How the projects of former music students Harmeet Kaur and Amanda Mulder have tilled musical gardens for emerging women and gender-diverse musicians
Kate Henderson (she/they) // Crew Writer
Ava Shahres (they/she) // Illustrator
Capilano University’s websites describes the school as one of “Canada’s top jazz training institutions,” exploring “performance, composition and music education.” For former students Harmeet Kaur and Amanda Mulder, their pursuits bloomed through CapU’s Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies and Arts and Entertainment Management Diploma (AEM), and fully blossomed after graduation. Kaur and Mulder’s musical pursuits deserve admiration as seeds that grow platforms for emerging women and gender-diverse musicians of Greater Vancouver.
Kaur, a double bass player, spent her first and only year in CapU’s Jazz program in 2020–2021. “My plan at that point was to possess any knowledge I could, get my degree, get my teaching degree and teach,” Kaur explains. “That’s just kind of what you do as someone who [has] to convince [your] parents to go into music.”
Kaur’s impression shifted once joining the School of Music at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO). Through this, Kaur learned the importance of headshots, website building and maintaining gigs. “Another person at the VSO recommended I look into the Arts and Entertainment Management Program,” Kaur shares. “I had already reduced my courses to Private Music Instruction and electives,” she says, noting that she felt ready to make the shift to AEM.
“I initially didn’t want to go to post-secondary,” Mulder admits, noting that she was working as an audio technician at Canucks Sports and Entertainment when considering applications. “Everything in the music industry is connected; if you’re an audio technician it’s important to be able to talk to musicians or management,” she says, explaining her journey to CapU’s Jazz program to diversify her skills in 2021-2022, majoring in guitar and bass. She soon shifted to AEM in pursuit of greater variety.
Kaur and Mulder entered lab groups in AEM, with Kaur launching winter markets, music mixers and CapU’s very own RISE Film Festival. Surrey Jazz Nights, Kaur’s current project, started at the end of her first year in 2023. “At this time, I was also working as a Jazz Administrator at the VSO,” Kaur details, explaining the connections that came from this role, including a student from her area of Surrey. While working on his Capstone project, the student asked her how to find gigs in Surrey. “I remember thinking, ‘Ah man, there’s nothing over here,’” Kaur sighs, “I was about to tell him there was nothing, but instead of doing that, I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve run a few events at thispoint, I have enough knowledge to make something happen.’” Kaur reached out to her friend’s uncle, owner of Sullivan Heights Blenz Coffee, to gauge his interest in hosting live music. The Blenz Coffee series began on May 17, 2023, with Kaur hosting 40 musical events since then, including a series at Finest Cup.
On top of audio tech work, Mulder worked at Rufus Guitar Shop, connecting with numerous musicians. “Everyone needs a bassist and I said yes to as much as I could,” she says, outlining her journey to meeting Jess Taylor, a member of Spectra. The pair bonded over the shared frustrations of working in femme-fronted bands among groups of mostly men. “We showed up to some shows where people didn’t even think we were on the bill,” she explains, going on to say that they were, “treated like crap by other musicians on the bill.”
Mulder and Taylor decided to seek other local femme-fronted and gender-diverse bands. Coincidentally, Mulder’s 2023 AEM lab was searching for a project topic, and she recalls, “I had a booking at this venue, so maybe I could do something with that.” With their first show at Red Gate Arts Society on February 2nd, 2023, All Femme Fronted (AFF) flew: “I remember it was a Thursday night, and I’ve been to Red Gate when it’s been shoulder-to-shoulder, but that’s, like, a Saturday night thing… Well, it was shoulder-to-shoulder that night.”
With the successes of these projects, Kaur continues to bloom Surrey Jazz Nights with an application to the City Of Surrey Arts and Culture Grant in October 2024. Mulder is onto her third volume of All Femme Fronted, expanding her work to Music Yukon in the summer of 2024.
“I can’t brag enough about how good the AEM program was. I was drawn to the hands-on learning,” Kaur reflects. “While I was working at Music Yukon, I realized my avenues for supporting artists could extend past live opportunities,” Mulder explains. “I can build community; these people need to feel like they have a place they can go, it needs to be more accessible. I want to make myself more accessible,” she says, referring to AFF’s highlights, such as a release radar and event calendars.
Kaur encourages an open mind in one’s music career. “There isn’t really a limit to what you can do as a job,” she says, “I wouldn’t have thought out of university, I would have my own business and be in a position that wouldn’t have existed if I didn’t create it.”
“Even though society looks at art as progressive, there’s still a lot of backwards stuff towards any sort of minority. Look out for your people, if you believe in it, advocate [for] it and keep lifting other people up.” -Amanda Mulder