Mandate and History.

The Shine Foundation is a community-based, federally registered charity.

The Foundation’s primary objective is to foster Canadian musical talent by facilitating and promoting music education, performance and production at the community level.  Its mission is to involve Canadians in musical activities, either as performers, audience members, students  or teachers. Through the participants’ involvement in professional and community based musical projects the foundation seeks to foster a healthy environment for the continuing development of the musical arts, as well as an awareness of, and respect for, Canadian cultural diversity.  We strive to bring music into the lives of all Canadians at any age, level of expertise, or cultural origin.

Among the roster of professional musicians serviced by Shine are Juno and Grammy award winners as well as prolific composers with extended discographies. The concert series conceived of and administered by Shine have made free professional caliber musical performances available to Ottawa’s public for most of the last decade, most notably on Sparks Street and in Clarendon Court.The audiences of and participants in the concerts have  significantly increased business for Sparks Street shops and stores as well as those in  areas of the market which are in proximity to Clarendon Court.

Every year since 2005 Shine has produced a summer concert series on the Sparks St.  Mall and in Clarendon Court. While primarily employing local groups the concerts have, on  occasion, included itinerant Canadian groups. Student bands were frequently involved as  the opening acts in these shows to allow them performance experience and to expose the  “new blood’ to the public here in Ottawa. We have tried to include a variety of music styles  from various traditions in the programming. From the Arabic oud stylings of Mel m’Rabet to  the Rock sounds of Kilbride and the quirky jazz music of the Jivewires or the the Straight  Ahead Big Band, concerts have shown the great variety of music produced in the region to a wide variety  of audiences.

In 2006 Shine received a significant one timeTrillium grant which, in addition to funding from the Sparks Street Mall Authority and the Clarendon Court Business Association,  helped to support the concert series as well as other innitiatives. In that year Shine produced thirty concerts on the Sparks Street Mall and the in the Byward Market. The funding for the series was similar in 2007, however the sources of funding were predominantly the Sparks Street Mall Authority and the Clarendon Court Business Association. Again thirty shows were produced. In 2008 owing to severe budget cutbacks the funding from both of these sources was cut in half, but Shine still produced twenty five shows, albeit at a financial loss to the foundation. The recession of 2009 saw funding for the series further slashed, and, despite the expenses incurred and human resource committments involved in designing, building and moving to the new recording studio, the Shine summer concert series still produced twenty shows. In 2010 with aproximately the same budget twenty four were produced.

By acting on the behalf of its associated artists as an agency to procure bookings, the organization has placed the groups under its umbrella into prominent national  festivals and concert venues. The new recording studio when not being used for the production and recording of new Canadian music is in near constant use as a rehearsal hall. In the performance of these services, Shine will continue to make a significant contribution to  the public awareness and support of the musical arts locally, and to garner national recognition for local artists.

The foundations reputation for fiscal accountability and excellence in the execution of its varied performance services has made it a major provider of musical groups for the Tulip Festival, as well as a significant provider for Ottawa’s other myriad festivals, musical events at the N.A.C. and local hotels, and for embassy and political functions.  In addition to their social/artistic impact, these concerts employ large numbers of local musicians.

Since the inception of the foundation in 2001, Shine bands and students have been mentored to join the ranks of Canada’s finest musicians. The pursuit of artistic excellence has driven Shine student bands to achieve silver and gold standings at national music festivals.  Shine students have gone on to win scholarships to attend prestigious music schools in Canada and the United States.

The vision of the Shine Foundation is to assimilate the disparate aspects of music education, performance and production into a single ongoing and unified process. By bridging the gap between students and professional artists the student  becomes aware of a realistic skill set which they will require for success. In providing production facilities for music which are both state of the art and cost efficient, the foundation engenders the growth of a healthy and sustainable musical community. By inviting the participation of local businesses, community organizations and artists to be involved in the production of concerts and events, Shine aims to build partnerships that produce an environment where excellent music performances can be appreciated with regularity by everyone.