About Canadian Musical Odyssey
Background starting with Choonga Changa
More than twenty years ago, Deborah Davis began her career singing for children. She called her band Choonga Changa. Her work expanded into the creation of live musical, theatrical productions for families, which evolved into the creation of unique productions for schools that blended historical themes with different musical genres. The first major new production of this type was “What is This Thing Called Jazz?” a historical retrospective of the evolution of jazz within the last hundred years. For this show Deborah also produced a 10-page teacher’s manual. Based on the success of this show, she produced a slightly more sophisticated version of the show, which headlined The Ottawa International Jazz Festival’s Family Day to critical acclaim in the local press in 1994, 1995 and 1997. Deborah became increasingly aware of, and fascinated by, the important interrelated influences of jazz on American history (e.g. its influence on the breaking down of the colour barrier) and of the influences of historical, cultural, social and technological events on the development, progress and popularity of the music.
Creation of A Musical Taste of Our Canadian Heritage
With these things very much in mind, in 1998 she envisioned the creation and production of a show entitled “A Musical Taste of Our Canadian Heritage”. Her aim was to show the history of music in Canada and the history of Canada through music in an entertaining way that students would find not only educational; but also appealing, moving, memorable and inspirational. Most of all, she wanted to do justice to the subject in light of our tremendous heritage both on the musical and historical side and she wanted the students to feel a deep sense of pride in their Canadian heritage with its multicultural origins. In 1998, she received a $9,900 grant from the Government of Canada’s Millennium Foundation to create and produce a show entitled “A Musical Taste of Our Canadian Heritage/Notre patrimoine canadienne, une odyssée musicale. The project grew and the incredible outcome was a fast paced, dynamic, and highly acclaimed, bilingual (and indeed multilingual), ninety-minute production that includes 50 performers, (including representation from the Aboriginal and Inuit communities), over 80 pieces of music (mostly in overture, medley and excerpt style presentations), with almost as many costume changes for the vocalists, dancers, actors and musicians, and a 71 page teachers manual (available in both English and French). Both the show and the manual are the culmination of many years of development and networking. She has been supported in these efforts by the Federal Government (The Millennium Foundation and Canadian Heritage), The University of Ottawa’s Institute of Canadian Studies, The Canadian Musical Heritage Society at Carleton University, The City of Ottawa, SOCAN, TD-Canada Trust, Scholastic Canada, Yamaha Music, The Hudson’s Bay Foundation, The Musicians Association of Ottawa Hull, The Ottawa Carleton District School Board, The Ontario Trillium Foundation, Enviro Copies, e-PALS, A.K.A. Artists Management Ltd., Turtle Island Tourism Company and CARFAC.
Creation of Canadian Musical Odyssey and Deborah's Ongoing Activities
Choonga Changa had become so closely associated with young children’s entertainment (after hundreds of live performances and the production of two children’s audio cassettes) that she adopted a new name for this and subsequent projects: “Canadian Musical Odyssey\Odyssée Musicale Canadienne”. Deborah’s community service efforts as an entertainer and producer have been recognized by awards from; the Rich Little Foundation, Variety Club, CHEO, The Our Kids Foundation, CJMJ (Majic100) Radio Stars Program Award, the City of Nepean ’s Distinguished Service Award in Arts and Culture, and the City of Ottawa ’s Environmental Achievement Award. Deborah has vast experience doing volunteer work for the United Way , Our Kids Foundation, Partnership Against Poverty, Ronald McDonald House, the Canadian Cancer Society, National Child Day, Museum of Nature , War Veterans, Friends of Israel Museum, and Christmas Cheer radio broadcasts. Television broadcasts include CHEO, Heart Institute and Easter Seals telethons.
Creation of Odyssey Showcase
To provide the broadest base for funding annual performances of the history of music in Canada show, Deborah created Odyssey Showcase as a not for profit organization in 2004 and it became a registered charity in 2007. Odyssey Showcase has been recognized as authentically Canadian, inspiring and engaging thousands, especially students, to appreciate anew or for the first time, our rich and diverse heritage. We want to continue our “Proud to be Canadian” production and we need financial support. We would be delighted to present our funding program to you, and we thank you in advance for your time and consideration. We also want to express our appreciation to TD Canada Trust for being our major sponsor and making it possible for us to continue to offer an annual series of presentations at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, most recently in June, 2010.