May 5, 2014
Promoting Music Education in Schools and Communities
Province Chosen to Host 10th Anniversary Music Monday Celebration
Newfoundland and Labrador is hosting the 10th annual national Music Monday event today, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., with students and schools from across the country participating via webcast. This year’s event, orchestrated by the Coalition for Music Education in Canada, involves students, teachers, professional musicians and special guests at 10 locations across the country, including the Johnson GEO Centre in St. John’s.
“Our province is honoured to have been chosen to host this Music Monday milestone event, which involves students, teachers and artists performing various numbers in celebration of the importance of music in our lives and in our schools. As a government, we believe in the importance of arts and cultural programs as a means to enable students to discover their own creative talents and build their character and confidence. Our government continues to invest in the arts through programs such as Cultural Connections, which since 2005 has seen $18.7 million invested in support of arts programming in schools.”
- The Honourable Darin King, Minister of Education
This year’s Music Monday national co-hosts are two students from Ascension Collegiate in Bay Roberts, Jessie Downey and Liam Dawson, who are actively involved in the arts through music and theatre, and have won multiple awards for their performances. They are hosting live from the province’s Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation’s (CDLI) office in Gander.
Former Canadian Space Agency Astronaut, Colonel Chris Hadfield, will participate in the event for the second consecutive year, this time from Edmonton. In 2013, he and Barenaked Ladies’ frontman Ed Robertson co-wrote the song I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing), and co-performed the number during the Music Monday concert. That live performance marked the first ‘space-to-earth’ song premiere in history. The song will be performed again this year, in unison, by performers at each of the Music Monday webcast locations. A complete list of this year’s musical performers can be viewed at: www.musicmonday.ca/
“Since we launched in 2005, Music Monday has created a forum through which we raise our voices to celebrate and advocate for the importance of music in our lives. Last year, with the help of Commander Hadfield, Music Monday demonstrated how we could connect with space and this year we will focus our celebrations on how we connect more with each other across our great nation. We’re thrilled to mark the program’s 10th anniversary with a series of events designed to showcase how music programs unite us, shape young lives, and contribute to the cultural vitality of Canada.”
- Holly Nimmons, Executive Director, Coalition for Music Education
The Provincial Government and school districts continue to develop innovative ways to deliver programming which makes the most effective use of teaching resources and available learning technologies. Through CDLI, teachers with expertise in specialty areas, such as music education, can deliver programming and services to students located at any school site via web-based technologies. For more information on Cultural Connections programming, visit: www.culturalconnectionsnl.ca/.
QUICK FACTS
- The Coalition for Music Education in Canada celebrates its 10th anniversary of Music Monday today, with two Ascension Collegiate students, Jessie Downey and Liam Dawson, serving as national co-hosts.
- Music Monday is designed to raise awareness about the importance of music education across the country.
- This year’s event involves students, teachers, professional musicians and special guests at 10 locations across the country, including the Johnson GEO Centre in St. John’s.
- Newfoundland and Labrador has one of the most comprehensive music programs in the country, with music being a mandatory subject area at the K-9 level, and multiple opportunities available in high school.
- The music curriculum in Newfoundland and Labrador is enhanced through such programs as Cultural Connections, which since 2005 has seen $18.7 million invested in music equipment, music festivals, performance opportunities as well as other arts, cultural and heritage-related programming in schools.
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Media contacts:
| Heather May Director of Communications Department of Education 709-729-0048, 697-5061 heathermay@gov.nl.ca |
Matt Charlton Publicist, East Coast Events Coalition for Music Education 902-240-4928 matt@pigeonrow.com |
2014 05 05 2:05 p.m.