May 12, 2006 -

NAC Music Ambassador programme in Saskatchewan will now be known as the “NAC Shumiatcher Music Ambassador Programme”

OTTAWA -- The NAC is delighted to announce that Saskatchewan philanthropist Jacqui Shumiatcher has donated $60,000 to the National Arts Centre’s Music Ambassador Programme, an initiative that brings professional teaching musicians from Saskatchewan and Alberta into primarily rural schools in those provinces to teach classical music and assist elementary school teachers.
“I feel that music is a basic necessity when we start out in life,” Shumiatcher said. “It has been proven time and time again that everyone exposed to music—especially children--gains enormously. Thank you to the National Arts Centre for conjuring this fantastic programme and for giving us the opportunity to participate in this exciting project.”

Ms. Shumiatcher’s gift will help fund the Music Ambassador Programme over the next two years and the programme will now be known in Saskatchewan as the “NAC Shumiatcher Music Ambassador Programme” until 2008.
“We are incredibly grateful to Jacqui Shumiatcher for supporting this important programme—one that is helping us boost music education in Saskatchewan,” said Darrell Louise Gregersen, NAC Executive Director of Development and CEO of the NAC Foundation.
“Thanks to Jacqui’s generous gift, we can keep bringing high-quality music education experiences to students and teachers who don’t always have access to them.”

A Regina resident, Ms. Shumiatcher has been a key supporter of the arts in Saskatchewan. She has received recognition and many honours for her generosity, among them: an award for Sustained Support of the Arts at the first-ever City of Regina Business and the Arts Awards (February 2005); an induction into the Margaret Woodward Theatre Hall of Fame (2002), along with her late husband, Dr. Morris C. Shumiatcher, who was also a major supporter of the arts in Saskatchewan; the Saskatchewan Order of Merit (2001); and the Mayor’s Community Volunteer Award in the arts category (2000).

The Music Ambassador Programme began in January 2006 and will target a total of 300 elementary schools in mainly rural areas in both Alberta and Saskatchewan over the next three years. Through the programme, three teaching musicians in each province lead music classes for students in Grades 4-6, as well as clinics for elementary school teachers.

The Saskatchewan teaching musicians are Sally Cochrane, a flutist who has played with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra since 1983; Lisa Simmermon, principal timpanist with the Regina Symphony Orchestra; and Brian Johnson, principal second violin with the Regina Symphony Orchestra.

From January to March, the “ambassadors” have visited 17 Saskatchewan schools, including three French schools and two First Nations band-operated schools.

The teaching musicians use a teacher resource kit called Vivaldi and the Four Seasons that the NAC developed with curriculum expertsand distributed to every elementary school in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The NAC also distributed instructional resource units designed by University of Alberta’s Dr. Robert de Frece, a professor of music and music education, and Janie Fries, a teacher who has been actively involved with the recent renewal of Saskatchewan’s arts education curriculum.

The NAC Orchestra’s performance and education tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan, that took place from Nov. 7-19, included over 90 educational events.

The National Arts Centre Foundation was established in July 2000, with the mandate to raise significant financial support for artistic and educational programming by the NAC. The Foundation’s mission is to inspire individuals, corporations and foundations to invest in the NAC’s national vision of artistic innovation, development of young talent, and creation of new works, to benefit all Canadians.

A substantial portion of the Foundation’s funds are raised through its National Youth and Education Trust, providing nearly one third of the NAC’s education and youth outreach budget. These funds support programmes that reach out to Canada’s youth with artistic performances, training for young artists and educational resources.

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For more information, please contact:
Mary Gordon
Communications Advisor
National Arts Centre
(613) 947-7000 x 524