by Aaron Brophy
Over the years members of big name acts like Sloan, Blue Rodeo, Metric, Broken Social Scene and Barenaked Ladies have all taken to the Closer To The Heart stage. This year's event, Closer To The Heart's eighth edition, takes place Aug. 13 at Toronto's Hard Rock Cafe and will feature Sean Cullen (The Producers), David Diamond & Mr. Zero (The Kings), Stephen Stanley (ex-Lowest of the Low), Kevin Kane (Grapes of Wrath), Tara Slone (ex-Joydrop, co-host Rogers' Hometown Hockey), Justin Nozuka, Maranda Thomas (Lost & Found Music Studios TV show), Julian Taylor (Staggered Crossing) and Hill Kourkoutis (The Sky Heroes, Serena Ryder). Diego Antonio Fuentes Lopez is hosting. Tickets are $30.
Samaritanmag spoke to Closer To The Heart's producer Karen Pace about her favourite moments from past editions and what people can expect from this year's show.
The Regent Park School of Music runs after-school music lessons, heavily-subsidized, which means they pay about a dollar or two dollars per music lesson for at-risk kids in underprivileged neighbourhoods in Toronto. It started out in Regent Park for the Regent Park community, but it's been run so well and it's grown so much that they now have after-school music programs in Regent Park, Jane and Finch, Lawrence Heights, Parkdale, at-risk areas all over the city. Right now they have 1,400 students in the program and they want to raise that to 3,000. So the money that people like me can raise privately helps go to subsidize more kids being able to take music lessons.
How do you define an at-risk student?
Usually these neighbourhoods have a very high constitution of new Canadians, low income level, these are people who have come to Canada and are just starting out, just making their lives in Canada from countries all over the world. They start off with nothing when they get here so having music classes affords them with something they're not necessarily getting in schools. Because music programs have been cut, they're the first thing that gets cut from a school budget — music, the arts — these are programs they can't afford teachers for so they just don't have those programs in Toronto schools any more.
Who are some of the big names who've performed at Closer To The Heart over the years?
(Sloan's) Chris Murphy has played it, Emily Haines from Metric, Emm Gryner, Ron Hawkins, Esthero played in 2005 at the Hard Rock Cafe and she was covering a Platinum Blonde song, "Doesn't Really Matter," and someone heard about it before the gig and called (Platinum Blonde's) Mark Holmes and he showed up unannounced and jumped on stage for the second half of the song. She didn't know he was coming up. So it was a surprise. Nobody told her. It was fantastic.
--taken from: SamaritanMag (read more here)
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