MusiCounts, Canada’s music education charity associated with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) has announced that two-time JUNO Award winner Johnny Reid is the sponsor for the 2011-2012 MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award. Johnny will be on hand to present the award on Friday, March 30th at the Chairman’s Reception in Ottawa during the 2012 JUNO Week.
Now in its seventh year, the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award recognizes the incredible, dedicated and hard-working music teachers in Canada, who help keep music alive for so many young Canadians. The recipient receives a $10,000 cheque, plus a $10,000 contribution to the recipient’s school music program, an all-expense paid trip to the JUNO Awards, and a spectacular solid crystal statuette based on the JUNO Award design created by Canadian glass artist, the late Shirley Elford.
Johnny says, “It’s my pleasure to contribute and be involved in an award that celebrates and honours some of the best music teachers in Canada. I can’t imagine a world without music or education and I applaud everyone who makes this a priority and a reality for students today.”
Each year, the award is sponsored and presented by an artist, which in the past has included The Rolling Stones, Michael Bublé, Céline Dion, The Tragically Hip, Anne Murray and Billy Talent. Recipients are selected based on the impact they have had in their local community and their overall commitment to improving their students’ education through music.
“With Johnny’s ongoing dedication to MusiCounts and the music industry as a whole we feel it makes him the perfect sponsor for the 2012 Teacher of the Year Award,” says Melanie Berry, President & CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards & MusiCounts. “We are thankful and greatly appreciative for this special gift to the teacher and all the students that this will impact.”
