The music executive’s appointment continues the non-profit organization’s plans to open a permanent Toronto music museum to celebrate the city’s musical legacy.
Toronto Music Experience (TME) has named Neil Shankman as its first-ever executive director.
The music industry executive will guide the non-profit organization as they plan to to open a permanent music museum in the city by 2031.
Last May, Billboard Canadareported that TME would use the future establishment to commemorate the city’s worldwide impact on music. The news was unveiled at a private event with artists including Rush’s Alex Lifeson, Jully Black and Lorraine Segato.
During the event, the organization announced that it has been granted charitable status, which gave it the green light to move forward with fundraising, partnerships and community opportunities as part of its five-year plan towards its permanent home. Fundraising for the museum is now underway.
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As Shankman steps into the brand-new role, he brings experience formed at global technology companies and as a concert promoter and producer.
“Being the first Executive Director of the Toronto Music Experience is a profound honour,” says Shankman in a statement. “Our vision is bold: to create an experience and institution that moves beyond the traditional, using music as a lens to tell the vibrant story of our city’s impact on global culture, and I am eager to lead this effort.”
The addition of Shankman as executive director is a part of the non-profit’s efforts to elevate Toronto as a global music capital. Through its efforts, the organization plans to highlight Toronto’s musical history through immersive exhibits, activations, live performances and education initiatives, spanning its historical Indigenous roots to the impact of homegrown icons like Rush, Drake and The Weeknd.
TME has been actively telling these stories through several exhibitions in partnership with Friar’s Music Museum, located in the Shopper’s Drug Mart at Yonge and Dundas, the former home of the Friar’s Tavern music venue.
Nearly one year ago, TME curated the exhibition, “Shaking the Foundations: Women Trailblazers in Toronto Music,” which showcased Black, recent Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Jane Siberry, Peaches and other local heroes. The year prior, the organization extended its 2021 “Rhythms & Resistance” exhibit, which brought the city’s Caribbean music history to the forefront. They hosted their first-ever live performance at TD Hall, celebrating reggae musicians Jay Douglas, Nana McLean, Ammoy and more.
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Yet, a permanent space is the goal.
“We don’t have a museum devoted to what is arguably Toronto’s biggest cultural phenomenon, its biggest international export,” TME board director and longtime music journalist Nicholas Jennings told Billboard Canada in November 2024. “This is an untapped area for the city, and there is a need for it, because we’re losing some of these stories.”
With Shankman at the helm, the TME will continue to host rotating temporary exhibitions around the city throughout the year and beyond as part of its expansion.
