All musical tastes and all ages are going to feel the heat for Canada's 150th birthday.
Various languages, various genres, and various locations of Canada will get their chance to shine on the stage at Canada Games Plaza, this coming week, and nothing shines quite like a diamond.
In this case, two Diamonds will glitter for the outdoor concert series that marks the sesquicentennial. One has been shining for years, the other is a new glint. Mother Charlotte Diamond is a true superstar of children's entertainment and her son Matt is taking up the family business of spreading musical joy and stimulating youngsters with song and mental image.
Adults can't have all the fun. Matt and Charlotte are coming to Prince George for the Heatwave Festival, covering the smallest of local music fans. They are the stars of the BMO KidzArt Dayz component of Heatwave on July 7.
"It's really good to perform with him," said Diamond of her musical son. "We recorded an album together called Diamonds By The Sea and it's all original material. So we perform new music together, but we also mix in the songs people want to especially hear like Four Hugs A Day and I Am A Pizza and Dickie Dinosaur and ones I've done in the past."
She's done so many of those favourite songs that Diamond will be celebrating an anniversary of her own, while in Prince George. It was on Canada Day last year she got the news that she had been inducted into the Order of Canada. Not long after her Prince George appearance she will be flying off to Ottawa for the investiture ceremony at Rideau Hall.
She earned the distinction for the same reason she's won the hearts of children for close to four generations now. She uses song as an education platform as much as for entertainment. She started her career as a folk singer, working at the time with major folk stars like Pete Seeger and Tom Paxton, but she was also a teacher. These two pillars held up her career as she evolved into a specialist in the children's genre.
"I do a lot of work with teachers and caregivers on the value of music in child development, particularly in the development of language," she said.
Music can boost the mood of the classroom but it can also reinforce learning, she explained. Songs can tell stories, impart knowledge or even open mental doors to completely other information. Her website has entire programs for integrating her music or any music into school activities for the ultimate benefit of the youngsters.
"That's why I'm so supportive of all the arts," she said. "I always feel: hand to heart to head. That means what we do - we sing, we draw, we dance, we act dramatically, we do imaginative play - all of that has an emotional impact on us and then it goes into our long-term memory in the right brain. That picture or song may not last forever but the experience resides in your right brain and nourishes you throughout your life. So I think teaching arts in school is so important."
Asked if she studies child psychology in order to write more effective songs, Diamond replied "often, often," and cited developmental psychologist Gordon Neufeld and neurologist/psychiatrist Gabor Mat as influences.
Diamond espouses a style of musical inclusion in a child's life she sums up as the P.R.I.Z.E. method. That stands for: Props (using visual and tactile aids to reinforce connection to a song), Rhythm (stressing the beat of each song and moving to it), Inspiration or Imagination (springboarding off the song into new, original ideas), Zippers (songs that accommodate new versions or customizes verses) and Echoing (using repetition and call-and-response to boost engagement in the song, for individuals or groups).
It worked well with her kids. Matt is a prime example of someone who took in a musical upbringing and made it a fruitful part of his adult life. Diamond is now teaching ukulele and writing songs with her grandchildren, aged 10 and 7, so a third generation is underway.
New songs are always coming together for Diamond, as are the speaking engagements and conferences where she imparts the knowledge of an artist who has made a career of uplifting the coming generations.
She is in the process of downsizing her own life, which is right on time for her generation. She and her husband are presently packing for a move from their home of 43 years in Richmond, heading to a smaller spot by the ocean in Sechelt.
The moving process has inspired waves of memory and nostalgia, she said, making her wonder about the generations ahead of her who are now entering their second childhood. Most people respond well in mind and spirit to the songs of their youth and it's even true that dementia sufferers can still readily dip into their favourite old songs despite most other memories being boggled in their minds. Could there be value in her skill-set for doing albums of songs for that generation? It's possible.
One of the most stressful things in anyone's life is moving homes. That can be especially scary, upsetting, even traumatizing for children. Could her act of packing, downsizing, letting go of past material and facing the unknown be fodder for songs to help children when they go through this kind of life event? It's possible.
That's the constant condition for an artist. The range of what's possible is so open in their hands. She emphasizes that we are all artists, or capable of thinking like one. And the living of life is so much better if you do it with friends, smiles, positive outlooks, and constant education even if it's just from the reading of a book or tending a garden.
Diamond's shining example will be singing and smiling on July 7 in front of the Two Rivers Gallery when the city's premier visual arts facility takes their gear outdoors for their annual family flash of creative fancy. Charlotte and Matt Diamond will bring their musical and storytelling elements as well. Their first concert is at noon that day and it is free of charge.
