When you think of a lullaby, what comes to mind? It’s probably a short, simple, and repetitive tune, made to soothe a baby or a young child. But the songs that come out of The Lullaby Project are so much more than that. Pairing new and expectant parents with professional artists, this program at Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall has produced almost 100 deeply personal, love-filled lullabies since its launch in 2017.

“There’s this initial idea, and I certainly had it too, that a lullaby is a really simple melody, and it is,” says Vanessa Smith, Director of Education and Community Engagement. “But what’s been so beautiful and surprising about this program is the really wide variety and the deep vulnerability that comes out of these songs.”

The Lullaby Project is a program at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Institute, but in 2017, when Smith joined Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall, she knew she had to bring the initiative to Toronto. The program’s first community partner was Jessie’s: The June Callwood Centre for Young Women, a drop-in resource centre for young pregnant and parenting women. 

“We started with an initial cohort of 10 lullabies there, and it’s just kept growing ever since,” Smith says. 

The Lullaby Project now has two additional community partners—UHN and Birthmark. These organizations refer parents to Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall, where they’re matched with an artist who will work with them one-on-one to create a personalized lullaby for their child. These matches are made carefully, Smith tells us, taking into account not only the parents’ preferred musical genres, but also considerations like culture and language.

“We’ve written lullabies in many different languages at this point, so we do try to keep that roster really diverse so that we can write lullabies in as many languages as possible,” she says. “It’s so important for babies to hear that language at home too.”

The lullabies have run the gamut of genres, and have touched on a wide range of topics that parents have brought to the songwriting sessions—from stories about immigration to the difficult decisions and stigmas faced by young parents. Alexandra, a mother who recently recorded a song for The Lullaby Project, wanted to write about the sibling relationship between her two young children.

“Music has always been a big part of our lives. I sing to my kids all the time—all day, every day…but this is a more personal kind of thing,” she says. Alexandra was paired with Chloe Doucet (daughter of Whitehorse’s Luke Doucet) to help bring her song to life. In their session at Massey Hall’s Deane Cameron Recording Studio, the pair worked together to hone the lullaby, sung by Alexandra, with Doucet playing guitar. 

Many people don’t know that the corporation of Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall is a not-for-profit charitable organization. With programs dedicated to artist development, education, and community engagement, there is plenty of philanthropic work happening behind the scenes at two of Toronto’s most iconic music venues. Artists already involved in these programs are part of the roster of songwriters for The Lullaby Project. Smith tells us that many parents have shared how they feel seen in the process of working with an artist to create their lullaby.

“This is a really powerful experience for people,” Smith says. “It’s so lovely to see parents come in and be so open with their feelings and their expressions and see the way that the artists work with them and form these really deep relationships.”

Another joy of The Lullaby Project is the longevity of the lullabies. New parents walk away from the program with a lullaby they can keep singing at home for years to come. Eventually, their children join in too. The story of one family from the early days of the program still sticks with Smith. 

“There was a toddler and her mom working with us, and she was autistic and nonverbal. She wrote this really fun, beautiful song—she wanted a song that her child could dance to,” Smith says. “When I saw her a couple years later, she was still singing the song, and [her child] still automatically would start dancing to it. No matter what…there’s something in music that brings us all to life and connects us.”

This is perhaps most evident at the annual Lullaby Project Celebration Concert. Each year, the parents and participating artists gather to perform their lullabies live, in a joyful celebration of music, family, and community.

“It’s such a celebratory, fun atmosphere,” Smith says. “Everybody brings the kids, so there’s babies and toddlers dancing around and enjoying their songs.”

This year’s concert will take place on June 13, and will be livestreamed on YouTube. The evening will feature 11 lullabies from the program performed live for the first time. At these concerts, Smith tells us, the songwriters and the parents often talk about their experience and the meaning behind their lyrics with such warmth and openness, creating an emotional bond between everyone in the room. “There’s this connectedness between all of the parents who are there,” Smith says. “Everybody leaves a little warmer—and also probably crying.”

Watch The Lullaby Project Celebration Concert livestream on June 13. All of the songs created through The Lullaby Project are available to stream on SoundCloud.