Sébastien Nasra

Sébastien Nasra is best known as the founder and president of music festivals and conferences M for Montreal and Mundial Montreal.

Career

Sébastien Nasra is a former musician who studied law. In 1994, when he was 23, he founded Avalanche Productions, a multiservice agency who launched the careers of The Soul Attorneys, Jorane, Taima, Elisapie, Beast and Thus Owls, and Avalanche Sound Publishing.^[1]

In 2006, with the help of his friend and mentor Martin Elbourne (Glastonbury, The Great Escape), he founded a new showcase-festival-conference and export platform that he named M for Montreal.^[2] The festival was a stepping stone for the career of artists such as Patrick Watson, We are Wolves, Duchess Says, Of Monsters and Men, Besnard Lakes, Plants & Animals, The Barr Brothers, Blue Hawaii, Half Moon Run, Mac DeMarco, and more.

In 2011, he and his friend Derek Andrews, a Canadian programmer, adapted M for Montreal’s formula to create a world music festival, Mundial Montreal.^[3] It’s the only event of this genre in North America.^[4]

Sébastien has also served on the Board of Directors of organizations like the SOCAN, the APEM/PMPA (Quebec Professional Music Publishers Association) and ADISQ (Quebec's Professional Independent Music Industry & Trade Association).^[5] He was also mandated by the government to develop their initiative Planète Québec.

References