On Monday, May 5, Coalition for Music Education will celebrate Music Monday with a cross-country sing-along to raise awareness for music education. The annual event celebrates the unifying power of music as thousands of Canadians join in singing and performing the Music Monday anthem at their schools and other community events. "Hold On" the uplifting, inspirational song by classic Canadian hard rock power trio, Triumph, has been chosen as the 2025 Music Monday anthem.

“We wanted to celebrate homegrown talent and Triumph’s 'Hold On' was a natural choice because of its powerful message of a belief in our own resiliency,” says Stacey Sinclair, Coalition for Music Education in Canada Executive Director. “The soaring melody, heartfelt lyrics and emotional resonance mirror the galvanizing need for support and connection which is at the heart of this nationwide celebration of the impact of music education in our schools and communities. We are so grateful to Triumph band members Rik Emmett, Gil Moore and Mike Levine for lending us this song and for their enthusiastic support of Music Monday."

Released in June 1979, "Hold On" was the first chart-topping single for Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees Triumph. Vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, Rik Emmett explains, “The song 'Hold On' was a tipping point for me as a recording artist: I felt I'd finally come up with a song that spoke directly to why the band I was in called itself “Triumph”. We were going to be a band about positivity, motivation and inspiration: long before self-help was even a thing, and this song was a catalyst for all that we went on to accomplish.”

Each year, on the first Monday of May thousands of students, musicians, parents and community members across the country will simultaneously sing and/or play the Music Monday anthem creating the world's largest single event dedicated to raising awareness for music education. Created to celebrate the power of music and demonstrate how that power is rooted in school music programs, Music Monday will be observed in many ways across the country - in school classrooms, special school assemblies, group concerts of area schools, concerts of community bands and choirs with special events.

Gil Moore, Triumph drummer and co-vocalist and founder Metalworks Studios, Metalworks Institute and SoundsUnite says, “Mike, Rik, and I are honored that 'Hold On' is this year's signature song, featuring Rik's new collaborative recording of the song based on a poem he composed back in his high school days. We are all thrilled to support this year's Music Monday event to highlight the importance of music education and music engagement for all people in Canada.”

The annual Music Monday event is the signature program of The Coalition for Music Education in Canada, Since its inception in 2005, Music Monday has touched the lives of millions of students and teachers across Canada who take their music programs into their communities to perform the same song on the same day, at the same time, uniting the entire country in song.

Past years’ sons have been composed by Luke Doucet, Serena Ryder, Dala, Chris Tait (Chalk Circle), Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield with Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies, Connor Ross, then a 16-year-old high school student and legendary Canadian singer songwriters Marc Jordan and Ian Thomas.

Registration is free and provides access to teacher resources, numerous audio and video recordings, arrangements, lyric sheets, sing-along video and an Artist Guide & Learning Guide. All registered participants also receive access to numerous online music education sessions released on Music Monday. Participants are invited to register their events for free at musicmonday.ca.

Music Monday would not be possible without the support of the NAMM Foundation, Long & McQuade Musical Instruments, Yamaha Music Canada, CMIEC, Whitecap Entertainment: Rising Tide Community Fund, Caju Multi Media, Metalworks Studios, Metalworks Institute, SoundsUnite, Victoria Lord PR and Universal Music Group.

The Coalition for Music Education in Canada exists to raise awareness of the vital role music education plays in our schools and the profound benefits music engagement brings to individuals and communities. Quality music education is a cornerstone of a well-rounded education, nurturing creativity, enhancing academic performance, building emotional resilience, and fostering social connection. For more information, visit coalitioncanada.ca.

Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees, Triumph epitomized arena rock in the 1980s. Their virtuoso musicianship, soaring melodies, exceptional songs and outstanding live shows made them superstars and an enormous influence on stage and on record.

Vocalist/guitarist Rik Emmett, bass guitarist/keyboardist Mike Levine and vocalist/drummer Gil Moore met in Toronto in 1975. Their commercial breakthrough came in 1979 with their third album, Just A Game. It generated the band’s first Billboard Top 40 hit single, “Hold On". In 1988, Emmett left Triumph to pursue a solo career. Levine and Moore recruited a new vocalist and guitarist – fellow Canadian Phil Xenidis, known as Phil X.

The classic Emmett-Levine-Moore line-up reunited in June 2008 to play at the Sweden Rock Festival, and then headlined the mammoth Rocklahoma Festival in July. Celebrated for their instrumental prowess, the band members excelled in other outlets as well. Levine co-produced some of the band’s early work. Emmett became a cartoonist for Hit Parader magazine. And Moore designed Triumph’s phenomenal live shows, which consistently evolved over the years and always used state-of-the-art lighting, laser and pyrotechnic effects. In fact, Triumph received the influential Performance Magazine “Innovators of the Year” award in 1981 for the unique way they changed the arena-rock landscape.

Triumph’s music reached a new generation of fans when “Lay It On The Line” was included in the Guitar Hero 5 video game in late 2009.

Triumph was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2019.

(Photo courtesy of Triumph)