Happy Music Monday everyone!

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Music Monday © Marnie Richardson

Music filled the air in Canada’s National Capital Region this afternoon when approximately 500 elementary students along with the NAC Orchestra’s Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet performed a special 20-minute concert at Ottawa City Hall in celebration of Music Monday

Music Monday, celebrated on the first Monday in May each year, is an annual event spearheaded by the Coalition for Music Education in Canada which celebrates the power of music programs in schools and highlight their importance through performances in communities across the country.

The NAC’s event at Ottawa City Hall was hosted by Rosemary Thompson, Director of NAC Communications. The Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet kicked off the performance with a brilliant and joyous fanfare.  The massed choir, led by Maestro Jackie Hawley and accompanied by pianist Laura Hawley as well as the Brass Quintet, performed beautiful renditions of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and Halley’s Song for Canada. The concert culminated at 1 p.m. when the massed choir at City Hall and in schools from coast to coast sang in unison the Music Monday theme song, Luke Doucet’s Tomorrow is Coming

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson spoke very eloquently at the event, at which time he declared May 7-13, 2012 to be ‘National Arts Centre Orchestra Week’ in the National Capital Region. (National Arts Centre Orchestra Week is a high-spirited week-long series of events highlighting the role of the NAC Orchestra and its musicians in the local community).

Congratulations and a very special thank you to Jackie Hawley, the members of the Rideau Lakes Brass Quintet, Rosemary Thompson, Laura Hawley, the numerous choristers, student participants, teachers and parent volunteers, as well as Xavier Forget, Meiko Taylor, and Mary Gordon for making this event such a great success!  Way to go!!!

The National Arts Centre’s participation in Music Monday is made possible by support from the Friends of the NAC Orchestra. The NAC is proud to partner with the Coalition for Music Education in Canada for this event.

We hope to see everyone again for Music Monday in 2013!

Blog entry by: Kelly Abercrombie
Music Education Associate, Schools and Community Programs, Canada’s National Arts Centre


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