Music for Life

Date & Time

📅 November 23, 2023

⏰ 6PM – 9PM

Location

📍 Fairmont Royal York Toronto

100 Front St W, Toronto, ON M5J 1E3

Thank you to everyone who attended Music for Life 2023. Check out our photo gallery below for a recap of the event!

Music For Life is the annual benefit and gala dinner for Dixon Hall Music School. This year, we are proud to celebrate 45 years of providing an accessible, creative home for children and youth. Taking place on November 23, 2023 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel Toronto, this event attracts upwards of 400 generous corporate and individual guests every year. Those in attendance typically represent a wide range of professions, cultural and community stakeholders, and benefactors of the Arts, including the music industry, accounting, banking and finance, engineering, construction, law, management consulting, communications and technology.

About Dixon Hall Music School

Dixon Hall Music School has provided affordable music lessons to thousands of children in the Regent Park, Moss Park and St. Lawrence neighbourhoods since 1978. Over the years, we’ve built a strong reputation as a music school that provides a cultural lifeline to families from all walks of life.

Joining the Music School means unlocking a world of music in a positive, holistic and welcoming environment. As we move ahead in this decade, we know that it’s not just about the lessons. It’s about an individual and unique approach to our students that stresses mentorship, friendship, nonjudgment and support, an approach that has successfully supported thousands of children and youth through the years

History of Dixon Hall Music School

Since 1978, Dixon Hall Music School has been offering a unique experience of the arts to young people from a particularly low-income area of Toronto. At that time, Dixon Hall Music School had about 45 students, taught by volunteer teachers. Located in Regent Park in the basement of 58 Sumach Street, Dixon Hall Music School then moved to the Ada Slaight Studios on the 3rd and 4th floor of the newly built Bill Graham Youth Centre at 51 Wyatt Ave in 2020. The pandemic halted in person lessons and lessons moved online, only returning fully in person in Fall 2022. The school is now home to over 300 students per week from numerous ethnic groups. Through fees carefully geared to each family’s income, students receive individual encouragement and attention from highly qualified and dedicated teachers, for as low as $4 per lesson. Students can also rent instruments (pianos, keyboards, violins, violas, guitars, clarinets etc.) for as little as $5 per month. We also offer free camp and concert experiences, often providing our newcomer families with their first cultural experiences in their new city. The school’s profile in the community has grown by word of mouth, based on the positive reputation we have achieved. The excellence of our staff and the bridges we provide to cultural access mean a great deal to families who feel that music is and should be an essential part of their children’s lives.

Our Vision

Our vision is to maintain our level of excellence and value in the delivery of our fine arts program, while becoming the leader in community music education. The vision is shaped in part by the Director, the Music School Manager, the teachers, and the families themselves. Programming is very closely tied to this vision and forms the basis of day-to-day operations. The Music School also sees itself as being part of the continuing change in Regent Park.

Our Impact

Without the programs that Dixon Hall Music School has to offer, Toronto would lose generations of musicians who, in their own way, will brighten the lives of those around them. Due to the affordability of our program and the all-encompassing opportunities we offer children, our program remains unique and much sought-after.

Our longevity in the Regent Park community has fostered a strong allegiance among those who have grown up at the school and who remain a part of what we do even as they move on to college, university and the job market. These “alumni” students, who give back to us in huge ways, are unique to Dixon Hall Music School.

But what makes Dixon Hall Music School truly unique is our individual approach to the students that stresses mentorship, friendship, non-judgment and support, coupled with constant opportunities for students to increase confidence, good habits and self-awareness, through recitals, competitions, music and arts camps and free concerts, throughout the year. We take an active interest in the progress of each of our students and everybody including the Director, Manager, teachers, parents and students provides thoughts and ideas on how we can lift the lives of our youth even more.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Presenting Sponsor - $40,000 [SOLD OUT]

Gold Sponsor - $30,000

Promotion through Dixon Hall’s Social Media Channels
Sponsor recognition on Dixon Hall website
Sponsor listing on event collateral, marketing materials and event sponsor loop
Recognition in speeches at the event
Listing in Dixon Hall Annual Report
Priority Seating: Two (2) tables, seats10 guests (Value $20,000) at the dinner and the concert on November 23, 2023, at the Fairmont Royal York Toronto
Partial tax receipt (70%)

Silver Sponsor - $20,000

Promotion through Dixon Hall’s Social Media Channels
Sponsor recognition on Dixon Hall website
Sponsor listing on event collateral, marketing materials and event sponsor loop
Recognition in speeches at the event
Listing in Dixon Hall Annual Report
Priority Seating: One (1) table, seats10 guests (Value $10,000) at the dinner and the concert on November 23, 2023, at the Fairmont Royal York Toronto
Partial tax receipt (70%)

Bronze Sponsor - $10,000

Promotion through Dixon Hall’s Social Media Channels
Sponsor recognition on Dixon Hall website
Sponsor listing on event collateral, marketing materials and event sponsor loop
Recognition in speeches at the event
Listing in Dixon Hall Annual Report
Priority Seating: Six (6) Tickets(Value $4,500) at the dinner and the concert on November 23, 2023, at the Fairmont Royal York Toronto

▪ Partial tax receipt (70%)

Gift In-Kind Donations

Promotions through Dixon Hall’s Social Media
Gift In-kind recognition on Dixon Hall’s website
Acknowledgment and logo at the event and in the event program
Listing in Dixon Hall Annual Report
Charitable tax receipt for the donation
Six (6) Dinner tickets (Value $ 4,500)

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact:

Logan Thayalan, Director of Philanthropy

logan.thayalan@dixonhall.org