Wishing you happy holidays and a year full of health, happiness and prosperity.
Looking forward to a musical and successful 2012!
From the team at the Montreal Academy of Music
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Lessons can be begin at anytime so contact us by phone at 514-376-8742 or register via the link below to get started:
http://www.academiedemontreal.com/Teacher&rates.html?l=fr&icID=0
Jack Layton, who was an accomplished musician, plays the electronic keyboard on a campaign plane while flying to Vancouver from a stop in Whitehorse Sunday in June, 2004 (Chuck Stoody/The Canadian Press)
Jack Layton defined the meaning of being Canadian. This is the moment when we feel so very sad and so very proud to be Canadian all at once.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper acknowledged the sheer determination of his “colleague and friend.”
“We have all lost an engaging personality and a man of strong principles,” he said.
Jack Layton, who had an easy rapport with the average person, plays the accordion with local St. John's candidate Ryan Cleary looking on, while visiting a music shop April 16, 2011. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)"
Harper recalled that Layton was a natural musician. “And we always talked about getting together to jam. But it seemed we were both always too busy. I will always regret the jam session that never was. That is a reminder, I think, that we must always make time for friends, family and loved ones while we still can.”
Infuse some excitement into your summer with music lessons at the Montreal Academy of Music. The relaxed rhythm of the summer months makes it the perfect time to continue your lessons or to try out a new instrument! With courses offered in almost every instrument under the sun, and instrument rentals starting at $15 per month, students are able to expand their musical horizons at an affordable cost and with no obligation. Whether you’re looking to take intensive lessons on multiple instruments, or simply want to fit in a lesson here or there, our flexible summer session affords you the luxury of scheduling lessons at your own pace. There is no reason not to keep music a part of your summer this year, so give us a call for more information or to get registered.
Whether you’ve decided to learn a new instrument or simply need to upgrade your current one, our music store has a wide selection of instruments for you to choose from at special student prices. Contact us at 514-376-8742 and our helpful advisers will guide you in the right direction!
The easy rhythm of the summer season is almost upon us. Take advantage of this relaxed time of year to try out and explore new instruments, or simply keep in tune with your current one. Our teachers are flexible and can schedule your lessons around vacations and other summer activities, so give us a call today to get registered!
Get ready for the fall session. Returning student registration deadline is June 3rd.
Due to high requests for the Fall session from the general public, we are currently reserving spots for returning students up until June 3rd.
* Avoid the September rush and register before the public to guarantee a spot with your current teacher for the fall session.
* After June 3rd, registration will be open to the public, so registering early also means you get the best choice of lesson times to fit your schedule.
* Registration is quick and easy and can be done online, by phone at 416-207 0884 / 905-918 0791 or just send us an email and we’ll take care of it for you!
Early in January of this year, I left my comfortable and familiar teaching routine in Montreal and flew south to Brazil for three months. Rest assured, I was not just lounging around on Copacabana beach while everyone back here was digging themselves out of a snowbank; I went to Rio de Janeiro with the very lofty musical goal of playing drums in the Samba parade for Carnaval.
Vanessa with the Escola de Musica da Rocinha jazz/bossa-nova band "Roçambossa"
The samba school I ended up drumming with is called Rocinha, which sits at the base of the shanty town, or favela, by the same name. Rocinha is the largest favela in all of South America, with an estimated 200 000 residents, and is quite a sight to behold, with thousands of little brick houses packed together up the face of a mountain. As I spent more time rehearsing at the samba school and getting to know the people of the community, I learned that there has been much NGO and volunteer activity focused on Rocinha for the last couple of decades, and now the government is finally starting to pay attention and provide them with some much-needed infrastructure.
There is a government high-rise beside the samba school that houses a medical clinic, a youth centre and several other important services. In this building there is also a music school called Escola de Musica da Rocinha (EMR), founded 17 years ago by a German musician and functioning completely on private donations and sponsors (save for the space provided by the government). I felt that I should do some volunteering during my stay in Rio, so I introduced myself to the directors of EMR and got to work helping conduct their jazz/bossa-nova band, writing arrangements and giving some piano lessons.
Currently, EMR has a very healthy inventory of donated instruments, enough to start a chamber orchestra, but sadly this year they are without a sponsor, so they were unable to retain many of their teachers. All of the remaining staff are working on a volunteer basis in order to keep the school going (as it is their policy not to charge students for lessons or ensembles). More teachers and an orchestral arranger/director are needed to be able to launch a youth orchestra program.
Some of you may have heard of El Sistema or Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. El Sistema is a youth orchestra program in Venezuela founded by musician and economist Jose Antonio Abreu in 1975 to help poor children learn to play an instrument and join an orchestra. The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra is one of the ensembles from this program and has won worldwide acclaim. 95% of the students in these orchestras come from poor communities just like Rocinha.
In the words of Jose Antonio Abreu, “Music has to be recognized as an agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values – solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community and to express sublime feelings”. I would love to see something like El Sistema take hold in Rio, and EMR would be a great place to start.
Vanessa Rodrigues, Youth Music Director
May 2011: The Montreal Academy of Music supports this year’s Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre Foundation auction benefiting disabled children. We wish the foundation continued success in all their objectives and hope that our contribution continues to offer hope for all children concerned.
New Research Shows How Group Drumming Can Help to Build Social and Emotional Skills
The NAMM Foundation announced the findings of a recent study that shows how group drumming can improve social and emotional behavior in low-income children. The study, that appears in the Oxford Journal: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, was conducted by the Pediatric Pain Program in the Department of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
The study, funded by Remo Belli (longtime NAMM Member and founder of REMO, Inc.), demonstrates how group drumming can significantly improve such problem behaviors as:
Group Drumming Helps Build Social and Emotional Skills
• Withdrawal/Depression
• Posttraumatic Stress
• Anxiety
• Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
• Oppositional Defiance
• Sluggish Cognitive Tempo
The researchers, who conducted the study with fifth grade classrooms at Napa Street Elementary School in the Los Angeles Unified School District, reported that its results “underscore the potential value of the arts as a therapeutic tool.”
•Check out drum options here: magasin.academiedemontreal.com
•School & Group Programs Available. Contact our education department: 514-376-8742 or visit http://www.montrealacademy.com/
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