The Heart of the City Piano Program (HCPP) is a volunteer driven non-profit organization that provides music lessons to children who would otherwise not have the opportunity to receive private musical education. We believe that music education should be accessible to everyone, not only for those who can afford it; music is for sharing.
OUR MISSION
The Heart of the City Piano Program (HCPP) strives to enhance the lives of and learning opportunities for at-risk youth through musical education.
OUR VISION
To proactively address the social issue of poverty and social justice by the advancement of a more equitable opportunity for disadvantaged youth to participate in music lessons.
The program is not only intended to give the students musical skills. Through exposure to positive role models and opportunities to perform at and attend live music performances, students will gain a sense of accomplishment, confidence, increased self-esteem. When children realize that they are capable of creating music, the whole world opens up to them. They realize that they can be a part of the beauty around them and that they are more than capable of accomplishing whatever they set their minds to.
In 1995, the Heart of the City Piano Program (HCPP) began as a single dream to enhance the lives of at-risk youth through a structured music program. Richard Dube, the music teacher of Pleasant Hill Community School in Saskatoon, started the program with the strong belief that involvement in the HCPP will help students to make positive lifestyle choices and prevent them from becoming involved in drugs, alcohol and violence.
The HCPP has since expanded to include several cities across Canada:
– 1999: Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Regina
– 2002: Edmonton
– 2005: Ottawa
– 2007: Montreal
– 2008: Vancouver
– 2014: Calgary
Don’t see your city on here? Why not start a new chapter? Contact us to get started!
Emily Davies, Program Director
Victoria, BC
www.hcppvictoria.ca
Suzy An & Kelly Borkowski, Co-Program Directors
University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC
www.hcppvancouver.ca 
Celeste Kwok, Program Director
University of Alberta, Edmonton AB
www.ualberta.ca/~hcpp 
Jenny Yuen, President
University of Calgary, Calgary AB
www.heartofthecity.ca/calgary
Tanis Lindsay, Program Director
Saskatoon SK
www.heartofthecity.ca/saskatoon
Catherine Folstad & Michelle Wheeler, Program Director
Regina SK
www.heartofthecity.ca/regina
Connie Li, Program Director
McGill University, Montreal QC
www.heartofthecitymontreal.com/
Tiffany Lau & Laura Mardiros, Co-Program Directors
Ottawa ON
www.heartofthecityottawa.weebly.com/
Imagine that you have something you want to share with us.