A message from program director Kelly Craig

My first exposure to music education was through enrolment in a police sponsored marching and concert band. Participation in this community program provided me with rich musical experiences and most importantly, produced lifelong friendships. While I enjoyed the program, I had always wished the music we were performing could be more relevant to my generation. This dream was the seed for the current Shine approach whereby students are encouraged excel in the genre of their choosing. Through my experience in community bands, university, and as professional musician; I soon realized I was not alone in recognizing an ever widening gap in music education. This gap intensified in my developmental years, leading me to fill my own educational gaps by actively seeking out instructors, organizations, camps, institutions, and materials. After completing university I went on to perform with many jazz, soul and funk bands, but always maintained an interest in music education Kelly Craig’s Bio. Much of my own education took place in band prep rooms and tour buses, these experiences solidified one of the pillar tenets of Shine; Musicians with extensive full time professional experience make the best mentors. The onus is on the student to seek out the information he desires, the duty of the instructor is to impart this knowledge unselfishly (click here for philosophy page)

on the Pre History of Shine

After an extended stint as a full time professional musician Kelly Craig’s interest in music education was rekindled through invitations:

• as acting junior music director at Ashbury College (Private Prep school in Ottawa)
• as music director and Jewish music curriculum advisor at Akiva High School (a private Jewish high School)
• as brass and percussion instructor for the OCDSB (Ottawa Carleton District School Board)

Kelly accepted these invitations and, by establishing a rapport with the students, saw that the time was ripe to develop the community programs he has previously envisioned. The tipping point occurred in June 2001when a group of students Kelly was teaching through the continuing education program at Hopewell Elementary school, expressed and interest in busking. The group of youngsters had made arrangements with the owner of a local ice cream shop to perform on the street in order to attract local traffic to the shop in exchange for ice cream as payment. In addition they had permission to leave an instrument case open to collect change from passersby. However, there were certain problems with this plan, all the students were horn players who had never played without sheet music and their skills required some polishing. Kelly’s interested was piqued by not only their entrepreneurial spirit, but by their desire to continue performing as a group of friends. He was also delighted at the prospect of teaching in an environment free from the need for student assessment. On his suggestion, the horn players added a rhythm section (bass, drums, guitar) and Kelly secured a rehearsal space in the Glebe Community Centre. Their development was rapid and Kelly was immediately approached by the parents to continue the program past the summer. The success of the burgeoning programs was due to the facts;

• The students were happy to remain a cohesive group,
• The Glebe Community Centre had music instruction on the premises enriching their programming.
• Parents could easily monitor their children’s activities
• The program was affordable and flexible

The group went on to play a Christmas concert in December 2001 and Kelly extended invitations to his other private students to participate as soloists in this concert. Each private student that accepted played a Christmas carol or two. When the solo students saw the self-formed, grade 8, band at this concert, many expressed interest in participating in a similar group. Interest was also shown by both Akiva and Ashbury students in participating in a similar program. By March 2002 the then named “Glebe Community Stage Band” was entered in the Regional music festival, where they did quite well. The first sprouts of what was to become Shine were starting to blossom. At this point in Kelly’s activities were loosely organized in three separate streams of focus:

1. Education – an in-home private music lesson service called OAMI (Ottawa Association of Music Instructors)
2. Performance – kellycraig.com a booking and talent matching service (www.kellycraig.com)
3. Production – Heavy Horn productions, an arranging, and remote recoding service

All of these professional activities were growing rapidly.

Over the summer of 2002, interested students were contacted and formed into groups. Kelly approached one of the parents of the students, Phyllis Colvin to help him formalize the Glebe group by applying for non-profit status. A parents committee was formed and they applied for non-profit status. the request was approved with relatively little effort. The intention of attaining non-profit status was to secure funding for a location, equipment, salaries etc. But, the parents committee soon discovered that non-profit status did little to secure such funding, full charitable status was needed. This was the first of many hurtles Shine was to encounter. The parents committee was also informed that the Glebe Community Centre was slated for a large scale renovation and would not be available for occupants for at least three years. Luckily, a less than optimal, but affordable, temporary space in the neighbourhood was secured at the private school, Westboro Academy. Four separate bands were formed in 2002 with each being tailored to the interests of the students. Two Jazz groups, a Soul/Funk group, and a beginner concert band, these groups set the tone for Shine for many years to come. The professional activities of Heavy Horns and kellycraig.com continued to grow during this period, with weekly outdoor summer concerts, remote recordings, and horn chart preparation becoming staples of the professional activities.

In September 2003, after both Westboro Academy and the Program Director came to the conclusion the organization was growing too rapidly to be housed there, a larger, more suitable location was secured at the former Ottawa Technical High School. Work to renovate and equip the room was undertaken by Shine and the non-profit was one step closer to charitable status. Ottawa Tech was large enough to house musical equipment without having to tear down and store equipment after each rehearsal. In addition the room Shine now occupied formerly housed a rudimentary recording program in the 70s and 80s. There was however a few downsides, no weekend access all year, no access after 11pm weekdays, and, in the musically active Ottawa summer no access after 5pm. This academic based scheduling proved restrictive to the performance aspects of the swiftly growing program, but was more than suitable for the advancement of the education wing. To keep the concerts wing of the organization healthy, Shine acquired access to an abandoned bank on Sparks Street. The organization now had enough room to expand, and to earn extra income through rental of the equipped space to others in need of rehearsal space. During this period the parents committee headed by Mrs. Colvin, informed the program director that if all the professional activities he oversaw were merged into one stream, Shine may have a chance of attaining full charitable status. After many attempts, Shine had finally achieved charitable status.

On the History of Shine

The Shine Foundation’s mission is to aid in the advancement of music education, performance and production by making necessary resources and services available to professional and student musicians. This statement has driven all three branches of activity at Shine. After achieving charitable status the activities were organized into four streams, each supporting the other in any way possible.

1. Education- is administered by the music academy branch – www.shinemusicacademy.com
2. Performance-is administered by the concerts branch – www.shineconcerts.com
3. Production- is administered by the studio and foundation branch – www.theshinegroup.com

The Shine Group logo in the top left corner of the website has four dotted streams meeting in the middle, three of the streams represent the above activities, the fourth represents the ever important administrative activities that aid in the success of the other three. (link to the philosophy page) From September 2003-December 2007 the Shine Music Academy’s successes continued, key members made it possible for Shine’s Jazz programs to regularly achieve gold standing at musicfest Canada. These key members received coaching from the professional musicians that shared the facilities. These string Shine students also helped the other members of the group, and consequently the bar was raised. Many Shine members have achieved academic recognition in the form of entrance and full music scholarships to Manhattan School of Music, Berklee College, Carleton and McGill Universities.