The new Slaight Family Music Lab is opening at the Canadian Film Centre, with some of the country’s top composers and musicians playing a key role in the Lab’s developmental programming.
The Music Lab will encourage the integration of music creators (songwriters and composers) into the onscreen process while offering unique business opportunities to increase Canadian music onscreen.
The CFC is receiving strong support from The Slaight Family Foundation for the Lab, which will launch in the fall of 2012.
"I believe the marriage of the moving image and music is perhaps the most powerful visual communication we have,” said Norman Jewison, CFC Founder and Chair Emeritus. “I am excited to see the CFC embracing music, song and score and delighted to be doing so with Allan and Gary Slaight and the Slaight Family Foundation, whose deep commitment to music and to Canadian talent is a natural match.”
The CFC also reports that internationally renowned and multiple award-winning composer Mychael Danna will be Composer Chair at the Lab; one of the country’s most popular singer/songwriter/performers, Jim Cuddy, will be Songwriter Chair.
“This initiative is about creating new opportunity and real work for our talented Canadian songwriters and composers,” said Gary Slaight, The Slaight Family Foundation. “I share Norman Jewison’s belief that music is an amazing storytelling tool and I am excited to see how our worlds will come together to launch great talent and great content.”
The Slaight Family Music Lab will offer a nine month Music Residency as well as two unique business opportunities to incite greater awareness and inclusion of Canadian musical talent in the onscreen industries. The Music Residency provides four musical artists a year (two composers and two songwriters) with a high level program designed to increase their onscreen musical knowledge and skills, expand their professional network and creative relationships, and position them for ongoing work within the onscreen industries.
The Lab is open to peer-nominated applicants from across Canada.
”We are also fortunate to have the support of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada as the first in hopefully a number of key industry partners,” said Slawko Klymkiw, CEO of CFC. “The addition of an onscreen music lab completes the circle of integrated programs offered at the CFC. By bringing composers, songwriters and content creators together in an atmosphere of creativity and collaboration, our goal is to build a respectful and fruitful forum where creative relationships can be established and our respective industries can grow together.”
Composer Chair Mychael Danna is recognized as one of the most versatile and original voices in film music and his reputation has led him to work with such acclaimed directors as Atom Egoyan (THE SWEET HEREAFTER), Mira Nair (MONSOON WEDDING), Deepa Mehta (WATER), Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) and Bennett Miller (CAPOTE, MONEYBALL). Danna is currently working on Ang Lee’s highly anticipated THE LIFE OF PI. He is a Grammy and Emmy award nominee and is the recipient of many Genie and Gemini awards, as well as the Glenn Gould Composition Scholarship in 1985.
Since the release of the debut album, Blue Rodeo (with newly appointed Songwriter Chair Cuddy as co-frontman) has established itself as one of the premiere bands in Canadian music history. Earlier this year, Blue Rodeo was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 41st Juno Awards and in 2009 received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
Cuddy, with his multiple Juno Awards, has also carved an impressive career as a solo artist. In 1998, he released his debut solo album, All in Time, which went Gold in Canada. His second solo album, 2006’s The Light That Guides You Home, was released to critical acclaim and won the Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year. In 2011, Cuddy released Skyscraper Soul, his third solo album. A long-time champion for music education, Cuddy is also the 2012 Ambassador for MusiCounts, Canada’s music education charity associated with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).
A charitable organization, CFC provides access to mentorship, training, exhibition support, financial assistance, distribution opportunities, industry collaborations and creative partnerships for top creative content talent in film, television, music, screen acting, and digital media.