Four summer students started work this week to increase the diversity and range of music on the Ontario Independent Music Archive (OIMA) and to produce a plain-language guide on music copyright issues for musicians, the public and campus/community radio stations and their volunteers.

Funded in large part by the Canada Summer Jobs program, we are thrilled to welcome Swadhi Thanabalasingam as the World Music Archive Coordinator, Emma Wolno and Andrew Kerr as Aboriginal Music Archive Coordinators, and Bonnie O'Sullivan as the Copyright Handbook Editor. 

Swadhi Thanabalasingam, World Music Archive Coordinator:
Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Canada, Swadhi brings her own appreciation of diversity and cultural fusion to her role as OIMA's World Music Archive Coordinator. She is excited to help promote and preserve Ontario's multiculturalism!

When she isn't studying or working, Swadhi performs as a Sinhalese dancer/drummer at events like the Muhtadi International Drumming Festival, the Lumiere Festival, and Luminato. Other times, she works behind the scenes, volunteering for, promoting, or helping to organize festivals and concerts.

She will be starting a Master's in English Literature next year. Naturally, she hopes to focus her studies on English literature of the South Asian diaspora. 

Emma Wolno, Aboriginal Music Archive Coordinator: 
Emma Wolno is a third year Communications Studies student specializing in audio production at Concordia University.  A musician from an early age, she composed her first song ‘Domestically Disabled’ at eleven, inspired by a line of household products her messy mother adored.

She has continued crafting original music while constantly feeding her appetite for Canadian independent artists in diverse genres, whether it be folk, electronic or hip-hop.

Emma plans on pursuing her love of music abroad next year studying in Grenoble, France while earning a badge in bilingualism and eating her weight in baguette.

Andrew Kerr, Aboriginal Music Archive Coordinator: 
Andrew was born and raised in Ottawa, ON. He discovered independent music and campus and community radio at the age of 14, and it wasn’t long until he was sneaking downtown to catch local acts in the city. 

He worked at an independent CD store for 4 years during his undergrad at the University of Ottawa. He is currently completing an MA in Dispute Resolution at the University of Victoria.

Bonnie O'Sullivan, Copyright Handbook Editor: 
Bonnie was born and raised in Belleville, Ontario where she spent many years listening to the local Loyalist College campus station, 91.3 CJLX-FM. Just like her musical interests, her hobbies are wide-ranging. She has taken guitar and signing lessons, is a ballet dancer, soccer player, photographer, swimmer, traveller, and writer.

This September, she’ll be entering her fourth year at Carleton University where she studies journalism with a minor in communication studies.

Her passion is media law and she hopes this will shine through her work. She looks forward to combining her two interests of media law and music as the Copyright Handbook Editor.

Pic, clockwise from top left: Andrew Kerr, Swadhi Thanabalasingam, Emma Wolno and Bonnie O'Sullivan.