About Us
Stellula Music is in nine Simcoe County communities including Orillia, Oro Medonte, Barrie, Elmvale, Midland, Penetanguishene, Stayner, Washago, and Innisfill. We are currently working with Simcoe County Schools both in the public and separate boards. We have presented dozens of unique musicians to these schools since our inception. Bringing professional mentor musicians to the schools on a regular basis is made possible through partnerships, collaborations but most importantly sponsorship.
We provide a songwriting curriculum which has been designed by the School Alliance of Student Songwriters (SASS) giving step-by-step guidance on managing a club and conducting lessons in songwriting. We nuture our songwriting clubs with regular, interactive mentoring sessions with professional musicians.
· Accessible to all students, not just those inclined to music inst
· Inspirational to students encouraging them to achieve higher goals;
· Meaningful interaction with professional mentor/musicians;
· Sustainable program model for long-term community benefit.
Deborah Brown, Founder/President:
Stellula Music in Schools Program July 2008 by Deborah Brown. Ms.
Brown’s vision for this program stems from a pilot project launched in
twelve schools in the Georgian Bay region May of 2008. Over a period
of five days, forty musicians performed and interacted with Elementary
and Secondary Students in French and English. The muscians were
diverse including various genres, nationalities, and styles of
teaching. Deborah was the General Manager for two festivals in the
Georgian Bay Region and is currently working in partnership with the Coalition of New Canadians for Arts and Culture, the Orillia Folk Society, Simcoe County schools, the Toronto Blues Society and many other community collaborators.
Our Stellula Songwriting Clubs use the School Alliance of Student Songwriters (SASS) cirriculum. SASS is a network of extra-curricular songwriting clubs offered to children in grades 6-12 in nearly 50 Ontario schools since 2003. SASS challenges youth to learn together, stand together, and form a strong generation of new artists, willing to make their world a better place through love and music. For information on SASS, contact http://www.sasscanada.net
Scott Cooper, Artistic Director
Stellula Music is fortunate to have Scott providing advice and direction to our team. Scott's diverse background in the Arts include audio engineer; copywriter for radio, television and the web; graphic designer; producing and mastering music CDs, to name just a few of his skills in the mixed media field. But Scott's real passion is music and as an accomplished songwriter and performer, he is the ideal Director for our student mentoring program.
Tiny Increments" is Scott's third full-length record (debut "Strumming" in 2002; 2004's "Popfizz"), featuring 11 rootsy, back-to-basics folk pop songs that demonstrate the Midland ON native's keen eye for catching love and life's tiniest and oft-missed moments and stories.
Through several years of
critically acclaimed recordings and strong live performances, Cooper
has established himself on the Canadian music scene, garnering audience
loyalty throughout Ontario, and currently expanding to Quebec and
Western Canada. His music has been used in both film and television
(you've heard him on CTV's "Heartland", The Food Network's smash "The
Surreal Gourmet" and PBS' "Roadtrip Nation"). Cooper's music also
receives regular rotation on CBC and satellite radio across the
country.
Cooper also has the innate ability to surround himself with fantastic performers that not only help support the music, but dramatically elevate an entire evening. For example, his ace band contains members who have recorded and toured with the likes of Feist, Blue Rodeo, Sarah Slean, Serena Ryder, The Good Lovelies, and Hayden.
About our humingbird logo it is a Stellula Colliope ("beautifully voiced little star").
"The hummingbird teaches us to transcend time, to recognize that what has happened in the past and what might happen in the future is not nearly as important as what we are experiencing now. It teaches us to hover in the moment, to appreciate its sweetness." Constance Barrett Sohodski, Beyond the Rainbow
For information on setting up Student Songwriting Clubs in your community, or for sponsorships, mentoring or volunteering, contact:
Stellula Music in Schools
705-327-3403
Email: stellulamusic@gmail.com