We are gearing up for another great semester. Ekow and Sway can’t decide on the songs we are doing this semester – so much to choose from – but whatever it is it should be a lot of fun. Come on and sign up on October 4th from 5pm – 7pm at the Masaryk-Cowan Community Centre.

This is a piece that AUXtv put together for us a couple of semesters ago, enjoy!

We love to profile our teachers since they give us so much of their time and attention. Sway tried to restrict me from writing this post, fearing that it would seem like self-promotion but I wanted to make sure that at least you got the opportunity to know what our teachers were up to…

This is Sway’s latest music from his band “Freedom or Death”, I am a fan but you can judge for yourself, here is the video for “This Crowded Room” go to the Freedom or Death Myspace page for the rest of the EP.

At the end of every semester, Outside the Box {our free music education program for youth aged 7 t0 13} hosts 1 or 2 recording days, so that the kids can experience the recording process with real sound engineers, a studio and the finishing touches that go into making music.  On the 1st day of recording day we had the pleasure of having Hamutal Dotan and Christopher Drost from the Torontoist coming by to pay us a visit; Hamutal interviewed students, parents, teachers and the team in her subtle, friendly way while Chris captured the images {we’ll post them soon} and video that frankly took my breath away – we have really great kids in our program!

The video above is just a small sample of what recording day is like here at KUPE, it’s the reason we do what we do.  A special Thank You to Hamutal & Chris for shining some light on our special day!

For the full article by Hamutal Dotan click here.

THANK YOU!

p.s. we’ll let you know when you can see the amazing pictures Chris took of the kids.

During the excitement of our 48 Hour Edelman’s Little Give Challenge, Aidan Nulman founder of YouPhonics reached out to us via twitter to let us know that he would be donating the proceeds from the VIP tickets to his company’s launch party to our fund-raising efforts.  To say that we were stoked is an understatement!

Last night was the YouPhonics launch party; KUPE was invited to speak about our Music Education Program and to say THANK YOU for the generous donation.  Aidan is particularly passionate about music! He is enthusiastic about the need for music education and loves the way we do things here at KUPE.  The crowd was an awesome mix of music, art, social media and tech people, it was held on a downtown rooftop patio with a beautiful view of a Toronto skyline, a huge Steam Whistle keg and 4 live music performances {Sway, Jarel and Ekow, really sorry you guys couldn’t make it}.  I made some great contacts and look forward to exploring those new relationships to help KUPE grow and serve more kids! Did I mention they raised over $500 for us?  Isn’t that the bee’s knees?

KUPE Arts Society would like to say THANK YOU  to Aidan Nulman and YouPhonics for their support!

It took us a while to get this up, but as a follow up to our great time with Edelman, here are the results of what Team Awesomesauce accomplished within the 48 hour timeframe and our follow up items.  Enjoy!!

In early February of this year a friend of KUPE’s nominated us for Edelman’s Little Give – Established in 2008, “The Little Give” is Edelman Canada’s annual corporate social responsibility initiative that dedicates a little bit of seed money and a whole lot of time and energy to worthy non-profit organizations working to make a difference in the lives of children and youth. The Little Give took place over 48 hours in three Canadian cities simultaneously—Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver—from 4pm Thursday June 3rd to 4pm Saturday June 5th, 2010.  So what happened with KUPE and Edelman over the 48 hrs?

On Thursday June 3, 2010 – Day 2 of our Spring semester recording day – Jarel and I, go to Edelman Toronto for the launch of this amazing 48hr challenge.  After the kickoff with Edelman staff and the other 9 partners participating in the Little Give, we were introduced to our team – Team Purposeterous Awesomesauce.  The challenge we presented them with – help KUPE find a permanent home.  Yup – we asked them to find us a home in 48hrs… Before they got to that though, Team Awesome {our name for them}, said “we want to see your current home and what you do”. At 8:13pm, Team Awesome, Jarel and I arrive at the center for KUPE’s Outside The Box Music Program’s recording day where our team got to meet Sway, Ekow, the engineering team, some parents,  a teacher or 2 and hear the kids record their vocals.  Team Purposeterous Awesomesauce was psyched for the challenge!

Jarel and Alicia @ Edelman Toronto offices meeting with the team

The Edelman team in the recording booth with one of our talented singers

On Friday June 4, 2010 – Bright and early, Edelman’s Team Purposeterous Awesomesauce are so ready! Members of the team were doing groundwork in Parkdale, making connections with the BIA, local businesses, real estate agents and speaking to community members.  Other teammates were completing the finishing touches on the NOTEXNOTE campaign – a thoughtful plan to engage the community, the KUPE team, talented musicians and the Parkdale BIA.

The logo created by our Edelman team for the campaign

Rosalind on the street in Parkdale checking in with the rest of the team at the Edelman offices

Rachel H. at the offices making it happen

The rest of the Edelman team at the offices hammering out some details

The result was a flash jam/fundraiser from 4 to 7pm that day.  Live Music, Community Outreach, Fundraising and Teamwork at it’s finest coming together to make a difference.  All in the first 24hrs!!!!

Sway and a young guitarist making music in Parkdale at the Flash Jam

On Saturday June 5, 2010 – At 2:30pm Sway, Jarel and I attended the Edelman’s Little Give Wrap Party.  In good fun there was a competitive aspect to the Little Give {between the 10 teams helping their partners} and we’re pleased to announce WE WON!!!!!  Our Team Purposeterous Awesomesauce went above and beyond anyone’s expectations and has had a tremendous impact on KUPE but more importantly on the youth we so happily serve!

Alicia and Jarel hearing the results of the Edelman team’s work for the first time

Sway’s reaction – priceless!!

More tears!!

Our team wins the Edelman Little Game for their work with us on the Little Give – confusing I know but trust me it was a good thing as you can see, they totally deserved it.

Sway with some trophy love!

KUPE Arts Society would like to thank Edelman’s Little Give, The Parkdale BIA {Marcus McLean}, The Parkdale village Community, The Musicians who played the Flash Jam {and the Musicians that would have} and the generous donors {twoonies can make a difference!} who gave their time and resources to make this experience so meaningful!

Sway, Jarel and I would like to personally Thank Team Purposeterous Awesomesauce of Edelman – Robyn A., Sara R., Stephanie M., Rachel S., Cynthia I., Yomi O., Rosalind O., and Rachel H.{thank you for nominating us} for their extraordinary hard work, consideration, expertise and incredible results!