LLr5F

A joint project of The Kiwanis Music Festival – National Capital Region and Ottawa Innercity Ministries
Purpose:
To form a choral group comprised of street-involved and at-risk youth (clients of Ottawa Innercity
Ministries and other youth-service organizations in Ottawa) who will rehearse weekly in order to
ultimately participate in the Kiwanis Music Festival. Led by a choral director, the youth will learn
how to read music, manage their voices, work effectively as a team, and more.
Music performance teaches young people to conquer fear and to take safe risks. Healthy and safe
risk-taking is essential if a young person is to fully develop his or her potential. Music contributes
to mental health and can help prevent risky behavior such as teenage drug abuse, which often leads
to institutionalization. The research behind this shows that the study of music leads to greater selfesteem,
self-confidence and empathy for others. It teaches patience, discipline and dedication as well
as how to work collaboratively as part of a team.
Students of the arts learn to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions
– there is no one right answer in music. Given that the majority of street-involved youth are already
“out of the box” thinkers, we feel strongly that this type of program will suit them very well and so
should be very successful.
Activities:
The choir will rehearse once a week under the direction of the Choir Director, Chris Santillán. The
repertoire will be a mix of music chosen by the group including sacred, classical and popular music.
Each rehearsal will include a time of fellowship including a small meal. The main goal will be to participate
in the Kiwanis Music Festival under the Community Choirs category in 2016. We anticipate
that, with proper publicity and lots of practice, the Choir will also be asked to perform for community
events.
We are deeply grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Community Foundation of Ottawa
for providing us with the necessary funding to begin work on this project.
For more information, contact:
Kim Chadsey, Associate Executive Director | 613.818.4664 cell | kim@okmf.ca
184