Coalition for Music Education raises the volume on the importance of music!

Canadian Celebrities lend their voices to encourage all Canadians to make a difference and register for the national sing-along and live web-cast in honour of the 10th Anniversary of Music Monday!

TORONTO, April 16, 2014 /CNW/ - On Monday, May 5^th Music Monday celebrates its 10^th anniversary with a live webcast linking simultaneous cross Canada events in St. John's NL; Halifax Regional Municipality NS; Charlottetown, PEI; Toronto, ON; Winnipeg, MB; Edmonton, AB; Whitehorse, YT; Ottawa, ON; Montreal, QC and Vancouver, BC. The event will conclude with a synchronized nationwide performance of I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) with former Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield, led by Maestro Bramwell Tovey of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.  The live webcast will air between 12 - 1pm ET on Monday, May 5, 2014 and can be accessed at musicmonday.ca.

"The incredible responses by prominent Canadians who are willing to celebrate Music Monday are strong messages that music affects people from all walks of life," says Holly Nimmons, Executive Director, Coalition for Music Education in Canada. "We're hoping that these messages will resonate locally, inspiring those in communities large and small to also lend their voices to the cause."

Additional celebrities and special guests who have committed to help raise awareness for music education include Oliver Jones, Lennie Gallant, Sean Panting, Red Robinson, NAC Chamber Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony and the McGill Chamber Orchestra. Representatives from the worlds of music, science, business, sports, politics, comedy, and more will join in via video and audio messages in support of Music Monday including: environmentalist David Suzuki, children's entertainer Fred Penner, R&B singer-songwriter Jully Black, Olympic medalist Jennifer Jones, Dragon's Den financier W. Brett Wilson, MP Andrew Cash, and comedian Dean Jenkinson.

"This event is an incredible way to demonstrate the importance music plays in bringing people together," said Chris Stamper, Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing, TD Bank Group. "We're thrilled at TD to be a part of this experience as we're committed to supporting access to music, which includes providing youth with opportunities for musical education."

In 2013, thousands of Music Monday celebrations accounted for one million participants across the globe! For this year's event, schools and community groups across the country have already registered their celebrations, including:

• drum dancers and accordion music at Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik school in Nunavut;
  
  
• an integration of Music with Visual arts and Science at Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Annex School;
  
  
• an airband contest at Medicine Hat's École Connaught School;
  
  
• an assembly with the singing of O Canada in English, French and Ojibway at Southampton (ON)'s GC Huston Public School;
  
  
• a percussion ensemble of drums and xylophones joining with school choir to lead the students of Lachute (QC) Laurentian Elementary School in singing and celebrating;
  
  
• a performance at a local seniors home by Charlottetown (PEI)'s Stonepark Intermediate; and more.

The 10^th Anniversary program will recognize this participation with a special on-line contest which offers Music Monday participants an opportunity to win a Skype chat with Colonel Chris Hadfield, and earn a chance to be part of the live webcast.  For more information about prize opportunities and to register an event, please visit www.musicmonday.ca.

Since its inception in 2005, Canada's annual celebration of music education, Music Monday has touched the lives of millions of students and teachers across Canada who take their music programs into their communities to perform the same song on the same day, at the same time, uniting the entire country in song. Music Monday takes place on the first Monday May each year.

I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) was written by former Canadian Space Agency Astronaut and musician Col. Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson and commissioned by The Coalition for Music Education and CBCMusic.ca in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency to celebrate music education in schools across Canada.

Music Monday 2014 is made possible with the generous support of TD Bank Group and The NAMM Foundation, as well as Titanium level support from Yamaha Canada Music Inc. and Long and McQuade and all of our partners.

MusicMakesUs.ca

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Image with caption: "Coalition for Music Education raises the volume on the importance of music! (CNW Group/Coalition for Music Education in Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20140416_C4152_PHOTO_EN_39388.jpg

SOURCE: Coalition for Music Education in Canada

National Media Contact: Victoria Lord, VLPR Inc. | 416.484.9047 | [email protected]