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Tag archive: music education (10)

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Music Monday @ Home shines a spotlight on the importance of equitable access to music education

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Today marks Music Monday, an annual event in which thousands of Canadians come together in song and in support of music education. Hosted by the Coalition for Music Education, Music Monday unites musicians in communities from coast to coast to make a powerful statement about the importance of equitable access to quality music education for all students. This year, the celebration will move online with Music Monday @ Home, allowing all Canadians to participate safely while practicing social distancing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each year on Music Monday, students, educators, and music makers from across the country participate in the collective singing of the Music Monday Anthem, an original song written by a Canadian artist. This year’s anthem is “Hymn to Freedom,” the iconic civil rights anthem by Oscar Peterson and Hariette Hamilton, in a new bilingual translation. Resources to perform the anthem, including sheet music, lyrics, and translations are available on the Coalition website.

“Music Monday celebrates the power of music, and the importance of music education. Equitable access to music education is important to Music Canada, which is why we have partnered with the Coalition for Music Education, the Canadian Music Educators Association, MusiCounts / CARAS, People For Education, and the Canadian Network Arts and Learning on a national study to assess the state of music education in every province and territory,” said Sarah Hashem, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives at Music Canada. “This research will help all stakeholders to better understand the state of K-12 Music Education from region to region, and to provide information to support its future growth and development.”

Music Monday @ Home begins at 9am EST, with a series of regional broadcasts, including live performances, messages from prominent Canadians, interactive activities for children of all ages, and more. To join in the celebration and add your voice, tune into the Coalition’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Categories: Advocacy, Industry News, Music Education
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Thousands of Canadian students to sing Oscar Peterson civil rights anthem for Music Monday 2019

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Photo Credit: Coalition for Music Education in Canada

On Monday, May 6th, The Coalition for Music Education in Canada will celebrate its 15th anniversary of Music Monday with thousands of students, teachers, musicians, music lovers, and parents across the country. This year, Canadian jazz legend Oscar Peterson’s 1963 composition “Hymn To Freedom,” written during the Civil Rights Movement, will be this year’s anthem.

With music by Oscar Peterson and lyrics by Harriette Hamilton, the iconic “Hymn To Freedom” exemplifies a deep desire for respect and equality among all people living in Canada, united as a peaceful nation. The official Music Monday video, featuring a new bilingual arrangement, is available to watch below, while an Oscar Peterson learning resource has also been made available by the Coalition for teachers to review with their students ahead of next Monday’s sing-a-long.

The Coalition for Music Education in Canada was established in 1992 to raise awareness and understanding of the role that music education plays in Canadian culture and to promote the benefits that music education brings to young people. Leading up to next week’s celebration, the Coalition has also launched a fundraising campaign to support the future of Music Monday and develop new and updated advocacy materials.

Beginning at 12pm EST, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre will livestream their celebration on Music Monday’s Facebook page, which will include a massed children’s choir of over 350 youth from 10 local schools under the direction of Jackie Hawley, who will lead the sing-along of “Hymn To Freedom.”

Register your school or community organization’s music program today, and join the thousands of Canadians from coast-to-coast next Monday in singing #TogetherInHarmony.

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Inaugural Three Rs Music Program Instrument Drive Coming to Lindsay, Ontario

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September 11, 2018, Lindsay, ON: The Three Rs Music Program is putting out a call to all Lindsay, Ontario residents for donations of gently used musical instruments. After a successful small-scale pilot at Sawdust City Music Festival in Gravenhurst, the first community instrument drive of the program will happen in partnership with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) on September 29th.

Residents can drop off instruments between 12:30pm – 3:30pm at Mackey Celebrations Inc (35 Lindsay Street North, Lindsay, ON). While all instruments are welcomed, young musicians in the community have requested ukuleles, flutes, clarinets and trumpets to complete their music education program. The Three Rs Music Program has partnered with Van Halteren’s Music Centre, who will aid in refurbishing donated instruments. Once refurbished, instruments will be distributed back to the region’s schools based on the needs identified by the TLDSB. Music Canada Cares is proud to partner with MusiCounts to offer tax receipts for each instrument donation.

“In TLDSB, we know that music fosters the growth of a healthy mind, body, spirit and emotion. Music is not just a subject, but a way of being,” says Beth Wilson, Music Consultant at the Trillium Lakelands District School Board. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the Three R’s Music Program for this inaugural drive.  With this initiative, our programs will continue to grow and give more students the opportunity to learn an instrument.”

“We’re encouraging all Lindsay residents to search your closets, basements and garages for any spare instruments,” says Sarah Hashem, Managing Director of The Three Rs Music Program. “We’re very excited to be bringing our inaugural instrument drive to Lindsay. Let’s seize this opportunity to strengthen music education in the community and to make a difference in the lives of local students.”

The Three Rs refers to rescuing instruments, restoring them to a fully functional condition and reuniting them with students. In addition to community donation appeals across Ontario, the program will repair instruments already in the possession of schools through repair grants and will connect students’ learning experiences to Ontario’s vibrant music industry through Artist Ambassadors, workshops and other events.

The Three Rs Music Program is made possible by an investment from the Government of Ontario and will improve equitable access to quality music education by increasing the inventory of musical instruments in Ontario’s publicly funded schools. The program prioritizes providing instrument to underserved communities, particularly at-risk, Indigenous and other underrepresented communities.

To stay updated with the latest news from The Three Rs Music Program, including information on future community appeals and how schools can apply for instruments, please follow Music Canada Cares on Facebook.

 

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For more information:
Corey Poole, Music Canada
cpoole@musiccanada.com
+1 (647) 808-7359

 

About Music Canada Cares
Music Canada Cares is an affiliate of Music Canada that is dedicated to promoting and enhancing the societal benefits and value of music and those who create it.

About The 3 Rs Music Program
The Three Rs Music Program—rescuing instruments, restoring them to a fully functional condition and reuniting them with students—is advancing the effectiveness of publicly funded music education programs across Ontario through musical instrument refurbishment, community appeals, and artist connections. Using a community-driven approach, we will be ensuring more students have access to the developmental, cognitive, and social benefits of music. Music Canada Cares is proud to partner with the Government of Ontario for this program.

 About Music Canada
Music Canada is a non-profit trade organization that represents the major record companies in Canada: Sony Music Entertainment Canada, Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada. Music Canada also works with some of the leading independent record labels and distributors, recording studios, live music venues, concert promoters, managers and artists in the promotion and development of the music cluster. For more on Music Canada, please visit www.musiccanada.com

 

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Tenue de la première cueillette d’instruments du Programme musical des trois R à Lindsay (Ontario)

 

Le 11 septembre 2018, Lindsay (Ontario) : Le Programme musical des trois R lance un appel à tous les résidents de Linsday (Ontario) pour les inviter à participer à une cueillette d’instruments de musique usagés. Précédée d’un petit projet pilote fort réussi au Sawdust City Music Festival de Gravenhurst, cette toute première cueillette communautaire d’instruments de musique sera organisée en partenariat avec le conseil scolaire Trillium Lakelands (TLDSB) le 29 septembre prochain.

Les résidents de Lindsay peuvent déposer des instruments de musique entre 12 h 20 et 15 h 30 au centre Mackey Celebrations Inc. (35, rue Lindsay nord, Lindsay, Ontario). Tous les instruments sont bienvenus, mais les jeunes musiciens de la communauté ont besoin d’ukulélés, de flûtes, de clarinettes et de trompettes pour leur programme d’éducation musicale. Le Programme musical des trois R s’est associé au Van Halteren’s Music Centre, qui contribuera à la remise en état des instruments donnés. Une fois réparés, les instruments seront redistribués dans les écoles de la région en fonction des besoins identifiés par le TLDSB. Music Canada vous aime est fier de s’associer à MusiCompte pour offrir à chaque donateur ou donatrice d’instrument un reçu aux fins de l’impôt.

« Au TLDSB, nous savons que la musique favorise une saine croissance mentale, physique, spirituelle et émotive. La musique n’est pas uniquement une matière scolaire, mais une véritable façon d’être », affirme Beth Wilson, conseillère musicale du conseil scolaire Trillium Lakelands. « Nous sommes extrêmement heureux de nous associer à la première cueillette d’instruments du Programme musical des trois R. Cette initiative aidera nos programmes à continuer de croître et à donner à un plus grand nombre d’élèves la chance d’apprendre à jouer d’un instrument. »

« Nous encourageons tous les citoyens de Lindsay à faire le tour de leurs placards, de leur sous-sol et de leur garage afin de voir s’ils ont des instruments de musique dont ils pourraient se départir », explique Sarah Hashem, directrice générale du Programme musical des trois R. « Nous sommes extrêmement heureux de présenter notre toute première cueillette d’instruments à Lindsay. Profitons-en pour consolider l’éducation musicale dans la communauté et faire une différence dans la vie des élèves. »

Le programme musical des trois R permet de récupérer les instruments, de les restaurer pour les remettre en bon état de fonctionnement et de les réaffecter à des élèves. En plus d’organiser des cueillettes d’instruments dans toutes les régions de l’Ontario, le programme assurera la réparation des instruments actuels des écoles ontariennes grâce à des subventions et bâtira des ponts entre l’expérience d’apprentissage des élèves ontariens et l’industrie musicale dynamique de la province grâce à la nomination d’artistes ambassadeurs et à l’organisation d’ateliers et d’autres événements.

Rendu possible par un investissement du gouvernement de l’Ontario, le Programme musical des trois R rendra plus équitable l’accès à une éducation musicale de qualité en enrichissant l’inventaire d’instruments de musique des écoles ontariennes financées par des fonds publics. Le programme met l’accent sur la remise d’instruments aux communautés sous-desservies, aux groupes particulièrement à risque, aux populations autochtones et aux autres groupes sous-représentés.

Pour en savoir plus sur le Programme musical des trois R, sur les prochaines cueillettes d’instruments de musique  et sur la façon dont votre école peut présenter une demande de don d’instruments, suivez Music Canada vous aime sur Facebook.

 

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Pour de plus amples renseignements :
Corey Poole, Music Canada
cpoole@musiccanada.com
+1 (647) 808-7359


À propos de Music Canada vous aime
Music Canada vous aime est une filiale de Music Canada vouée à la promotion et à l’enrichissement des bienfaits de la musique pour la société et de la valeur qu’elle représente pour ceux et celles qui la créent.

À propos du Programme musical des trois R
Le Programme musical des trois R – récupérer les instruments, les restaurer pour les remettre en bon état de fonctionnement et les réaffecter à des étudiants et des étudiantes – ajoute à l’efficacité des programmes d’éducation des écoles financées par des fonds publics de l’Ontario grâce à la remise en état d’instruments de musique, au lancement d’appels de fonds dans la collectivité et à la complicité des artistes. Dans une démarche centrée sur la collectivité, nous verrons à ce qu’un plus grand nombre d’étudiants et d’étudiantes aient accès aux bienfaits développementaux, cognitifs et sociaux de la musique. Music Canada est fière de s’associer au gouvernement de l’Ontario dans le cadre de ce programme.

À propos de Music Canada
Music Canada est une association professionnelle à but non lucratif qui représente les grandes maisons de disques au Canada, notamment Sony Music Entertainment Canada, Universal Music Canada et Warner Music Canada.  Music Canada collabore également avec de nombreux chefs de file de l’industrie musicale indépendante – étiquettes et distributeurs de disques, studios d’enregistrement, lieux de spectacles, promoteurs de concerts, gérants et artistes – pour assurer la promotion et le développement du secteur de la musique. Pour en savoir plus sur Music Canada, veuillez vous rendre sur www.musiccanada.com

 

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Music Canada launches new non-profit organization Music Canada Cares

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Toronto, September 7, 2018: Music Canada is pleased to announce the establishment of Music Canada Cares, an affiliated national organization that will lead Music Canada’s corporate social responsibility efforts.

Music Canada Cares is a dedicated non-profit focused on highlighting the extraordinary benefits of music to society. Music Canada Cares will work to promote equitable access to music education, and strive to improve the connection between Canada’s diverse music industry and communities.

“At Music Canada, we’re of the firm belief that Music Can Help,” says Graham Henderson, President and CEO of Music Canada. “It helps build bridges between people and communities, helps people express and process emotions, and helps drive economic activity locally and nationally. I’m thrilled that with the support of our members, Warner Music Canada, Universal Music Canada, and Sony Music Canada, we’re able to launch Music Canada Cares. This new organization will allow us to focus on boosting the social and developmental benefits music delivers, beginning with a source of so much passion, skill, creativity and fun – music education.”

Music Canada Cares’ first initiative is The Three Rs Music Program. The program will improve the inventory of musical instruments in Ontario’s publicly funded schools by rescuing gently used instruments, restoring them to a fully functional condition and reuniting them with students across the province.

“We’re thankful for the overwhelming support we’ve received from our outstanding industry and community partners,” says Sarah Hashem, Managing Director of The Three Rs Music Program. “Giving more young people in Ontario the chance to learn an instrument has wide-ranging benefits. Music education can ignite a career path and life-long passion, and equips students with skills that are transferable to various other fields.”

The Three Rs Music Program will serve both English-language and French-language schools, with the goal of improving access to quality music education for youth across Ontario. The program prioritizes providing instruments to Indigenous, at-risk, and underrepresented communities.

To stay updated with the latest news from Music Canada Cares and The Three Rs Music Program, including information on how to apply for and donate instruments, please follow Music Canada Cares on Facebook.

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For more information:
Corey Poole, Music Canada
cpoole@musiccanada.com
+1 (647) 808-7359 

About Music Canada
Music Canada is a non-profit trade organization that represents the major record companies in Canada: Sony Music Entertainment Canada, Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada. Music Canada also works with some of the leading independent record labels and distributors, recording studios, live music venues, concert promoters, managers and artists in the promotion and development of the music cluster. For more on Music Canada, please visit www.musiccanada.com

About Music Canada Cares
Music Canada Cares is an affiliate of Music Canada that is dedicated to promoting and enhancing the societal benefits and value of music and those who create it. 

About The 3 Rs Music Program
The Three Rs Music Program- rescuing instruments, restoring them to a fully functional condition and reuniting them with students-  is advancing the effectiveness of publicly funded music education programs across Ontario through musical instrument refurbishment, community appeals, and artist connections. Using a community-driven approach, we will be ensuring more students have access to the developmental, cognitive, and social benefits of music.

 

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Music Canada lance la nouvelle organisation à but non lucratif Music Canada vous aime

Music Canada a le plaisir d’annoncer l’établissement de Music Canada vous aime, une organisation nationale affiliée à laquelle sera confiée la direction des efforts de Music Canada dans le domaine de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises.

Music Canada vous aime est une organisation à but non lucratif vouée à faire connaître les bienfaits exceptionnels de la musique pour la société. Music Canada vous aime œuvrera à la promotion d’un accès équitable à l’éducation musicale et s’efforcera de resserrer les liens au sein de la grande mosaïque de nos industries musicales et de nos communautés.

« Chez Music Canada, nous sommes fermement convaincus que la musique peut aider », affirme Graham Henderson, président et chef de la direction de Music Canada. « Elle aide à construire des ponts entre les gens et les communautés, elle aide les gens à exprimer et à gérer leurs émotions, et elle alimente l’activité économique aux plans local et national. Je suis extrêmement heureux d’annoncer que, grâce au soutien de nos membres – Warner Music Canada, Universal Music Canada et Sony Music Canada – nous lançons aujourd’hui l’organisation à but non lucratif Music Canada vous aime. Cette nouvelle organisation nous permettra de concentrer nos efforts sur la stimulation des bienfaits sociaux et développementaux offerts par la musique, et ce, en commençant par la source de tant de passion, tant de compétence, tant de créativité et tant de plaisir – l’éducation musicale. »

La première initiative de Music Canada vous aime est le Programme musical des trois R. Ce programme contribuera à l’enrichissement de l’inventaire d’instruments de musique dans les écoles financées par des fonds publics de l’Ontario en récupérant des instruments de musique légèrement usagés, en les restaurant pour les remettre en bon état de fonctionnement et en les réaffectant à des étudiants et des étudiantes à travers la province.

« Nous sommes reconnaissants des immenses appuis que nous avons reçus de nos remarquables partenaires de l’industrie et de la collectivité », a souligné Sarah Hashem, directrice générale du Programme musical des trois R. « Le fait de donner à un plus grand nombre de jeunes Ontariens et Ontariennes la chance d’apprendre à jouer d’un instrument a une multitude d’effets positifs. L’apprentissage de la musique peut déboucher sur une carrière musicale et sur une passion de toute une vie, et il procure aux étudiants des compétences qui leur serviront dans de nombreux autres domaines. »

Le Programme musical des trois R sera accessible aux écoles francophones et anglophones de l’Ontario afin d’offrir un accès à une éducation musicale de qualité aux jeunes de toutes les régions de la province. Le programme privilégie le don d’instruments aux communautés autochtones, à risque ou sous-représentées.

Pour recevoir les dernières nouvelles de Music Canada vous aime  et du Programme musical des trois R, y compris des renseignements sur la façon de vous inscrire pour faire un don d’instrument, suivez Music Canada vous aime sur Facebook.
 

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Pour de plus amples renseignements :
Corey Poole, Music Canada
cpoole@musiccanada.com
+1 (647) 808-7359


À propos de Music Canada
Music Canada est une association professionnelle à but non lucratif qui représente les grandes maisons de disques au Canada, notamment Sony Music Entertainment Canada, Universal Music Canada et Warner Music Canada.  Music Canada collabore également avec de nombreux chefs de file de l’industrie musicale indépendante – étiquettes et distributeurs de disques, studios d’enregistrement, lieux de spectacles, promoteurs de concerts, gérants et artistes – pour assurer la promotion et le développement du secteur de la musique. Pour en savoir plus sur Music Canada, veuillez vous rendre sur www.musiccanada.com

À propos de Music Canada vous aime
Music Canada vous aime est une filiale de Music Canada vouée à la promotion et à l’enrichissement des bienfaits de la musique pour la société et de la valeur qu’elle représente pour ceux et celles qui la créent.

À propos du Programme musical des trois R
Le Programme musical des trois R – récupérer les instruments, les restaurer pour les remettre en bon état de fonctionnement et les réaffecter à des étudiants et des étudiantes – ajoute à l’efficacité des programmes d’éducation des écoles financées par des fonds publics de l’Ontario grâce à la remise en état d’instruments de musique, au lancement d’appels de fonds dans la collectivité et à la complicité des artistes. Dans une démarche centrée sur la collectivité, nous verrons à ce qu’un plus grand nombre d’étudiants et d’étudiantes aient accès aux bienfaits développementaux, cognitifs et sociaux de la musique.

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Music Canada launches #EveryStage campaign, focusing first on music education

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Music Canada is proud to return as a Platinum Partner of the 47th annual JUNO Awards in 2018, sponsoring both the Album of the Year category as well as the Welcome Reception, which is the official kickoff party to JUNOs weekend happening Friday, March 23rd in Vancouver.

Leading up to this year’s annual celebration of Canada’s brightest stars in music, Music Canada will be highlighting the ways in which our advocacy supports Canadian artists at every stage of their career. In the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing a series of blogs detailing our research and advocacy efforts in four defined areas: music education, music cities, copyright, and celebrating success. To kick it off, we’ll start where most Canadians learn the fundamentals with music education.

One of the key recommendations in Music Canada’s Next Big Bang report, which identifies programs and policies designed to stimulate the development of Canada’s commercial music sector and to drive growth and job creation in the economy at large, is to enhance and invest in music education. The recommendation states:

Given the strong evidence that music education prepares workers who are more creative, better problem-solvers, and possess soft skills that are critical in the digital economy, as well as the correlation between music scenes and tech clusters, governments should invest more in music education and should consider music scenes as a tool for economic development.

This recommendation drives much of the advocacy undertaken by Music Canada to secure equitable access to quality music education for all young Canadians.

We are currently working with multiple provincial governments on various initiatives and strategies to meet this goal, and have been a long-time supporter of groups like MusiCounts and their efforts put more instruments into the hands of Canadian kids, as well as the Coalition for Music Education, promoting their efforts to improve the state of music education in Canada.

From a curriculum standpoint, music education falls under the mandate of provincial ministries, but municipalities also have a role to play in ensuring equitable access to music education for all Canadians. And the relationship is reciprocal, as music education also plays a role in the development of vibrant Music Cities.

As our 2015 landmark report, The Mastering of a Music City notes:

Music education is present in successful Music Cities. Generally, it is understood to include formal music training in the education system, as well as specialized programs at colleges and universities. Not only do these programs help develop future musicians, but they develop appreciation for music at a young age, seeding future audiences. The many other benefits of learning and playing music are well documented and wide-ranging. These include enhancing children’s neural activity, language development, test scores, IQ and learning abilities.

One way that municipalities can promote music education is through a phenomenal program that has been popping up in cities across Canada – music instrument lending libraries. Public library branches in Barrie, Kitchener, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and other cities now allow Canadians of any age to experiment with and learn new instruments free of charge.

We look forward to sharing more news in the near future on our work to promote and strengthen music education. Next in our series of blogs about how our advocacy supports artists at every stage of their career, we’ll dive deeper into Music Cities and how musicians can benefit from vibrant, actively promoted local music economies.

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2018 JUNO Host Committee releases BC education program resources

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The 2018 JUNO Awards in Vancouver are just around the corner, and communities across British Columbia are invited to be part of Canada’s biggest annual celebration of music and musicians.

Let’s Hear It BC, the 2018 JUNO Host Committee, recently unveiled learning resources designed by BC music educators Jilaine Orton, Carol Dirianni, Adam J. Con, and Mark Reid for use in classrooms across the province and developed using BC’s redesigned curriculum. Teachers can use the resources to improve students’ awareness of the music industry, and outline the importance of investing in Canada’s growing music economy.

For grades 4 through 7, students are encouraged to study recipients of the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award, analyzing their major contributions to both local and international communities through social activism and humanitarian work. For high school students grades 10 through 12, the program outlines ways to improve students’ awareness of the music industry and career opportunities through examining emerging and evolving trends in music.

Students and teachers are invited and encouraged to share their expertise and experience through social media with the hashtag #JUNOLearning.

The resources can be viewed here:

Grade 4 to 7 classrooms

Grade 10 to 12 classrooms

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Graham Henderson’s introductory remarks from Ontario Provincial Arts Education Roundtable

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Below are introductory remarks delivered by Music Canada’s President and CEO, Graham Henderson, at the Provincial Arts Education Roundtable hosted by the Ontario Ministry of Education and Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport on October 16, 2017.

It sometimes feels today as though the liberal arts and the humanities are under siege. Right across the United States, Republican governors are rolling back support for state universities that offer liberal arts education. And we must be vigilant – because if it can happen there, it can happen here.

Culture and the arts are worth fighting for. The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley believed that the arts can reform the world.  He developed a theory of the imagination.  He believed that what he called the “cultivated imagination” can see the world differently – through a lens of love and empathy.  And how do you get one of those “cultivated imaginations”? Well through exposure to culture.

Now, it might be said that we live in a technology obsessed world.  And you, know, Percy’s wife, Mary had something to say about that.  She wrote Frankenstein, a book whose central message seems to be that the unmediated, unexamined introduction of technology into our lives is fraught with risk and danger. It can, not always, but it can create monsters.

Poets today continue to operate in this tradition.  If you don’t know the Texan poet and performance artist Arielle Cottingham, you should. Cottingham, now living in Melbourne, won the 2016 edition of the Australian Poetry Slam with an electrifying performance. She was recently interviewed for the magazine ArtsHub. In an article meaningfully entitled, “Why We Need Poets More Than Ever Before”, Cottingham cited Shelley as an inspiration for her work and pointed to his famous comment in A Defense of Poetry: Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.

Shelley used the term “legislator” in a special sense. Not as someone who “makes laws” but as someone who is a “representative” of the people. In this sense creators must be thought of as the voice of the people; as a critical foundation of our society and of our democracy. They offer insights into our world and provide potential solutions – they underpin our future.

Cottingham agrees and explained it this way:

[Shelley] argues that poets are the moral barometers of their times and circumstances – and look at the well-known poets today. Bob Dylan is lauded as the voice of a generation. Maya Angelou elevated the voice of the black woman to an unprecedented visibility. Gil Scott Heron wrote a single line of poetry so prescient that it became more famous than he himself did – “The revolution will not be televised.” To quote Miles Merrill, “poets are more honest than politicians.”

A liberal arts education and an education in the humanities – STEM blended into STEAM – is therefore essential to a healthy society and one that is governed by empathy and love.

Categories: Advocacy, Music Education
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MusiCounts Band Aid Program applications now open

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The MusiCounts Band Aid Program is now accepting applications from Canadian schools whose music programs are in need of instruments. Canadian elementary, junior high, secondary, and separate schools can apply to receive up to $10,000 worth of instruments to ensure their program’s sustained growth. Whether your school offers concert or jazz bands, rock band programs or anything in between, this grant supports diverse music programs across Canada.

Schools that apply by the early application deadline of October 16, 2017 will receive a SHURE MV5 USB microphone (while supplies last, approximately $100 value). Submissions will officially close on November 20, 2017.

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Music Monday to host nationwide sing-a-long and Toronto youth rally May 2

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On Monday May 2, 2016, thousands of students from coast to coast will come together to participate in Music Monday and celebrate the impact music education has on our lives. The nationwide event will begin when schools open on the Eastern shores of Newfoundland, moving across the country to closing school bells by the Western shores of British Columbia. At 12:30 PM EST, students will join in on the official singing of the Music Monday Anthem, “We Are One.”

Beginning at Noon ET, student supporters and Coalition For Music Education’s Youth4Music ambassadors will gather outside Toronto City Hall at Nathan Phillips Square for the Toronto Lives Music rally and showcase concert, hosted by Céline Peterson. Toronto Mayor John Tory, entertainers Sharon & Bram, and JUNO-nominee Scott Helman will be in attendance for the rally, which will also feature performances from Canadian Brass, Melanie Doane & The Uschool, Dijah SB, Charlotte Siegel, and more.

The Coalition For Music Education will also be presenting the NUFSICISUM Youth Leadership Awards at the rally, which are given to students who have made a special positive impact in their school music program.

In 2013, retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield helped lead a nationwide sing-a-long of his Music Monday anthem “I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing),” co-written by Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies, aboard the International Space Station. Following a nationwide search in 2014, Bolton, Ontario’s Connor Ross penned his winning anthem “We Are One,” which will be performed again in 2016 across Canada.

Participants are encouraged to use the hashtag #MMC2C to share their Music Monday experiences, and can find the links to the nationwide rally and sing-a-long webcasts beginning Monday morning on the Music Monday website.

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Music Canada’s submission to the Ontario Cultural Strategy Consultation

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As part of the Ontario government’s first Cultural Strategy consultation, Music Canada was pleased to submit the following letter, as well as two of our recent reports, Live Music Measures Up: An Economic Impact Analysis of Live Music in Ontario, and The Mastering of a Music City.

The submission highlights the benefits of a vibrant music economy to Ontario communities, including job creation, talent retention, economic growth and diversification, tourism development, brand building and artistic growth, as well as music’s role in connecting communities and building a bridge across cultures, languages, and income levels.

Drawing from the results of our research, the submission identifies opportunities to strengthen the cultural sector, including:

  1. Provincial and municipal coordination
  2. Music tourism promotion
  3. Preservation of cultural heritage
  4. Investment in music education

We look forward to seeing the Ontario Cultural Strategy build on the creation of the Ontario Music Fund and the Ontario Music Tourism Strategy which were both launched in 2013.

View the submission

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