Daron Letts
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 11/05) - The Recording Arts Association of the Northwest Territories (RAANT) selected its 2005-2006 executive this week. The positions were filled at the first board meeting since the organization's annual general meeting last month.

New RAANT president Stephen Pretty plays at an International Music Day concert at Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in 2004. - NNSL file photo

The board elected Stephen Pretty, a returning board member, as RAANT president.

Other executive members include Pete Harding as vice-president; returning member Dave Ritchie as secretary; and returning executive member Suzette Montreuil as treasurer.

Norbert Poitras also returns to the board as media liaison. Leslie Bader and Besart Hysniu are new to the board.

Past-presidents Rick Poltaruk and Steve Smith will serve in an advisory capacity.

The new board's first project will be to expand membership across the Territories, organize its database of the NWT music industry and develop a website.

"We're getting back to the grassroots for this year, getting ourselves on really solid footing and then we'll see where we can go from there," Pretty said.

"Even though we've elected an executive, every person on the board is going to take a lead on a certain aspect of what we do. It's going to be a collaborative effort."

Funding from the NWT Arts Council will go to hiring performers for the annual Bushed Music Festival in February.

Organizers will call for applications from NWT performers later this month.

"We see a lot of potential for a mid-winter festival in Yellowknife," Pretty said. "We're going to try to make Bushed really big and expand it in the future."

This year's festival will feature a licensed event as well as an all-ages event to get young artists involved. Performers at both events will be paid.

The board is also in discussions with the Music Industry Network Canada to allow RAANT members to plug in to their national promotion, information-sharing and networking services early in 2006, which would provide new opportunities for Northern musicians in southern Canada, Pretty said.