On the first Monday in May, hundreds of thousands of students across Canada joined their voices and instruments together to participate in the 10th anniversary of Music Monday.
Held simultaneously in cities across the country, student hosts introduced various individual music performances from their respective locations. The hour-long event was webcast live, linking participants from Newfoundland to the Yukon. At about 12:50 p.m. EST, everyone came together to sing the same song at the same time.
Although he sang from space for Music Monday 2013, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield performed from Edmonton this year. “Music makes us,” he said over the webcast. “It’s such a very human thing. It’s a way to celebrate and understand our humanity itself.”
Hadfield has been a life-long fan of music. He even brought a foldable guitar to the Russian Mir space station on his first space flight in 1995. But more than just an enthusiast, Hadfield emphasizes need for music in daily life, and how it involves more than just singing or playing instruments.
“It takes discipline and practice and leadership in order to be able to create music and pass on the traditions that music brings,” he said.
Hadfield wrote the Music Monday theme song, “I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)”, with Barenaked Ladies frontman, Ed Robertson. In a special guest appearance from Tuscany, Robertson announced that next year, anybody can write the Music Monday theme song. In partnership with the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), Music Monday is inviting any interested Canadians to submit their song ideas for 2015.
Whether they were elementary school students or professional orchestras, all of the Music Monday 2014 performances were impressive and creative. Different music styles and arrangements were represented, from classical concert bands to singing in the Cree language. Regardless of where the music was played from, the overwhelming enthusiasm fueled by a love of all music was inspiring.
Launched by the Coalition for Music Education in 2005, Music Monday brings students, teachers, parents, musicians, politicians and other public figures and organizations together to celebrate the gift of music and promote its involvement in schools and youth education. Its mission is to “fill the skies with music.”
