The Youth4Music network includes a collection of youth leaders across Canada who are working together to bring awareness to the importance of music education. These are youth voices advocating for youth issues that impact music education right now. We caught up with Youth4Music Ambassador George Murga Martinez in Toronto for a conversation about the importance of valuing music education across Canada on Music Monday, and why he’s excited to be involved.
George is currently studying trumpet at Humber College in Toronto, but credits this choice to two other very important instruments. George first learned music by ear on the piano at his local church when he was five years old. He remembers not knowing the note names he was playing, but really enjoying the latin rhythms. It wasn’t Bach, but his love of music would eventually develop his musical palate to include classical and beyond. George picked up the trumpet in Grade 7. Intent on this becoming his instrument of choice, there was only one problem. George didn’t have enough air support to make sounds on the trumpet, so he switched to the tuba. Big mistake! The tuba required more air than the trumpet, which left George wishing he had stuck with his first choice. He eventually did switch back, and has been playing and loving it ever since.
Throughout his high school education George was fortunate to have several opportunities to perform with groups in and out of school. Some of his most rewarding memories include becoming involved with Air Cadets, which would eventually open doors to drum core bands in both the United States and Canada. George speaks about the energy of being on a sports field, marching and playing music at the same time. This triple threat was energizing for him and gave such great entertainment to the crowd.
“Music has the effect to change you and empower you, and it also empowers others. If you play a gig and there’s at least one person smiling, you’ve done your job. I feel like I have a voice through my instrument and others can hear it too. They receive the therapeutic aspects of it, and that’s what matters”, says George.
He told us that some of his most influential mentors were his music teachers, and not just for the band room, but for real life. They taught him that music is a vital part of one’s life, not only for those who become a musician, but to become a better person by taking the skills of making music and applying them to each and every area of your life. Now that George is working to become a professional musician and hopefully a teacher himself, he understands that it is his time to pass along this information to others.
George, along with over 50 other youth, attended the first Youth4Music Leadership Symposium this past November in Toronto, “[The Symposium was] not at all what I expected it to be, in the best possible way. It makes me feel good to know that there are other people my age that are thinking about these things. They know there is a lack of support for music education in schools, both in value and in funding across the country. When you’re connected with other people that believe in the same vision that’s created by Youth4Music, it’s reassuring. We’re always stronger together than we are alone”.
George’s ideals are exactly why the Coalition chooses to continue to celebrate the power of music in our lives on the first Monday of May each year. Recognizing how we use and appreciate music in so many different ways throughout each of our lives makes the work toward upholding and valuing music education important. George understands this and sees it as our Canadian heritage, something we must continue to talk about and support. “Music Monday is a step in the right direction. Taking this step and showing the world as we rally up, that we want more support and value for music education is our voices being heard. Knowing where you come from is only going to set you up for where you’re going. We’re doing this for generations to come because it is a part of our heritage” says George. We are stronger in numbers, and no matter what kind of music you support, George encourages all who value music education to join in on Music Monday to celebrate the power music in our lives.