Song for Music Monday 2009 Announced
Canadian Singer-Songwriter Serena Ryder's song Sing Sing has been chosen as 2009's Music Monday song.
Listen to Sing Sing:
Read the Radio 2 Blog post on Sing Sing and Serena Ryder's appearance on the November 18, 2008 broadcast of Radio 2 Drive with Rich Terfry.
The Event
On the first Monday of May each year, students and teachers take their music programs outside into the open air of their school grounds or into their communities, to perform a short concert. There are outdoor concerts right across the country from the elementary level right through to secondary schools - some small celebrations, some large. Some will perform on their own; others will collaborate with local schools and organizations. Many community and professional organizations and ensembles are also involved, along with musicians and artists across the country.
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. Simple and inspiring, this melody is provided to schools in a variety of arrangements suitable for primary choirs through to senior high school bands and ensembles. In short, it is a piece of music that transcends all genres and unites everyone through the melody and the act of performing it at the same time. 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.
CBC Radio celebrates Music Monday, a day that marks our love of music - in our lives and in our schools. The special programming spans both Radio One and Radio 2 and is on Music Monday, May 4th, beginning with Radio 2 Morning with Tom Allen and going throughout the day, ending with the Signal in the evening. Consult the schedule for details.
Message from the Director:
I am delighted to let you know that CBC Radio 2 will be happy to participate in Music Monday on May 4, 2009. Developed by the Coalition for Music Education, this initiative has had far-reaching impact on Canadian school children by promoting the awareness and value of music. At CBC, we believe that this initiative has potential to reach Canadians of all ages, and for this we are happy to engage our networks.
This past year CBC was very happy to participate in the 2008 Music Monday. We presented concert recordings, discussions, interviews and features with a wide range of Canadians who participated in the day in their own ways. We broadcast these elements on both of our Radio services, and online, and we found this approach to resonate deeply with listeners from coast to coast to coast.
Our goal, on Monday May 4 2009, will be to have our Radio 2 programs refer and engage again with the day as appropriate to existing program mandates. We will also endeavour to have our Radio 1 programs to again reflect the activity as it takes places in the many communities across the country. And we will look this year for ways to enhance our programming approaches to make an even deeper impact across the country.
We applaud the Coalition for Music Education for their passion and inspiration in making this day a significant time to reflect on the value of music in our lives.
Mark Steinmetz
Director
CBC Radio Music
A real Winnipeg favourite, this quartet brought its urban-rootsy, homespun sound to the Park Theatre. Their guitars, banjo, accordion, bass and drums are topped by the sweetest vocals and enhanced, strangely, by the theramin. Their sound captures the duality of the prairies in that it is at once contemporary and old-fashioned, dark and light, lonely yet cosy.
