Canadian Music Week (CMW) has announced that Laura Hassler, Founder and Director of Musicians without Borders, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Global Forum Networking Breakfast. Musicians without Borders is a global organization that uses music to “bridge divides, connect communities, and heal the wounds of war.” The organization is currently working on projects in Palestine, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Music Canada is proud to return as sponsor of the 2016 Global Forum, which will celebrate and recognize individuals and organizations in the music community who are using music to make the world a better place. The invitation-only event takes place May 6th at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto.

“As the music community continues to focus on adapting to an evolving digital environment, this year’s Global Forum will take stock of the amazing power of music to unite us all and be a force for good,” said Graham Henderson, President and CEO of Music Canada, in the CMW release. “Laura Hassler and the panelists at this year’s Global Forum demonstrate every day that music has the ability to heal, console, inspire, ignite and connect.”

“We’re thrilled to have Laura Hassler at this year’s Global Forum,” added CMW President Neill Dixon. “The work that she and her organization is doing is of great importance to the global community.”

Following Hassler’s keynote, she will join a panel discussion with representatives of three other organizations using music to make the world a better place. The panel, moderated by journalist Nancy Wilson, will also include:

  • Andre Le Roux, Managing Director of South Africa’s SAMRO Foundation, the largest private contributor to music development in the Southern African region, supporting almost 50 community-based music schools and providing scholarships for music studies overseas;
  • Andrew Mosker, President and CEO of the National Music Centre in Calgary, which reaches music lovers through education, exhibitions, incubation and performance; and
  • Lee Whitmore, Vice President, Education Outreach and Social Entrepreneurship at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he leads Berklee City Music, a program that enables youth from underserved communities to develop musically, academically, socially and emotionally through the study of contemporary music.