Dream Serenade 2022

Dream Serenade is the visionary work of Toronto parents Christie Greyerbiehl and musician/songwriter Hayden Desser. Created in 2014 to thank and raise funds for their daughter's school, Beverley Street PS, the popular annual event has now expanded to support other like-minded schools and care-centres in the GTA and raise funds that directly assist Toronto area families with the Summer Bursary Fund. 

Dream Serenade has since become one of Toronto's most highly anticipated annual events, combining a celebration of this hard working community while raising money and awareness for schools and services for children with developmental and/or physical disabilities and their caregivers. Past artist who have come together to celebrate this community and perform unique sets include Feist, Gord Downie, Tanya Tagaq, Broken Social Scene, Barenaked Ladies, Gowan, Tom Cochrane, Billy Talent, Sarah Harmer, Bahamas, July Talk, The Persuasions, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Sloan, City & Colour, Jim Cuddy, Sam Roberts, William Prince, and so many more.

In spring 2020 Dream Serenade created the COVID Family Relief Bursary to better meet the needs of the community during a very challenging time. The new Bursary was able to provide support to 144 families at 55 schools across the Greater Toronto Area, however we could not meet the intense demand, we received over 450 applications in the first week alone. 

In the fall of 2020 the concert went virtual and all proceeds went towards continuing this COVID Family Relief Bursary program. Thanks to the generosity of donors and our virtual show audience, a record 246 bursaries were distributed with 239 of these bursaries going to families who had never received a Dream Serenade bursary before! 

There was no concert in 2021 which meant that we used all of Dream Serenade's reserve budget and relied heavily on the donations from this CanadaHelps page to help continue a limited scope our of year-round programs. The money raised here went to fund 25 Family Relief Bursaries based on nominations from 7 congregated school Social Workers who connected us with families most in need of support.  On Nov 12th 2022 Dream Serenade returned to Massey Hall with an incredible evening of music and community. We cannot wait to bring the usual Dream Serenade Summer Bursary back in 2023, bigger and better than ever before! With your support to rebuild the Dream Serenade pool of funding, we can make it happen.  

More information can be found at dreamserenade.ca 

Please follow us @dreamserenade for updates on our concert in fall 2023.

READ: "Here's how the annual benefit to support children with developmental and physical disabilities and their caregivers has grown every year - five years of community and generosity," from NOW Magazine 2018 - link https://nowtoronto.com/music/features/dream-serenade-five-years/

READ: "Dreaming up a plan to lend a hand - An annual concert has changed the lives of students at a Toronto school for children with developmental disabilities," from Globe and Mail 2017 – https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/a-dream-serenade-for-children-withdisabilities/article36912321/

10/10 Review from Exclaim Magazine https://exclaim.ca/music/article/dream_serenade_featuring_hayden_feist_national_billy_talent_barenaked_ladies_sarah_harmer_jason_collett_more-massey_hall_toronto_on_october_25

5/5 N review from NOW Magazine https://nowtoronto.com/music/concert-reviews/dream-serenade/