Minstrel Foundation is now The Maestro Foundation

It is with great excitement that we announce our new name. The Maestro Foundation for Music & Arts Advancement.

We fund and support music and arts education programs for Toronto’s inner city, new immigrant and indigenous youth and after 27 years, we are delighted to update our name and branding to better reflect the diversity of communities we support and the goal of helping children achieve their potential regardless of their circumstances.

We continue to be the same charity, run by the same group of committed volunteers, dedicated to continuing and growing the funding of music and arts programs. It is business as usual as we transition to our new name.

Increasing Maestro Support for Humber College

After many years of successfully supporting the Humber College Community Jazz Program, we are now expanding our support at Humber’s request to enable more students from families of new immigrants, refugees, racialized youth, and families in need to participate in this program in Humber’s south Etobicoke community. We regularly have the pleasure of these talented young people perform at our annual gala. Our funds will lower tuition fees by 50 percent.  We have committed $10,000 a year for three years to support 111 students or 37 students a year.  

2023 Gala raises $185,000

Our 26th Anniversary Gala proved to be our best party yet. Kudos again to Casa Loma for the grand winter venue with spectacular Christmas décor and, best of all, Santa in residence. The evening raised $185,000 for our scholarships, camps, and music classes for youth across the GTA.

Possibly the most thrilled participants were the dozens of children admitted early on a special sold out Family Ticket.  Kids were treated to snacks and juice, and, with parents in tow, raced from one decorated room to another ending up with a visit to Santa and the photo to prove it. One delighted six year old pronounced it “The best Party ever.”  We agreed.

After the Family hour, the adults were treated to a grand dinner from Liberty Grand, music by the acclaimed violinist Moshe Hammer, Juno award winner guitarist James Bryan and vocals by the incomparable Liz Rodrigues and Mike Ruby.  Additional entertainment came from children who attend Minstrel programs. The evening was superbly emceed by multi-talented Matthew Brown, a Minstrel alumni, and ended with spirited bidding on several vacation packages to sunny climes. 

We wish to extend our thanks to all our evening sponsors, the participants and to Liberty Grand for again permitting us to use Casa Loma. 

An Evening in Support of Our Scholarships

On July 26, 2023 about 60 guests gathered at the grand home and garden of Nona Heaslip for an evening in support of Minstrel Foundation Scholarships. Guests were entertained by Vivid Ma, a multiple Minstrel scholarship winner over the past 5 years. Vivid graduated from the University of Toronto in 2022 and is currently entering second year of her MA program, studying piano performance at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas under the tutelage of Anton Nel. The evening was a huge success and ensured the planned funding of scholarships for advanced studies over the next year.

Update on Programs 2021 (Yes we're moving back to normal)

Spring & Summer 2021

The Minstrel Foundation sent 25 kids to the National Music Camp in Orillia which opened as an overnight camp following all government guidelines for camp operations during Covid. This year the camp was held from August 22nd to August 29th with both Junior and Senior Divisions taking place simultaneously.

We also sponsored for its inaugural year the St. James Town Summer Arts Camp. It featured fun-filled days of music, drama, dance and visual arts taught by professional artists to 24 children 7 to 14 years of age, following full Covid protocols.

The Dixon Hall Music School sent 8 students to a virtual spring break camp run by the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) from April 12th to 16th and sent 5 students to the RCM summer break virtual camps during July and August. In addition the Minstrel Foundation paid for RCM exams from Levels 2 to 8 for 8 Dixon Hall Music School students and an accompanist.

We once again supported the Hammer Band Summer Jam, a virtual musical experience through interactive games, fun activities, lessons, practice challenges and on-line concerts. Roughly 275 students participated over 12 weeks from June to August. Our funding assisted with the cost of teacher wages and administration.

Fall and Winter 2021-2022

The Minstrel Foundation is funding the St. James Town Children’s Choir from Sept. 2021 to June 2022. The program will be operating virtually from September to December at the very least and most likely until March break. The program cost includes online rehearsals, virtual choir videos and accompaniments.

Dixon Hall Music School began in-person classes in September for fully vaccinated students over 12 years with appropriate health protocols. We are hopeful that in-person spring and summer camps will once again be offered in 2022.

University Settlement Music School started in person lessons and some in person group classes again in September 2021 with increased health and safety measures in place to keep students and teachers safe.  After starting with a proof of vaccination requirement, it was decided that proof of vaccination would not be required for music students other than those taking lessons where masking was not possible such as voice, woodwind and brass. About half the students are under 12 and those above twelve often forgot their vaccine passports. The revised policy which meets provincial guidelines has the full support of teachers and staff, all of whom have to be vaccinated.

Minstrel Announces New Summer Camp Program

The Minstrel Foundation is pleased to announce a new program we will be supporting in 2021. Reaching Out Through Music has been providing free musical enrichment programs to children and youth of St. James Town, one of the most densely populated communities in Toronto and a new home to many of our immigrant families.

Our grant of $11,600 will launch the Summer Arts Camp to be held from August 9th – 20th 2021. The Camp will consist of workshops in Music, Drama, Dance and the Visual Arts, culminating in the co-creation and performance of a multi-faceted arts production and short film (5-10 mins). Professional staff will be assisted by counsellors from the community, volunteer parents and volunteer interns from Ryerson’s social work program who will accompany participants to classes and provide supervision during breaks.

It is planned that 12 children (8-11) and 18 youth (12-18) will attend the 2 week camp to be held at the St. James Town Community Corner and the Church of St. Peter and St. Simon on Bloor Street. Subsequent performances will at the St. James Town and Cabbagetown Festivals.

Hammer Band Fall & Winter Program

The Minstrel Foundation has contributed $15,000 to the Hammer Band to cover the cost of 25 Hammer Band students for the 30 weeks of the 2020/2021 school year and funds needed to purchase 10 tablets to distribute to students who do not have a computer or tablet and 20 violins to replenish inventory and provide new students with an instrument.

The experience gained in the Summer Jam program provided the Hammer Band with the knowhow to operate all of their programs online for the duration of the 2020-2021 school year.

Harbourfront Centre School Visits Program

The Minstrel Foundation has granted the Harbourfront Centre $5,000 to be used for their Accessible Education Initiative. Through this initiative, schools from lower socioeconomic and at-risk communities will be able to participate at no charge in Harbourfront Centre’s School Visits Program which runs all year. Our grant will go towards the cost of programs and school bus transportation and will cover more than 20% of the program’s budget. Our portion will be designated towards dance school visits, everything from contemporary through creative, latin, hip hop and urban.

Our grant will be applied to the fall school visits program which Harbourfront anticipates will proceed as scheduled as long as schools remain open given Covid-19 restrictions. If there are any cancellations or delays, funds will be reallocated immediately to the next available school visits program.

Hammer Band Summer Program

After Covid-19 cut short the school year in March, but left students with their instruments, The Hammer Band ran an online virtual summer music camp during July and August for approximately 200 youth. Appropriately called “Summer Jam”, the online program provided scheduled classes for students and valuable interaction with their teachers and each other. The Minstrel Foundation’s contribution of $10,000 covered approximately 75% of the cost of the program during July, including cost of teachers, Zoom pro subscriptions and administration.

Summer 2020 Covid-19 Update

Although summer music camps, both day camps and overnight camps were not able to operate in the summer of 2020, COVID-19 has not stopped the Minstrel Foundation’s work.

After Covid-19 cut short the school year in March, but left students with their instruments, The Hammer Band ran an online virtual summer music camp during July and August for approximately 200 youth. The Minstrel Foundation’s contribution of $10,000 covered approximately 75% of the cost of the program during July, including the cost of teachers, Zoom pro subscriptions and administration.

University Settlement used our funds remaining from the truncated school year and offered online Group Music & Dance classes free of charge to children and youth. We also supplied them with 50 ukuleles so students could learn to play from home.

Scholarships and bursaries were awarded to students from the Humber College Community Music School, University Settlement Music School and Reach Out Through Music for private lessons and at University Settlement Music School for university tuition. We also continued to pay the RCM exam fees for students from the Dixon Hall Music School and the University Settlement Music School.

The message?  Music, art and dance are still helping us all to wile away the time until we can joyfully sing together again.  The Minstrel Foundation is still here, still taking applications for programs, still supplying teachers and kids with the tools to learn, love, and reach for the stars.  

Bar Mitzvah Project Supports Minstrel Foundation

Thirteen year old Gabriel Engel, in honour of his Bar Mitzvah, raised $900 so students can attend the Humber College Community Jazz Program or the National Music Camp. Gabriel attended both programs and knows how big a difference they make to a young person’s music education. As part of his Bar Mitzvah Project , he also gave 4 piano concerts at retirement homes before visitations were curtailed by Covid-19 restrictions.

University Settlement Spring Recital

USMC held its Spring Recital on March 7, 2020. This year’s concert was held just before the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown. Here are photos of some of the students whose lessons are supported by the Minstrel Foundation.

Photos courtesy of Emily Ding Photography

New Research Confirms Benefits of Music in Childhood Learning

Dr Assal Habibi, an Assistant Professor (Research) of Psychology at the University of Southern California (USC) is currently leading a 5-year longitudinal study, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (YOLA), investigating the effects of early childhood music training on the development of brain function and structure as well as cognitive, socio-emotional development.

Her research at the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC show that as little as two years of music instruction has multiple benefits. Music training can change both the structure of the brain’s white matter, which carries signals through the brain, and gray matter, which contains most of the brain’s neurons that are active in processing information. Music instruction also boosts engagement of brain networks that are responsible for decision-making and the ability to focus attention and inhibit impulses.

Initial results published last year showed that music training accelerates maturity in areas of the brain responsible for sound processing, language development, speech perception and reading skills.

Dr. Habibi concluded “Together these results demonstrate that community music programs can offset some of the negative consequences that low socioeconomic status can have on child development.”

More information on Dr. Habibi’s work at USC is available at https://dornsife.usc.edu/bci/brain-and-music/.

The report in Neuroscience News which was brought to our attention by Moshe Hammer of From Violence To Violins can be found at https://neurosciencenews.com/kids-music-brain-structure-7941/

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