Forde, Librarian, Lynx, Tanya Tagaq, Zenobia, B-Traits, DJ She, Tank Girl, and more, with VJ performances by media artists VJ Electrabelle, Julie Gendron, Sebnem Ozpeta, Claudia Medina and Krista Lomax.

 

Utopia events after 10:30 p.m. are 19+.

 

Other ways to learn and get involved at Utopia Festival

Other opportunities to learn in this creative, inclusive environment include attendence for the full day of events and festival volunteering. (If you don’t have experience but want to learn about event marketing, project management, production, lighting or video installation, the W2 is putting together working groups you can join—no experience necessary.)  

 

Related:

Women-focused electronic music festival turns the DJ sausage party on its head

[Updated: 24 Feb 2011]