Who?
Everybody. Although it often begins with students, teachers and their surrounding community, Music Monday also includes music retailers, community groups, politicians, professional organizations, ensembles, and artists. It has even inspired similar initiatives in the US, Australia, Britain and Hungary! Music Monday 2011 had over 650,000 participants from coast to coast!
What?
Music Monday is an annual event that brings together thousands of students, musicians, parents and community members across the country to celebrate the gift of music in our lives, on the same day at the same time. The Coalition for Music Education launched Music Monday in 2005.
When?
Always on the first Monday of May, next year Music Monday happens on Monday, May 7th. The magic of the event is that at the same point during that day, that is, at 10 am Pacific time, 11 am Mountain time, 12 pm Central time, 1 pm Eastern time and 2 pm Atlantic time, and 2:30 in Newfoundland, schools right across the country are united by one piece of music.
Where?
Across the country and around the world. Our goal is to “Fill the Skies with Music.” Hence we encourage you to take your music to the fields and to the streets on this wondrous occasion. The idea is that if one were to open the front door of his or her home and stand on the street on the first Monday in May, one would hear music and the skies would be filled with melody.
Why?
This is the time for students, teachers and everyone to unite with their communities to show their love of music in their schools and in their lives.
Our most important goal with Music Monday is to celebrate the galvanizing power of music in Canada and demonstrate how that power is rooted in school music programs. We are creating an event that can be used as a platform to inspire public celebration, awareness and discussion every year. We want to provide a tangible demonstration of how music programs shape young lives and the fun young people have in making music.
We want to show the important links between school music programs, their communities and the cultural vitality of this country. And finally, it is our hope that the public, particularly parents, are encouraged to actively support quality music education, and that our administrators will make the right decisions for our children and education – an education that includes music as a pillar to a well-balanced educational experience.