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Canadian Music Week Bryan Adams “Spirit Award”

Iconic Recording Artist Bryan Adams To Be Honoured with Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award at Canadian Music Week 2015

Canadian Music Week is pleased to announce Bryan Adams as the 2015 recipient of the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award. The award – bestowed to the singer-songwriter in recognition of his social activism and benevolent support of humanitarian interests and causes – will be presented on Thursday, May 7, 2015 at the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards gala in Toronto during Canadian Music Week 2015.

Alongside a music career spanning more than four decades, singer-songwriter and Canadian icon Bryan Adams has stood as an ambassador of humanitarian causes and relief. His participation in such concerts as Live Aid, Amnesty International’s “A Conspiracy of Hope” tour, Rock for Amnesty, and Live 8 has brought awareness to human rights, poverty, and famine while his advocacy of PETA and Greenpeace has supported animal rights and the protection and conservation of the environment.

Through performances on the annual Prince’s Trust Charity Concert, Farm Aid and Save The Rainforest, Adams has helped raise funds to support disadvantaged youth in the UK, assist American family farmers and preserve tropical rainforests. A social activist, he took part in Freedomfest; Rock the World for Greenpeace; Peace, Freedom and Democracy for Georgia; and helped commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall with Roger Waters’ The Wall.

With acclaimed producer David Foster and longtime songwriting partner Jim Vallance, Adams co-wrote “Tears Are Not Enough”, raising more than $3 million for famine relief in Ethiopia. In 2004, he appeared on the Canada for Asia benefit concert in Toronto in support of victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Two years later, Adams became the first western artist to perform in Pakistan, taking part in a benefit concert to raise funds and rebuild schools for those devastated by the 2005 earthquake.

Seeking a more direct channel for his philanthropic work, Adams established the Bryan Adams Foundation with an aim of improving the quality of people’s lives around the world. Since 2006, the foundation has been providing support and financial grants to projects and organizations advancing education and learning opportunities for children in need, funding medical research, training, treatment and access and much more.

“Bryan’s work – as a songwriter, composer, musician, recording artist, performer, and photographer – has touched millions of lives around the world,” said Gary Slaight. “Add to that the countless number of causes and disadvantaged struggling around the world that his foundation has directly supported, protected and enriched – it’s remarkable. My father and I couldn’t be more proud of Bryan’s benevolence, and it is our privilege to honour him with this year’s Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award.”

An internationally recognized and celebrated musician, Bryan Adams has released more than a dozen recordings, sold more than 65 million albums and garnered 21 top ten hits worldwide. His music has appeared in a number of box office films including The Guardian, Bobby, Old Dogs, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Three Musketeers, Don Juan DeMarco, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. He has received numerous awards and nominations including multiple JUNOs, Grammys, Oscars, Golden Globes, ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards, and Academy Awards.

Adams is an inductee of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Wembley’s Square of Fame. In 2010 he received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award from the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and was recognized with the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for his lifetime contribution to the arts in Canada. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Order of British Columbia and has a star on both Canada and Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

Adams is also an acclaimed photographer. Amongst the books he has released are “Exposed” a collection of portraits and fashion work chronicling his photographic work to date, and “Wounded – The Legacy of War”, a collection of intimate photographs documenting the personal sacrifice of war. A photo exhibition from the “Wounded” collection is currently running at the Somerset House in London until January 2015.

Adams’ outstanding live concerts have established him as one of the world’s best rock singers of our time, performing over 120 concerts a year for audiences around the globe.

To attend the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards, visit the Canadian Music Week website at www.cmw.net to purchase tickets and get additional details.

About Canadian Music Week
Canadian Music Week is Canada’s leading annual entertainment event dedicated to the expression and growth of the country’s music, media and entertainment industries. Combining three information-intensive conferences; a trade exposition; a film festival; a comedy festival; four awards shows and the nation’s largest new music festival, CMW spans a ten-day period from May 1 to May 10, 2015 at the Sheraton Centre Hotel and over 60 downtown Toronto venues, attracting participants from across the globe. For more information, visit www.cmw.net.

THE ART OF BUILDING A BUNKER

Factory Theatre and QuipTake present THE ART OF BUILDING A BUNKER Written by Adam Lazarus and Guillermo Verdecchia WARNING: A play about sensitivity training that is anything but sensitive On Stage October 11 to November 2, 2014 Factory Theatre launches its 45th season with the main stage world premiere of THE ART OF BUILDING ABUNKER in partnership with QuipTake. This one-man tour-de-force is co-written and directed by Guillermo Verdecchia and co-written and starring Adam Lazarus. First seen in 2013 at SummerWorks Festival, the show was heralded by Torontoist.com, The Grid, BlogTO and Artvox.ca as one of the best of the Festival, as well as named Best of the Fest for Outstanding Production, Performance and Direction by NOW Magazine. THE ART OF BUILDING A BUNKER is a viciously funny and tragic story recounting a week in the life of your average Elvis as he endures mandatory workplace sensitivity training. Elvis finds himself surrounded by a group of characters that is diversely bizarre and bizarrely diverse, all portrayed by Adam Lazarus with a sharp wit and comic genius. THE ART OF BUILDING A BUNKER is an equal opportunity satire where nothing is sacred and no one is spared. more toronto theater

The 2013 Diversity Expo & Awards Toronto

The Diversity Expo & Awards, at Royal York Hotel. The distinguished Master of Ceremonies for the 2013 awards gala was Deputy Chief Peter Sloly of the Toronto Police Service. He has led Planning & Community Mobilization, including diversity and community affairs for the service.

The 2013 Recipients are from diverse backgrounds. The Public Service Award goes to Mayor Susan Fennell, Mayor of one of the most diverse cities in North America, which has remained debt-free for ten years in a row. Egyptian born Dr. Mamdouh Shoukri, President & Vice-Chancellor of York University will receive the Education Award and Albert Lo, Chairman of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, will get the Leadership Award. Slava Levin, CEO of Ethnic Channels Group gets the Media Award and Kay Blair, Governor at Centennial College; Chair of William Osler Hospital and Executive Director of MicroSkills receives the Excellence Award.

South Asian business leader Arun Srivastava, CEO of Paystation Inc., gets the Enterprise Award. The Rotary Club of Richmond Hill receives the Transformation Award and Douglas Cardinal, the Aboriginal architect who designed the Canadian Museum of Civilization will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Thomas Saras, President of the National Ethnic Press & Media Council of Canada receives the Media Award and Sir Karim Hakimi, President of Hakim Optical receives the Innovation Award. Denise Herrera Jackson, CEO of Scotiabank Caribbean Festival, gets the Heritage Award, while Grammy and multiple Juno winner Dan Hill, receives the Entertainment Award.

Hanky Panky At The Riverdale ZOO

As a lifelong resident of ward 28, I’ve always felt that the Riverdale Farm was one of the true jewels of Cabbagetown. It is still a very important part of my life so I was genuinely disturbed when I learned that the farm was under threat of being closed down. The debate over the farm’s future took on a life of its own this past summer, and with tax-payers footing the bill for an army of volunteer staff providing free labour, they must have raised tens of thousands of dollars in the interim. The Riverdale Farm Advisory Committee need only point to the vast sums donated by Friends of Riverdale Farm (FRF) over the years as proof positive that the community has its full support behind them. Unlike most accredited charities who are only too willing to proudly point to their achievements, the FRF seems to prefer a more vague method of accounting. Although there are a handful of nebulous posts regarding unnamed programs funded and the “reinvesting of funds into existing facilities”, there is no mention whatsoever of verifiable contributions to the farm. In regards to the farm itself, after failing to find any visible proof of their generosity, I asked several of the city employees on site if they could point to any of FRF’s contributions. Unfortunately, none seemed willing to risk the wrath of their superiors. I contacted both Friends of Riverdale Farm and the Riverdale Farm Advisory Committee to ask whether they could provide any proof that FRF had donated anything more tangible than “community spirit” as that had been the public line these past several years. Neither group responded. Many of the Farmer’s Market vendors happily spoke anonymously about having been forced to join FRF, but, none were willing to risk their spot on Tuesday afternoons by publicly talking about the Manager’s behaviour. There are several instances that indicate former FRF Director, Elizabeth Harris has a long standing relationship with Ward 28 Councillor Pam McConnell. Now I am in no position to cast doubt on their relationship. However, Councillor McConnell’s membership this year on the FRF Steering Group and her subsequent failure to open FRF’s books to public scrutiny only adds to the actions of the city.

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