700,000 students across Canada unite in song on Music Monday

Sixth annual simultaneous performance underscores importance of music education

VANCOUVER, May 3 /CNW/ - More than 700,000 students from over 2,000 schools in every province and territory across Canada are today celebrating the sixth annual Music Monday - a nation-wide, simultaneous concert to celebrate the importance of music in our lives - and especially in our schools. Students and teachers from coast-to-coast will take their music programs outdoors into their communities and perform the same song at the exact same time, uniting the entire country.

For the second year, the theme song for Music Monday is "Sing Sing," written by multi Juno-award winning Canadian artist, Serena Ryder.

New this year is the Music Monday Showcase Concert that will be held in downtown Vancouver as a symbol for the hundreds of celebrations taking place in communities across the country. Also new is a partnership with Ticketmaster Canada who have donated $40,000 in cash and in-kind support. In addition to sponsoring the Music Monday Showcase Concert, Ticketmaster will award 10 participating Music Monday schools from across the country with $2,500 to support their music program.

"We are honoured to be partnering with the Coalition for Music Education in Canada - a valued national organization committed to ensuring quality school music programs," said Ticketmaster Canada COO, Tom Worrall. "Ticketmaster recognizes the importance of keeping music education alive for our young people, and we are proud to be supporting Music Monday."

Music Monday was created by the Coalition for Music Education in Canada in 2005 to celebrate the importance of music in our schools. The nation-wide celebration highlights the need to protect and enhance quality music programs for every child in Canadian schools. Music Monday is fast becoming a global phenomenon as the event is now being celebrated in Australia and across the United States.

"Music education is a powerful tool for engagement, harmony, creativity and achievement in young people," says Coalition for Music Education in Canada Executive Director, Ingrid Whyte. "The schools participating in Music Monday are among the fortunate, as most of them have music programs. Unfortunately, many students across Canada don't have music programs in their schools due to funding cutbacks and lack of resources."

Music Monday is celebrated on the first Monday of May each year at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 11 a.m. Mountain time, 12 p.m. Central time, 1 p.m. Eastern time, 2 p.m. Atlantic time and 2:30 p.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"The benefits of music education go far beyond the classroom - music fosters imagination, creativity, discipline and achievement in our young people," says Whyte. "The skills they learn through music and the arts in our classrooms today will help develop skills in an economy that is increasingly dependent on creativity."

About the Coalition for Music Education in Canada

The Coalition for Music Education in Canada advocates for the contribution that music education makes in the lives of all Canadians. We believe that music is key - in learning and in life. It is our goal is to see that all children have a quality program in music through their schools. For more information and resources in support of quality music education, please visit our website at: www.weallneedmusic.ca.

Visit www.musicmonday.ca for a complete listing of Music Monday events in your local area.

For further information: To arrange interviews or for more information, please contact: Jason Squire/Beatrice Bastedo, TRILLIUM Corporate Communications Inc., [phone] ext 227/231, [email protected], [email protected]