Jan Matejcek

Matejcek, Jan

Jan (Vladimir) Matejcek. Administrator, music editor, critic, b Hamburg, of Czech parents, 29 Dec 1926, naturalized Canadian 1974; DR IURIS (Charles U, Prague) 1951. He studied composition, piano, and musicology in Prague. He was foreign relations secretary 1954-61 for the Guild of Czechoslovak Composers, manager 1961-2 of the Prague SO, head of the music department 1962-4 at DILIA (Divadeln a literarní agentura, the Czech theatrical and literary agency), and general manager 1964-6 and director general 1966-8 of Panton, the guild's music publishing house. After a year with the publishers B. Schott's Söhne in Mainz, Germany, he emigrated to Canada in 1969 and became a consultant to the Canadian Music Centre. In 1970 he served as executive secretary of the OFSO and subsequently first executive director of the Ontario Choral Federation (which he had helped to establish) and edited newsletters for both organizations. In 1971 he was a member of the steering committee and founding board of the ACO. That same year he joined the administration of CAPAC. As secretary of the CAPAC-CAB committee for the promotion of Canadian music, he initiated Musicanada, a set of 13 LPs of Canadian music issued in 1974, and organized a 1975 concert of Canadian orchestral music in Paris, and a 1977 festival of Canadian music, art, and film in Bonn, Saarbrücken, and Strasbourg, among other projects. He also organized the first European tour of the Festival Singers in 1971.

In 1977 Matejcek became assistant general manager of PROCAN, in charge of its international division, became general manager in 1980, and president in 1984. He was instrumental in establishing direct reciprocal representation agreements with other performing rights societies. He also was involved in the formation of the Music Copyright Action Group and the Canadian copyright revision process.

In 1985 PROCAN under Matejcek, together with the Société des auteurs, compositeurs, et éditeurs de musique (SACEM, a French performing rights society) and Société professionnelle des auteurs et compositeurs du Québec (SPACQ), founded the Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Canada Inc (SODRAC), North America's first composer and author-controlled collective for the collection of mechanical and synchronization royalties. In 1990 SODRAC was active both nationally and internationally.

Matejcek was instrumental in the merger of Canada's two performing rights societies, CAPAC and PROCAN, to form the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN). He was appointed its first chief executive officer in 1990. He has been a lecturer, broadcaster, and panelist on contemporary music at numerous congresses, and has contributed articles to European and Canadian publications.