TORONTO, ON - On Friday, November 18, MusiCounts and TD Bank Group hosted a special celebration at Toronto's Union Station, for the recipients of the 2016 MusiCounts TD Community Music Program. JUNO Award winning artist and official ambassador for Canada's 150 year celebration, Kardinal Offishall took to the stage for a surprise performance, and was joined by local Toronto recipient groups The Remix Project and Art Starts. This year, $525,000 worth of instruments and equipment were awarded to 33 community groups from across Canada.  

 

"MusiCounts helps to keep music alive in our schools and communities by putting instruments in the hands of young people right across Canada," said Kristy Fletcher, Director, MusiCounts. "Through TD Bank Group's continued support of our programming, the difference that we have made in the lives of thousands of youth through the MusiCounts TD Community Music Program is phenomenal."

 

"Music has the power to enrich lives and create stronger more vibrant communities," says Claudine Dupont, Vice President, Global Brand and Corporate Sponsorship, TD Bank Group. "Through our commitment to MusiCounts, we're providing youth with access to instruments and unique opportunities to learn through musical education."   

"I started as a young kid and was a part of a community program called Fresh Arts that helped get me where I am today," said Kardinal Offishall. "That's why it was so important for me to participate and make noise in Union Station to celebrate the MusiCounts TD Community Music program. We must continue in each way to empower youth and keep music alive in Canada."

 

This year, The Remix Project received $19,000 in new musical instruments and equipment and Art Starts received $10,000 in new musical instruments and equipment, two of the organizations benefitting from the program.   

The Remix Project is a grassroots organization that was created in order to help level the playing field for young people from disadvantaged, marginalized, and underserved communities. The program addresses the roots of youth violence by empowering youth and helping them create the ultimate career with their artistic skills. Art Starts inspires and cultivates social change by bringing professional artists and Toronto residents together to create community-building projects in all artistic disciplines. By establishing ongoing music projects in response to the interests and needs of the youth with whom they work, it can help offset negative influences and contribute to their personal development as well as their community's vitality.

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The MusiCounts TD Community Music Program provides musical instruments and equipment to after-school programs, community centres and other community nonprofit organizations that have great potential yet are in need of funding to ensure their sustained growth. This supply of instruments and equipment has the potential to be transformational and impact thousands of young Canadians and support diverse music programs in communities from coast  to coast. Overall 1.2 million dollars of instruments and equipment has been dispersed, with over 11,000 youth participants directly benefiting from the MusiCounts TD Community Music  Program. 

 

2016 MusiCounts TD Community Music Grant Recipients Are:

 

All-City Band Society, Whitehorse, Yukon Territories

Art Starts, Toronto, Ontario

Bella Coola Valley Learning Society, Bella Coola, British Columbia

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orillia, Orillia, Ontario

Birchmount Community Action Council c/o Youth Action Network, Scarborough/Toronto, Ontario

Boys & Girls Clubs Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton & Area, Edmonton, Alberta

Boys and Girls Club of Summerside, Summerside, Prince Edward Island

Boys and Girls Clubs of Cape Breton Whitney Pier Youth Club, Sydney, Nova Scotia

Boys and Girls Clubs of St. John's, Newfoundland

Cause and Effect Foundation, Calgary, Alberta

Centre de Pédiatrie Sociale Laval, Laval, Quebec

Girls Action Foundation, Montreal, Quebec

Graffiti Arts Programming Inc, Winnipeg Manitoba

Harmonie de la Seigneurie des Mille Iles, Saint-Eustache, Quebec 

Harmony Project Society of B.C., Sooke, British Columbia

Iqaluit Music Society, Iqaluit, Nunavut

Music NWT, Yellowknife, North West Territories

Ottawa Rock Camp for Girls, Ottawa, Ontario

PACT Urban Peace Program, Toronto, Ontario

Place du Partage, Windsor, Ontario

Regent Park Focus youth Media Arts Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Regina Symphony Orchestra Inc., Regina, Saskatchewan

Société culturelle des Tracadilles, Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick

Student Media Corporation, CJAM 99.1FM, Windsor, Ontario
The Edmonton Strings Players Association, Edmonton, Alberta
The HopeWorks Connection, Toronto, Ontario
The Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library (Joe's MILL), Kingston, Ontario
The Remix Project, Toronto, Ontario
The Treehouse Housing Association, Telkwa, British Columbia
UNITY Charity, Toronto, Ontario  
Wallaceburg and District Council for the Arts, Wallaceburg, Ontario
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Youth Link, Toronto, Ontario