Don Tapscott

Best-Selling Author, CEO-The Tapscott Group and Chancellor, Trent University

I grew up in a musical family and nothing was more important to my development. Singing in church with my siblings, playing in my father’s band, creating songs for special events, singing in the car on road trips. Music made us a vibrant family. Not to mention giving us the confidence to be on stage. In high school in Orillia Ontario, music was my most important course – no contest. I acquired a deep passion, a discipline for learning, and a capacity for teamwork. My music teacher, Charles Montreuil, showed me what a great leader and mentor was – through his own behaviour. At Trent University I launched a rock band – easily as important to my development as any course I took. We rehearsed hard, wrote songs, made a bit of money and became lifelong friends. To this day, my most fulfilling avocation is playing in a band and composing. When we cut funding for music programs to focus kids on more “useful” studies, we do them an unthinkable disservice.