CAML Review / Revue de l'ACBM (Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres / Association canadienne des bibliothèques, archives et centres de documentation musicaux)

Berger, Michael

Ings (CD Review)

Stephen, J. Drew

Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers (Book Review)

CAML Editors

Alexander Street Press

Boyd, Alastair

Shelflisting Music: Guidelines for Use with the Library of Congress Classification (Book Review)

Philpott, Lisa

Music, Libraries, and the Academy: Essays in Honor of Lenore Coral (Book Review)

Arbuckle, Michelle

6 
 
CentreStreams: The launch of a digital audio archive at the 
Canadian Music Centre* 
By Michelle Arbuckle 
 
The evolution of the Ann Southam Audio Archive at the Canadian Music Centre has led us from 
boxes of cassettes and open reels to a globally accessible and interactive searchable online tool.  
Now open freely to the public for browsing and streaming, the audio archive has experienced 
five decades of growth and change. Since its opening in 1959, CMC has been collecting audio 
tracks from our Associate Composers. These were usually deposited by the composers 
themselves in the form of open reel tape. Since then we’ve received submissions through DAT, 
cassette tape, CD-R and multiple digital formats – each of varying stability and quality. With 
each generation of technology, CMC staff has had to revisit its approach to preservation and 
access, questioning how to maintain a stable archive of quality audio tracks as well as the aging 
systems on which to play them back.   
When the perfect storm of tech-savvy CMC staff and digitally-focused government funding 
came together in 1999, the idea to digitize CMC holdings became a concrete plan. Efforts moved 
forward over the subsequent years to build the backend infrastructure and to establish a related 
staff workflow.  After three phases of development (undertaken with support from the AV 
Preservation Trust and the Department of Canadian Heritage) and with the cooperation of the 
CBC, SOCAN and the American Federation of Musicians, CMC was able to publicly launch the 
digital audio archive on December 8, 2008. Now renamed “CentreStreams,” the archive contains 
over 8,700 tracks of contemporary classical works by over 700 Canadian composers. With the 
cooperation of the new music community, performers, and the staff of CBC Radio2, we are 
aiming to make available an archival recording for every one of the scores housed within our 
regional libraries. While the performance quality of material found in the archive may range 
from professional level concert hall premieres to those by student and community groups, the 
service remains a vital way to make Canadian composers’ music more accessible and available 
to a broad public. 
This project provides many benefits for our users: those who are seeking to program Canadian 
works; students conducting research; teachers seeking new and challenging works for their 
students; and of course those simply seeking an exposure to new music. CentreStreams enables 
each of our unique user groups to achieve their goals.  
                                                            
© 2008 The author and the Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation 
Centres/L’auteur et l’Association canadienne des bibliothèques, archives et centres de documentation 
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English

CentreStreams: the Launch of a Digital Audio Archive at the Canadian Music Centre

Hung, Eric

Launch Pad (CD Review)

Higham, Peter

Message du président / President's Message

Walsh, Kirsten

Message du président / President's Report

Editors, CAML

 
28 
 
Material Received 
 
CDs 
 
Eclipse: Music of David Mott. Toronto: Centrediscs, 2007. CMCCD12707. Christina Petrowska 
Quilico, piano. Contents: Eclipse (piano with chamber ensemble)  -- Oud duo -- Tango: under 
the winter moon  -- Dark masque masks.  $17.98 
 
Firebrand: Chamber music of T. Patrick Carrabré. Toronto: Centrediscs, 2008. CMCCD 13408. 
The Gryphon Trio. Contents: Firebrand -- A Hammer for your thoughts -- From the dark reaches. 
$17.98 
 
Hammer & wind: chamber music of Leonard Enns. [Independent Recording], 2007. 
MMCD0701. Various soloists and ensembles. Contents: Piano sonata no. 1 -- Hammer and wind 
-- In the end -- Two by four.  $20.98 
 
Rain in the forest: concertos by Mark Armanini. Toronto: Centrediscs, 2008. CMCCD13108. 
Various soloists ; Latvian National Symphony Orchestra; John Zoltek, conductor. Clontents: 
Incense and flowers -- Rain in the forest -- Dance of the many colours. $17.98 
 
Remembered voices. Ottawa: Carleton Sound, 2008. CSCD-1012. Ralitsa Tcholakova, violin; 
Elaine Keillor, piano. Contents: Chant from the Suite Bulgare ; Rhapsody Vardar ; Humoresque: 
from Miniatures / Pantcho Vladiguerov  -- Hora staccato / Grigoras Dinicu; arr. Vladiguerov -- 
Sonata in A Minor for violin and piano / Gena Branscombe -- Fantasy for violin and piano ; 
Prelude and allegre / Violet Archer -- Liesel, Suse, Ilze, and Gerda / Patrick Cardy -- 
Remembered voices: song, elegy, dance / Mary Gardiner. $20.98 
 
The Winds of Thera: music of Andrew Paul MacDonald. Toronto: Centrediscs, 2007.  CMCCD-
12407. Various performers and ensembles. Contents: The winds of Thera -- Primavera (after 
Botticelli) -- Hymenaeus -- Pythikos nomos. $17.98 
 
Books/Livres 
 
Green, Jonathan D. A conductor’s guide to nineteenth-century choral-orchestral works. Lanham, 
MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008. Xii, 336 p. ISBN 978-0-8108-6046-5. Cloth, $67.50 US. 
 
DVDs 
 
Music for a New World. Documentary featuring members of the Vancouver World Music 
Collective. Kelowna, BC: Filmwest Associates, 2004. 1 video disc (48 min.) : sd., col. $79.95 
(library lending for home use); $195.00 (public performance rights). 
 
Thoth. Documentary film by Sarah Kernochan and Lynn Appelle about the life of San Francisco 
street performer S.K. Thoth. Kelowna, BC: Filmwest Associates, 2004. 1 video disc (48 min.) : 
sd., col. $79.95 (library lending for home use); $195.00 (public performance rights). 


Material Received

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