Over 550 students from 12 schools and three community choirs in the Ottawa area performed under the direction of Jackie Hawley, Conductor of the Music Monday massed choirs in Jean Pigott Hall at Ottawa City Hall.

Students from St. Theresa Catholic Secondary School, Nicholson Catholic College and St. Paul Secondary School joined musical forces on Monday, May 2.  The concert was one of 760 registered events in Ontario (and 1700 in Canada) celebrating “Music Monday”, which is an initiative of the Coalition for Music Education created to bring publicity to music education programs and stress the importance of music in our schools.  All St. Theresa students were invited to attend the concert.  The mass band/choir, with students from all three schools performing together, as seen here, was directed by guest conductor, Mr. Don Embree.

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This year’s Music Monday features a new song, “Tomorrow is Coming,” written and performed by Juno Award nominated, Canadian Folk Music Award winning artist Luke Doucet. Co-commissioned with CBC Radio 2, “Tomorrow is Coming” is available on iTunes with proceeds going to support the work of the Coalition. A wide variety of arrangements are also available for free on the Music Monday website at www.musicmonday.ca.

In 2011, the heart of Music Monday will be the Showcase Concert, starring Luke Doucet, in Winnipeg at The Forks, a symbol of the hundreds of celebrations taking place in communities across the country.  The Forks is considered Winnipeg’s meeting place, one of its most beloved locations, at the junction of the Assiniboine and mighty Red rivers.

“May 2^nd is also Election Day and for many schools this means their gyms will be turned into polling stations that are filled with Canadian music lovers,” says Coalition for Music Education Executive Director, Ingrid Whyte. “This is a perfect time to come out of the classrooms and make music to demonstrate the importance of music education in your community.”

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

More than 500 local students will celebrate music education with a special 20-minute Music Monday performance on May 2, 2011, at 12:45 p.m. at Ottawa City Hall’s Jean Pigott Hall. Members of the Cantiamo Girls Choir of Ottawa and the Ottawa Children’s choir, along with their director Jackie Hawley, will join students and teachers from several Ottawa schools for the performance.

http://www.nac-cna.ca/en/whatson/event.cfm?ID=6649