Craig Kielburger: ‘The world needs your kid’
Joyce MacPhee, Epoch Times
Craig Kielburger says the world needs your kid. He should know. As youngsters, Craig and his brother Marc started an organization called Free the Children. The organization’s mission is to empower children in North America to help their peers around the world.
Fifteen years later, Free the Children is thriving and to date has built 500 schools and implemented more than 2,000 alternative income projects in 45 developing countries.
Kielburger, 27, spoke at the Ottawa International Writer’s Festival about a book he wrote with his brother Marc Kielburger and Ottawa Citizen journalist Shelley Page. The book is titled The World Needs Your Kid: How to Raise Children Who Care and Contribute
Full article: Craig Kielburger: ‘The world needs your kid’
Chinese films selected for competition at Canadian animation festival
chinaview.cn
Three short films from the Chinese mainland were selected for competition at the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) which opened here on Wednesday.
“We are very exited to have Lei Lei, a Chinese animator here with three films in competition,” the OIAF’s managing director Kelly Neall told Xinhua in an interview at the opening ceremony in downtown Ottawa.
The three Chinese entries — “Magic Cube and Ping-Pong,” “Pears or Aliens” and “The Universe Cotton” — are all from Lei Lei, a 23-year-old up-and-coming multimedia animator, who graduated from Tsinghua University in 2007.
Full story: Chinese films selected for competition at Canadian animation festival
Paul Mills Receives 2009 Helen Verger Award
Each year, the Ottawa Folk Festival presents the Helen Verger Award to an individual who has made significant, sustained contributions to folk/roots music in Canada. This year’s recipient, Paul Mills, has been an integral part of the Canadian folk music scene for more than thirty years. In that time, he has produced more then 140 albums, working with artists such as Stan Rogers, Ron Hynes, and Sharon, Lois & Bram.
“I am deeply humbled to be in the same company as the other Canadian musicians and industry builders who have received the Helen Verger Award. It is indeed a great honour and I am so grateful to those who felt I was a worthy recipient”, said Paul in reaction to receiving news of the award. Past recipients include Bruce Cockburn, Colleen Peterson, Kate and Anna McGarrigle and Willie P. Bennett.
Folk festival wants to involve folks
TRACEY TONG | METRO OTTAWA
“The folk festival’s not just about folk music. It’s about everything – folk, rock, country, Celtic, African and swing dance music,” said festival co-founder and artistic director Chris White. “We’re trying to be as inclusive as possible.”
Canadian Music Hall of Famer Bruce Cockburn, former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page, The Sadies, Amy Millan, Joel Plaskett and Kinnie Starr are headlining at the festival from Aug. 21- 23.
This year’s festival goes far beyond just the music, said White.
Full story on the Metro Ottawa website: Folk festival wants to involve folks
Big voice headed to Big Apple: Stittsville tenor off to Juilliard after winning partial scholarship
Steven Mazey, The Ottawa Citizen
You’d think that auditioning to study at one of the world’s best-known music schools would be a little intimidating. Not for Stittsville tenor Nathan Haller.
The 18-year-old doesn’t get nervous about singing, and he says he felt pretty confident when he performed in front of bigwigs at the Juilliard School in New York City last March.
Haller, who has what his teacher Judith Vachon describes as “a kick-ass voice,” with beautiful tone, sang arias by Mozart and Donizetti and the poignant British song Is My Team Ploughing. He says the feedback at Juilliard was encouraging.
Still, he was shocked when an e-mail arrived in April congratulating him on his acceptance.
Read full story on the Ottawa Citizen website: Stittsville tenor off to Juilliard after winning partial scholarship
Note: Nathan Haller performs at Chamberfest on Saturday, 3 p.m., Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave.
Ottawa Chamber Music Festival concert review: New Zealand String Quartet showcases ensemble precision
Richard Todd, The Ottawa Citizen
Another big crowd last night at Dominion-Chalmers, 900 or more, came to hear the New Zealand String Quartet and pianist Anton Kuerti Monday evening. It’s hard to imagine anyone who went away unsatisfied.
The program opened with a short work by Mendelssohn called Capriccio for String Quartet, op. 81. It was performed with that combination, quintessential to the composer, of lightness of touch and melodic richness.
On a technical level, there was little to nothing to complain of. Precision of ensemble, blend, intonation and all the rest of it was spot on.
Full review on the Ottawa Citizen website: New Zealand String Quartet showcases ensemble precision
