Outside The Box
In the Fall of 2008, OTB was created when Sway – a Toronto-based musician, entertainer, journalist, media host and public servant – and Brent Bain – a Toronto-based arts program administrator and entrepreneur – developed this successful curriculum and began promoting the first semester of the program to local schools in the Parkdale region of Toronto. The response was overwhelmingly positive and immediate. With 30 kids signing up within only a few days and after enlisting the help of other local musicians to serve as teachers, the first wave of graduates from the Outside The Box Music Program began their learning experience. The first semester’s curriculum was based on Feist’s “1,2,3,4″. The song was taken apart by each instrument and used as a guideline to teach chords, notes and scales. At the end of the program, the kids created a recording of the song – Click here to access the OTB MySpace page to hear their work of art. It’s really inspiring!!!
In the Spring of 2009, the second semester of the program was started and was sadly put in jeopardy due to the Toronto civil workers strike that took place at that time. The strike prevented Parkdale’s Masaryk-Cowan Community Centre from opening and thus the OTB program was put on hold.
Now back in full swing, Outside The Box is growing and has registered another 48 students for the Fall 2009 semester. The students will learn to perform and write music for their respective instruments. The students who participated in the first two installments will be learning the song “February Air” by the singer Lights and will record at the end of this semester. The kids returning for their second round will be learning a slightly more challenging the song, “Gimme Sympathy”, by the band Metric, which will also be recorded at the end of the semester.
Presented by the non-profit KUPE Arts Society, Outside The Box will continue to grow and will soon have sister programs offering visual art and photography classes.
Look for more programs and public awareness and fundraising efforts across Canada in 2010 and 2011. This program deserves to grow and KUPE Arts Society is working to make that happen.
In the Fall of 2008, OTB was created when Sway – a Toronto-based musician, entertainer, journalist, media host and public servant – and a few good friends developed this successful curriculum and began promoting the first semester of the program to local schools in the Parkdale area of Toronto. The response was overwhelmingly positive and immediate. With 30 kids signing up within only a few days and after enlisting the help of other local musicians to serve as teachers, the first wave of graduates from the Outside The Box Music Program began their learning experience. The first semester’s curriculum was based on Feist’s “1,2,3,4″. The song was taken apart by each instrument and used as a guideline to teach chords, notes and scales. At the end of the program, the kids created a recording of the song – Click Here to access the OTB MySpace page to hear their work of art. It’s really inspiring!!!
In the Spring of 2009, the second semester of the program was started and was sadly put in jeopardy due to the Toronto civil workers strike that took place at that time. The strike prevented Parkdale’s Masaryk-Cowan Community Centre from opening and thus the OTB program was put on hold.
Now back in full swing, Outside The Box is growing and has registered another 48 students for the Fall 2009 semester. The students will learn to perform and write music for their respective instruments. The students who participated in the first two installments will be learning the song “February Air” by the singer Lights and will record at the end of this semester. The kids returning for their second round will be learning a slightly more challenging the song, “Gimme Sympathy”, by the band Metric, which will also be recorded at the end of the semester.
Outside The Box will continue to grow and will soon have sister programs offering visual art and photography classes.
Look for more programs and public awareness and fundraising efforts across Canada in 2010 and 2011. This program deserves to grow and KUPE Arts Society is working to make that happen!
