We are Jennifer, Sage, and Cole Christensen, a mother/teenager team with an intense love for live music and a mission to help support our conflicted youth through music and the arts.
We developed Musicat and the Muses about 8 years ago. Musicat, our main character and transformational symbol, was based off of an original sketch my Mother Marylou, a 4th-grade teacher and representative for Scott Foresman, sketched on her calendar one day back in the 80s. She named this little treble clef formed cat ” Musicat” and had always wanted to use this symbol to celebrate music and the arts, particularly in schools. Sadly she passed away and had never accomplished her dream.
After her passing, Sage, Cole decided it was time to make her dream come true and we went to work with her sketch – developing Musicat with a great back story and a group of 6 genre-based crazy cat friends (rocker cat, classy cat, reggae cat, folksie cat, country cat, jazzy cat) all who transform into musical shapes and color when being positively influenced by music and the arts.
Today, we have developed Musicat into a fun animation-based teen/parent media outlet. We (along with Musicat and the muses) interview various artists about their careers and their struggles and obstacles with an intention to help teens who may be experiencing similar challenges. We also write and develop books, magazines, and animations based around important healing ( emotional and physical) themes.
We also have a philanthropic arm of Musicat called Live Music Heals. Live Music Heals uses our characters and brand to help raise not only awareness for issues that affect today’s youth but also raise funds for compassionate causes and charities. In the past, we have partnered with Phil Collins’ Little Dreams Foundation, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (where we helped raise $67,000 for blood cancers), and this June 30, we hosted An Exciting Evening of Empathy Fundraiser to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The night was our first large fundraiser ever– and an incredible success, raising more than $20,000. We flew the iconic Florence La Rue and the 5th Dimension in from California to perform, and we also hired Christian Hoff (Tony Award winner for Jersey Boys) to host. Christian’s 9-year-old daughter Ella is a childhood Leukemia ALL survivor, and we invited her to attend as our honored hero. Sage who is 15, wrote a beautiful piece on music as a healing force as well and presented this at the event ( attached).
For this event, we (Sage, Cole, and I) planned the entire night around the theme of Empathy. We developed a children’s book EMPATHY FOR EMILY, and illustrated and animated it for the event in an effort to demonstrate how live music heals through our Musicat characters.
We are still getting donations for this event and raving reviews from guests who attended. We plan on definitely doing more of these events as it is a great way for us to use our Musicats in a positive way and to help philanthropic missions.
Musicat is also developing a book and animations for youth that center on bringing positive energy to sensitive subjects, such as anti-bullying, kindness, inclusivity, drug and alcohol awareness, and the message of “BE YOU” are central in our book’s messaging.
Education is a big piece of our brand’s mission as well, and we are looking to partner with several charities that promote learning and healing through music and the arts. We are hoping to make a huge difference through our “Musicat and the Muses” and we are can’t wait to share more of all the exciting developments through our symbol and characters to come!
