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FYI

The Awesome Music Project Canada

Published this week, the hardcover book explores the transformative power of music. Contributors include Sarah McLachlan and Chris Hadfield, and proceeds benefit music and mental health research.

The Awesome Music Project Canada

By FYI Staff

The transformative power of music is at the heart of The Awesome Music Project Canada: Songs of Hope and Happiness, a hardcover book published tomorrow (Oct. 10).


Written by co-authors Terry Stuart and Robert Carli for the music lover in all of us, this compilation of intimate recollections by Canadians from every province and territory comprises stories from Canadians from all walks of life. Contributors include such celebrities as Sarah McLachlan, Chris Hadfield, Madeleine Thien and Theo Fleury, all sharing how music changed their lives.

The book reveals that astronaut Hadfield turned to music for comfort through the loss of a close friend, while Grammy-winning star McLachlan used it to escape the torment of high-school bullies. 

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Rounding out the book are descriptions of the neurological research confirming that music is good for us. It improves our mental, emotional, and physical health, wards off depression, and even delays dementia. Put simply: music makes us feel good.

Proceeds from The Awesome Music Project Canada will go to music and mental health research, starting with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital and one of the world's leading research centres.

For more information and to order the book, go here

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Rush performing in 1977.
TIFF
Rush performing in 1977.
Tv Film

Toronto International Film Festival to Premiere New Documentary on Neil Peart of Rush in 2026

The recently announced film honouring the late Rush drummer will be receiving its world premiere on Sept. 16 along with several additional screenings, ahead of its release on CBC on Sept. 23. Plus, Heated Rivalry's Hudson Williams joins TIFF for its In Conversation With... series.

TIFF is celebrating a Canadian rock music legend. The Toronto International Film Festival has released its full programming, revealing that it will host the world premiere of the forthcoming documentary Neil Peart: No One's Disciple, which was announced by CBC last week. The 106-minute film gathers Peart's Rush bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, plus other famed drummers like Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, The Police’s Stewart Copeland and Tool’s Danny Carey, all of whom honour the late musician's life, legacy, upbringing and illustrious career as part of one of the biggest Canadian bands of all-time.

"That Peart’s parts are so challenging even for such revered players says a lot about the ingenuity and dexterity he brought to Rush’s music," TIFF programmer Jason Anderson writes of the film. "The performances also become one of several means of commemorating a man who — as Dunn’s film reveals — was equally complex. The remembrances and anecdotes of the musicians and other intimates help fill out the portrait that Dunn creates via archival interviews and other footage."

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