Upcoming Events:
To enhance the lives of and learning
opportunities for at-risk youth through a structured music
program that continues throughout the school year. The Heart
of the City Music Program encourages students to make positive
lifestyle choices.
Volunteer registration for the 2019 Fall Semester is now open.
You can access the application form here.
Student Registration and FOIP forms have recently been
updated. If you have misplaced your forms, it can be accessed
here. Please return these to your student's music teacher when
completed.
To proactively address the
social issue of poverty and social justice by the advancement
of a more equitable opportunity for disadvantaged youth to
participate in music lessons.
Volunteers are post-secondary students or community members
who provide one-on-one piano lessons to students in inner city
schools at no charge. The HCMP provides a way for members of
the community to share their love of music with children who
would otherwise not have the opportunity to learn how to play
the piano. When children realize that they are capable of
creating music, the whole world opens up to them. They realize
that they can be a part of the beauty around them and that
they are more than capable of accomplishing whatever they set
their minds to.
The program is not only
intended to give the students musical skills. Through
exposure to positive role models, opportunities to attend
live music performances, and the fostering of a sense of
accomplishment, students will gain self-confidence, a
greater sense of the overall cultural community, pride, and
self-esteem.
In 1995, the Heart of
the City Piano Program (HCPP) began as a single dream to
enhance the lives of at-risk youth through a structured music
program. Richard Dube, the music teacher of Pleasant Hill
Community School in Saskatoon, started the program with the
strong belief that involvement in the HCPP will help students
to make positive lifestyle choices and prevent them from
becoming involved in drugs, alcohol and violence.
In the fall of 1999, the HCPP expanded within Saskatchewan
to include schools in Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, and Regina.
In the spring of 2002, the HCPP expanded nationally to
Edmonton AB, thanks to Chantal Chauvet, a former volunteer
piano teacher at King George Community School in Saskatoon.
In January of 2005, the HCPP expanded to Ottawa, Ontario
thanks to the hard work and efforts of Bettina Choo and the
Circle K Kiwanis Club from the University of Ottawa.
In November of 2007, the Montreal chapter of HCPP was
created by students at McGill University.
In September 2008, Chris Cheung and Pauline Voon, former
executives from HCPP Edmonton, along with UBC student David
Leung, founded the HCPP Vancouver chapter at the University
of British Columbia.
In the fall of 2013, the HCPP was able to start a Saturday
program at the NCFRC with the help of MusiCounts TD
Community Music Grants program.
To learn more about the HCPP in other cities, visit our National
Website.
Here in Edmonton, the HCMP
is registered as a Student Group at the University of Alberta.
It is run chiefly by U of A students with the invaluable
support of the Edmonton Public School Board and the music
teachers and principals of the various schools.
Since 2002, the Heart of the
City Piano Program Edmonton has gone through many directors
including Vanessa Sands, Annika Nordhagen (2002-2004), Yang
Li (2004-2005), Jennifer Au and Jennifer Shi (2005-2006),
Chris Cheung, Shaughnessy Fulawka (2009-2010) and Michelle
Casey (2010-2011). HCPP was revamped in 2007, with the
beginning of the collaboration with the City Center
Education Project (CCEP). Headed by Chris Cheung, David
Cinats, Joyce Fung, Anthony Lott, and Pauline Voon,
expansions included volunteer events, fundraising
commitments, and the first annual year-end recital at
Muttart Hall, Alberta College Conservatory of Music. The
contribution of everyone's hard work has allowed the HCMP to
expand and evolve into the program it is today.
In 2009, two new exciting additions were made to the HCPP:
the formation of the Music Resource Library and the
Performance Troupe. Led by Cian Hackett, the Performance
Troupe consists of talented piano players who share their
talent by performing at events to raise funds for and
awareness of the program. Also, a collaboration with the
SHINE Youth Clinic began, with volunteers from the HCPP
taking turns teaching piano to patients at the clinic every
other Saturday.
Beginnning September 2011, the HCMP will commence a guitar
pilot program at Norwood Elementary School and John A.
McDougall School modelled after our successful piano
program. As well, the partnership with the CCEP further
developed into a collaboration with the Edmonton Public
School Board. In January 2012, a partnership was formed with
the Old Strathcona Youth Society after the SHINE Clinic
closed.