About the Garden City Electronic Music Society

The Garden City Electronic Music Society (GCEMS) has been active in the Victoria, British Columbia region since October of 2015, and formally incorporated as a BC non-profit Society on February 7th, 2017.  GCEMS became a Canada Revenue Agency Registered Charity on November 11, 2019 (Business Number 730327095 RR 0001).

GCEMS is dedicated to the advancement of electronic music, related media arts, and the technologies used within these artforms.

The mission of GCEMS is to explore creativity and innovation at the intersections of art and technology. 

Our endeavours would not be possible without the support of the Government of Canada (Canadian Arts Presentation Fund), the Province of British Columbia (BC Gaming Grant), the BC Arts Council, the Capital Regional District and the City of Victoria.  We are also grateful to local businesses that have supported our events, including Modo Carshare Cooperative, Long & McQuade, Metropol Industries, CCTV, and others. 

Our donors also make a huge difference and if you’ve attended our events and want to support, you can give by credit card online at Canada Helps, or by getting in touch with us.  Donations to GCEMS will receive a tax receipt.

GCEMS Constitution

The name of the Society is Garden City Electronic Music Society.

The purposes of the Society are:

1. To advance the public’s appreciation of the arts by producing public art exhibitions, presentations, and performance art(s) events, and by providing a forum for qualified artists to exhibit, present, or perform their artistic works through participation in such events.

2. To advance education by providing structured learning activities such as courses, instructional seminars, and workshops about electronic music and electronic music technology, and by providing opportunities for artists to publicly exhibit, present, or perform their works, or develop their crafts or skills in conjunction with these learning activities.

3. To do all such things as are ancillary and incidental to the attainment of the above charitable purposes.

2021-2022 GCEMS DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT: Sarah-Hannah Bedard started djing in 1996 and making electronic music in 1998.  As one of the first female DJs and producers in Western Canada, Sarah-Hannah was a pioneer in the electronic music scene in the mid to late 1990s.  As an event coordinator, she has produced many successful events in Victoria and Vancouver over the years.  She also brings experience as a retail boutique owner (Lower Johnson 1995-2014), and as a project manager and bookkeeper for several businesses over the last 25 years.  Sarah-Hannah also enjoys playing ukulele, banjolele, tamboura and singing vocals in various band projects in Victoria, and is working in her home studio on a solo project of original songs.

SECRETARY:  Michael Benneyworth is a multimedia artist who has been creating electronic and electro-acoustic music, soundscapes, film/video and installations for over thirty five years. He has performed solo as Póka and with a number of experimental music groups. Michael has over twenty years experience in many roles with non profit boards of directors, and has supported GCEMS events with his technical knowledge over the years.

VICE-PRESIDENT / TREASURER:   David Bodrug was the founding President of the Garden City Electronic Music Society and presently serves on the board as Past-President and Treasurer.  David’s leadership in the non-profit sector extends back to 2010 with a variety of community-based non-profit organizations.   GCEMS was borne of David’s Master of Public Administration capstone project on non-profit arts governance that involved stakeholder interviews and a case study of Montreal’s Mutek Festival.  As GCEMS’ Artistic Director, David is the curator for GCEMS’ Wonderment Festival, building on his experiences with event curation and production in the electronic music scenes of London, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria since the 1990s.

BOARD MEMBERS-AT-LARGE:

Alexander Bell is a visual artist and an experimental/ambient musician performing with Weathercraft and Deep Field Array, with ahistory of producing electronic music events in the lower mainland. Alexander brings his experience with event production, as a webdeveloper and as a musician to support GCEMS events. As a GCEMS volunteer board member from 2022 – 2023, Alexander had theopportunity to contribute during board meetings and during events, aiding in logistics and event/artist coordination duringWonderment. Alex is presently the GCEMS liaison to the Greater Vancouver area.

Quinn Dawson is passionate about helping create collaborative spaces through music, technology, and art. Over 20 years he has extensive experience in roles such as DJ (as Rhythmicon), promoter, live performer, and producer. Since ealy 2019 he has been focused on enabling artists to share their work virtually through live streaming, and is responsible for running the grassroots community online radio station wheel.fm.  Quinn was appointed to the board to fill a vacancy in June 2020, and has been an integral technical lead for GCEMS online programming through the pandemic.

Bradley Kurushima is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and third generation Japanese-Canadian based in Victoria BC. He has fronted several indie bands that have toured throughout North America, including Ghosts. His current output as Prince Shima explores otherness by blending analog and digital instrumentation to create lush otherworldly pop compositions.

Baven Pillay has been involved with electronic music going back to the early 80’s, during which he ran a mobile DJ/Soundsystem business while at University.  Upon moving to Vancouver in the mid 90’s , Baven continued DJing, owned a record store (Tempo Records) and label (Cache Records), and threw numerous underground events and club nights.  Baven is presently working on his own electronic music, and plans to resume DJing this year.  During the day he works as a Family Physician in Victoria.  Baven was one of GCEMS first members, and has helped out at GCEMS events over the years.

Cindy Reichel is a Seattle-based electronic musician & co-founder of Patchwerks, Seattle’s only shop specializing in synthesizer and modular gear.  Patchwerks also offers build workshops and other educational events, and serves as a community hub to electronic musicians from the American Pacific Northwest.  Cindy performs as a solo act and as a member of Dahliia with Tom Butcher, and is part of the Monster Planet collective.

 If you’re interested in getting involved as a volunteer or board member, or have an event idea, please reach out!

info@gcems.ca / 236-882-2326