International Stars Advocate Music for Canada's Young

Dr. José Antonio Abreu and Linda Ronstadt headline symposium

TORONTO , Sept. 30 /CNW/ - Tickets are now on sale for The Promise of Music: Transforming Young Minds and Lives. This one-day music education symposium aims to drive home the critical importance of music to the cognitive, social and creative development of children and youth.

Founder of the revolutionary Venezuelan music education program, El Sistema, Dr. Abreu makes his Toronto debut to receive The Glenn Gould prize.

After pointing to the Venezuelan program as a model for the United States in her spring address to Congress, Ronstadt will meet Abreu for the first time in Toronto in October.

"There's no greater evidence of the transformative impact of music on children's lives than this program. I can't wait to meet the man who had the vision to make it happen," says Ronstadt.

Joining Abreu and Ronstadt is a stellar lineup of Canadian and international champions and performers including:

    
    Murray McLauchlan - singer, songwriter, and host of The Promise of Music
    Dr. Daniel Levitin - neuroscientist and author, delivering the morning
    keynote address
    Kenya's Mully Children's Family Choir - with founders Dr. Charles and
    Esther Mulli
    Pinchas Zukerman - artistic director of The National Arts Centre
    Orchestra
    The Honourable Tommy Banks - Senate of Canada
    Dr. Heather Ross - director of cardiac transplantation at the Toronto
    General Hospital
    Mark Churchill - dean and artistic director at the New England
    Conservatory of Music
    

The one-day symposium is a must-attend event for parents, educators, artists, arts administrators and anyone who cares about children and the significant role music plays in their development.

The Promise of Music is part of The Glenn Gould Prize Celebration of Music: a week-long residency featuring the 250-strong Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra and its visionary founder Dr. José Antonio Abreu . It is jointly presented by The SOCAN Foundation and The Glenn Gould Foundation, in partnership with The Royal Conservatory of Music.

    
    When: Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 8:30am-5pm
    Where: The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto
    Tickets: $45 (half day); $75 full day (space is limited)
    www.thepromiseofmusic.ca
    

For further information: Julia Howell, [phone], Email: [email protected]; Beth Sulman, [phone], Email: [email protected]; Emma Jowett, [phone] x 217, Email: [email protected]