in the lobby mesmerized and jostling words to define exactly what they heard from these world class performers.  They were awestruck.

The event was also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for twelve young musicians who were selected through a Stellula Music songwriting competition held in April.  With sparkling excitement one after the other they performed a heartfelt rendition of their original piece. And each performance was recorded live for a CD to be released this Fall titled “12”.

“I have been saying this to everyone,” Martel told the audience, ” I wish I had this program when I was in high school”.  Martel and the members of his band, which included,  Denise Trimm, vocals; David Jalbert, bass; Pietro Amato (Arcade Fire), french horn; Marianne Houle, cello; Simone Laonte, drums, offered support and words of encouragement at a workshop earlier in the day as part of the Stellula mentoring program.

The support extended to the evening as Houle, the band’s  classically trained cello player,  accompanied youth performer Amanda Carter during her song showcase.  Amanda was also joined by legendary pedal steel player Ollie Strong and fiddler Nicole Lefaive.  Every youth performance included local musician mentors who volunteered their time to perform alongside the student.  Each song was spectacular!

"This is the magic we hope blossoms through our program and culminates in a life time of achievements for our youth," said Deb Brown, President of Stellula Music. Michele Locke, trustee for the Simcoe County School Board, tweeted: ‘Incredibly talented students!’ and ‘Thanks to Stellula Music for everything that they do for our students.’ Locke attended the event on behalf of the SCDSB.

Brown said that a special thank you was deserving for Nonie Crete, Stellula's classroom mentor an inspirational force.  Nonie works one-on-one with students each week developing their original songwriting skills.  Nonie also hosted Stellula’s ‘open mic’ program at the Midland Cultural Centre.  A series which has become a popular weekly experience for the young songwriters and their families.

Local sponsors allowed families and students to attend the gala show at no cost.  "This is the first time in our five year history that businesses came out in full force to support our program. We are just thrilled," Brown said.  

Further support has come from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, which has provided program support and institutional development support to Stellula this year.

"All in all, this year was by far the most successful series of programming we have run which is a testament to our growth and development," Brown said.

Also on site was a twenty foot mural art project created by Penetanguishene Secondary Students for this event, under the mentorship of Toronto artist Mike Morris. The mural will be photographed for the cover of the CD.

The Thursday evening Gala was hosted by Aaron Solomon (Fiddlefire).  Other mentors were Wayne Buttery (Wayne Buttery and the Groove Project), Louise Lefaive, Michel Payment, Jeff Poichuck, Neil Lefaive, Jamie Williams, Darren McGill, Norm Marshall, and Don James.

The workshops and event were filmed for an upcoming full length documentary to be released by fall 2013.

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