Celebrating Canadian Musicians on International Music Day

Sep­tem­ber 30, 2004 — Inter­na­tional Music Day is an oppor­tu­nity to cel­e­brate the expan­sive land­scape of musi­cians and per­form­ers from all dif­fer­ent genres.

Cel­e­brated every Octo­ber 1, the day is an ini­tia­tive of the Inter­na­tional Music Coun­cil, and was first cel­e­brated in 1975, in accor­dance with a 1973 res­o­lu­tion taken by UNESCO. The Depart­ment of Cana­dian Her­itage agreed to take a lead­ing role in the pro­mo­tion of Inter­na­tional Music Day in 2000. For more infor­ma­tion on offi­cial events for Music Day, see the DCH web­site at http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/special/arts/musique/musique_e.cfm .

Cana­di­ans have much to cel­e­brate this year, as our musi­cians in all gen­res have dis­tin­guished them­selves both at home and around the world.

• Just last week, soprano Measha Brueg­ger­gos­man , a native New Brunswicker, was bestowed with the Over­all Award of Excel­lence from the Dutch Inter­na­tional Vocal Com­pe­ti­tion. In com­bi­na­tion with two other awards she received at the com­pe­ti­tion, Brueg­ger­gos­man won a total of $25,000 in prize money at the event. www.measha.com
• Hip hop artist K-os was recently high­lighted by the Amer­i­can music tele­vi­sion chan­nel VH1 as one of “the most impor­tant new artists around.” K-os has been lauded for his socially con­scious style, which serves as a breath of fresh air in a rap scene over­run by crassly com­mer­cial­ized and exploita­tive “prod­uct”. He is cur­rently tour­ing Canada in sup­port of his new release, Joy­ful Rebel­lion. www.k-osmusic.com
• In two short weeks since its release, The Arcade Fire ‘s new album, Funeral , has been hailed by crit­ics as haunt­ing and inno­v­a­tive. The Amer­i­can new music web­site Pitch­fork Media bestowed the album with a 9.7/10, one of their high­est rat­ings ever. Rolling Stone mag­a­zine noted “their tunes swell with regret and rage — but they do so beau­ti­fully.” On Music Day, the band will appear at Lee’s Palace in Toronto . www.arcadefire.com
• Alternative-country act The Sadies are off to Europe to pro­mote their fifth disc, Favourite Colours (and you can’t get much more Cana­dian than that spelling!) Released in August, the disc has received some of the warmest reviews of the band’s career, includ­ing a favourable notice in the alt-country bible No Depres­sion . They’ll return to Canada at the end of Octo­ber.   www.thesadies.net
• A for­mer mem­ber of the pop­u­lar band La Chi­cane, Val d’Or native Dany Bédar played to sold out venues all sum­mer, before his ulti­mate tri­umph at this summer’s Fran­co­folies de Mon­tréal. Bédar attracted the largest crowds of the fes­ti­val, with more than 30,000 peo­ple crowd­ing into the St. Cather­ine Street venue to hear him per­form songs from his new album, Écoute-moi donc .    His song “Y’a du monde” was the summer’s big hit, top­ping the fran­coph­one charts for four weeks. www.danybedar.com
• Three-time Juno win­ner for Best Jazz Album, Qualicum Beach, B.C. sax­o­phon­ist Phil Dwyer released an intensely per­sonal   album this sum­mer with Alan Jones and Rod­ney Whitaker titled Let Me Tell You About My Day , based on Dwyer’s bat­tles with bipo­lar dis­or­der. The trio’s live per­for­mance at the Sen­a­tor club in Toronto was lauded as one of the “Top Ten Moments in Jazz in 2003” by the Globe and Mail. www.phildwyer.com