The Canadian Country Music Association Board of Directors announced today that MusiCounts, Canada’s music education charity, will receive the 2015 Slaight Music Humanitarian Award.
In the past, this CCMA Award of Achievement has recognized those who have made an outstanding contribution in the support of humanitarian causes in Canada. The CCMA Board of Directors selected MusiCounts to receive this honour in 2015 to recognize the success of their endeavours to recognize and support music education coast to coast, impacting not only future country music artists and musicians, but all youth that benefit from such programs.
“The foundational pillars of the CCMA are to educate, elevate and celebrate Canadian country music. The mission of MusiCounts aligns significantly with the members of the CCMA, especially those that are artists, and so the association is proud to support a charity that champions music education across Canada,” said Brian Hetherman, Chair of the CCMA Board of Directors.
MusiCounts, which is associated with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), is helping to keep music alive in schools across Canada. The mission of MusiCounts is to ensure that children in Canada, regardless of socio-economic circumstances or cultural background, have access to a music program through their schools and communities.
Since the establishment of MusiCounts in 1997, nearly $8,000,000 has been awarded to help support music education in Canada. These funds have impacted over 700 schools and communities from coast to coast, supported over 320 post-secondary music program graduates and honoured ten extraordinary music teachers through the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award.
In 2012, the CCMA announced that MusiCounts would be one of the association’s official charities of choice, and aligned itself to support MusiCounts programs and initiatives through various fundraising and awareness activities. In recent years, a portion of each ticket sold to the annual CCMA Awards Show has been donated directly to MusiCounts. A number of CCMA members, including Gord Bamford, Dean Brody, Doc Walker, Kira Isabella, Brett Kissel, Jimmy Rankin, Johnny Reid and Shania Twain, among others, have enthusiastically taken up this cause by directly being involved in donating and/or being part of the many annual MusiCounts celebration presentations.
“We are extremely honoured to receive this award and would like to thank the Slaight family, who continue to be one of MusiCounts best supporters, for making this award possible,” said Allan Reid, President and CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards & MusiCounts. “The Canadian country music community has embraced MusiCounts passionately and has helped us to continue to grow and positively impact the lives thousands of children across Canada through the joy of making music.”
This award is currently named the Slaight Music Humanitarian Award in recognition of a generous donation by the Slaight Music Foundation.
“I am very pleased to hear that MusiCounts is the recipient of the 2015 Slaight Music Humanitarian Award. Our family has been proud supporters of MusiCounts from early on,” said Gary Slaight, President and CEO of Slaight Communications. “We understand the importance of music education in young peoples’ lives and congratulate the MusiCounts team in all their efforts to ensure schools are providing the best instruments to their students.”
The 2015 Slaight Music Humanitarian Award will be presented to MusiCounts during a private industry event held during Country Music Week, which takes place September 10 – 13 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Visit ccma.org for event information. For further details on the Slaight Music Humanitarian Award, and other CCMA Awards of Achievement, click here.
