Students in Divisions 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are preparing songs to share at the Intermediate Choir Festival.

This is a Burnaby District run event for Burnaby schools only.

The purpose is to share music, learn singing techniques, learn some harmony singing, proper breath control, proper posture, increase listening skills and capacity, express oneself through music, improve audience etiquette and performance etiquette. We will also get to work with, and be critiqued by, an expert choir director, Cassie Luftspring. Check out her biography below. This is a great opportunity for the children to learn some skills that Ms. Karlson may not be able to teach them or that they have not had time to work on during music class. They will also be able to watch a high school choir sing and listen to Ms. Luftspring work with that choir on more advanced techniques.

We will be sharing two songs at the festival, and then singing one song “en masse” with the other choirs that attend.

We are singing:

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Shenandoah

Together We Are by Brian Tate

Our group will be singing on Tuesday, April 23rd at 9:15am at the New Westminster New Reformed Church. We will walk over to that venue to attend. We will meet at the school at 8:50am on April 23rd, walk to the church, sing, and then be back at the school by lunchtime.

Click on the grade 4/5 tab above for more information or videos with which to practice our songs.

As a professional choral singer, Cassie is a soprano section leader with the Vancouver Bach Choir, and has performed with various local groups including Musica Intima and the Vancouver Chamber Choir, with Bay Area Chamber Choir Convivium, and with the University of Toronto Schola Cantorum. A seven-time winner of the Amadeus Choir’s Songwriting Competition, her compositions and arrangements have been commissioned and performed by ensembles throughout North America. A recipient of numerous academic awards, including the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC), Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and Fellowship in Music, Cassie holds a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from the University of Toronto, and a degree in piano and composition from Queen’s University.

In March and April we have some exciting events coming up!

The grade 2s and 3s will be participating in Primary Days of Music – a District festival geared towards primary singers. They have been practicing 10 songs to enjoy and perform with/for other grade 2s and 3s in our district.

Our grade 2s and 3s are scheduled to go to Cameron school on March 12th in the afternoon and sing with children from Cameron school, Stoney Creek Elementary and University Highlands. The teachers and students are really looking forward to this event!

Students in our French immersion classes will be participating in Manie Musicale – a French immersion music competition. See the link for more details. Manie Musicale Details

And the grade 4s and 5s from Divisions 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be participating in the Intermediate Choir Festival on April 23rd in the morning. Find more details on this on the grade 4/5 page of this blog.

Come to the music room some time and take a look at the bulletin board in the hallway. There is a display of some of the most famous black musicians in North American history.

Here is a video about Ma Rainey – the Mother of the Blues.

Here is a video about Bob Marley – the Jamaican musician who brought Reggae to popularity in North America in the 1970s

Here is a video that can teach you a lot about one of those musician/composers. This is Scott Joplin – King of Ragtime.

There is a great opportunity for our upper intermediate students who love to sing! This choir will only be 5 rehearsals, but the choir director is amazing! Also, the opportunity to sing with Chor Leoni is one I highly recommend. They are a fabulous choir.

See the flyer below here:

Performance Schedule

Divisions 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 19 will be performing on Tuesday, December 12th at 1:30pm and 6:30pm in our school gym.

Divisions 1, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 15, 18 and 20 will be performing on Wednesday, December 13th at 1:30pm and 6:30pm.

The Grade 7 band will also perform on Wednesday December 13th only.

Practice

Here is a playlist of videos so that classes can practice their dances:

Costumes

We are going back to the Disco era for this one! – The late 1970s

The aesthetic we are going for is bell bottomed pants, glitter and sparkle. Headbands that go across the forehead were big too. This show has many different characters, but overall we want the kids to dress in a 1970s vibe.

Please help your children get ready for the Winter Concert by going through your closets to find clothes for their costumes or buying one or two items for their costumes. Shopping at local thrift stores can be inexpensive and get the vintage fashion vibe we are going for. Below is the list of costume items they will need.

Divisions 1-4 will be dressed as people who work on a T.V. show – so casual clothes, but with accessories that backstage crew members would have – headphones, clipboards, lanyards, etc.

Divisions 5-7 will be dressed in rags or as monsters like Krampus. Some of them will be the “Yule Lads” from the tales of Gryla. The Yule Lads are as follows:

Sheep-Clot Clod: He steals sheep

Gully Gawk: He steals cow’s milk

Stubby: He’s short and steals food from frying pans

Spoon Licker: He licks spoons

Pot Scraper, aka Pot Licker: He steals unwashed pots and licks them clean

Bowl Licker: He steals bowls of food from under the bed (back in the old days, Icelanders used to sometimes store bowls of food there—convenient for midnight snacking?)

Door Slammer: He stomps around and slams doors, keeping everyone awake

Skyr Gobbler: He eats up all the Icelandic yogurt (skyr)

Sausage Swiper: He loves stolen sausages

Window Peeper: He likes to creep outside windows and sometimes steal the stuff he sees inside

Door Sniffer: He has a huge nose and an insatiable appetite for stolen baked goods

Meat Hook: He snatches up any meat left out, especially smoked lamb

Candle Beggar: He steals candles, which used to be sought-after items in Iceland

Divisions 8-9

Nature creatures – trees, flowers, wild (tame) animals

Divisions 10-13

Snowmen – white tops and bottoms, brown sleeves, a carrot nose, a scarf and a hat

Divisions 14-15

Italian children who live in a small town – kerchiefs, shawls, peasant clothes from a long time ago

Divisions 16-18

Santa’s Elves

Divisions 19-20

The kids in Divisions 19 and 20 will be dancing to Y.M.C.A. They are to look like members of a gym in the 1970s, so gym clothes, but with 1970s colours and vibes – mustard yellow, oranges, headbands, etc.

Here is an article that explains more about late 70s fashion:

Late 1970s Fashion Guide

Here are some costumes ideas for the classes and characters:

costume document – One Drive

The casting is complete!

Rehearsals will be as follows for the cast of the concert:

Mondays at lunch – Krampus scene
Mondays after school – Santa scene
Tuesdays at lunch – Mother Nature scenes
Tuesdays after school – La Befana scenes
Thursdays at lunch – Snow Queen and snowmen scene
Fridays at lunch – David Suzuki scene
Fridays after school – Jack Frost scene

In December, all cast will be called to some rehearsals to do run throughs and full cast scenes as well as tech and dress rehearsals and costume fittings.

See the grade specific pages for the dance numbers and to practice along at home.

If you need any further information about the play or this opportunity, please email Ms. Karlson at Sonja.karlson@burnabyschools.ca

Piccolini is a wonderful opportunity for students in Grades 1-4 to get involved in a high-quality, fun choir! It is a district-wide choir, so students will be coming from all over Burnaby to participate.

The choir is an opportunity for students to develop their musicality in a fun and supportive environment. It provides both learning and performing opportunities, and serves as a stepping stone to other district ensembles for intermediate students, such as Corovoce Burnaby Youth Choir and Sound Wave Handbell Choir.

Auditions for Piccolini will be held on September 26 from 3:30-5:00 in order of arrival at Marlborough Elementary School (6060 Marlborough Avenue).
Rehearsals will take place on Tuesdays from 4:00-5:00 at Marlborough Elementary in the band room. The first rehearsal will take place on October 3 at 4:00. A fee of $75 will be charged to cover the cost of music, t-shirts, and to help cover the costs for tour transportation. This fee can be paid through School Cash Online.

Just a reminder about the wonderful Burnaby program designed to get musical instruments into every family home in Burnaby!

If you would like to learn an instrument, apply here and you can get an instrument for FREE for one year to try it out!

HARMONY FOR ALL

We have some wonderful district ensembles that I want to tell you about!

Corovoce is the Burnaby District Choir for children in grade 4 and higher. It’s a wonderful opportunity for your child to sing with likeminded children who love to sing and who love music. They perform at Michael J. Fox theatre twice per year and learn wonderful skills weekly.

They need to be referred by their music teacher, so just let me know if you intend on having your child audition and I will support that. You can email me at sonja.karlson@burnabyschools.ca

The Choir will rehearse on Mondays from 3:30 to 4:45 pm at South Slope Elementary in the school gym. The first rehearsal will be held Monday, September 18, 2023. A fee of $75.00 will be charged to cover the cost of music, t-shirts and to help offset costs for tour transportation, and professional development for directors. School online cash is the preferred payment method.
If you would like your child to be auditioned for CoroVoce (Burnaby District Youth Choir), please complete the attached permission form and bring it with you to the audition on Monday, June 19. If you have questions or would like further information, please e-mail the director, Teresa Jukich at: Teresa.jukich@burnabyschools.ca

Piccolini is the district choir for younger children in grades 1-3. A notice about Piccolini will be posted here in September. Rehearsals will take place at Marlborough Elementary school on Tuesdays after school. Marlborough school is near Metrotown. Again, the students will be learning wonderful singing skills and make friends with other kids who love to sing and perform.

And Soundwave is the district handbell ensemble. In order to join, your child must be in grade 4 piano at least and going into grade 7 at school. Let me know if you want your child to audition, and I’ll send you the letter via email. sonja.karlson@burnabyschools.ca

Armstrong Talent Show 2023

Great job to all of the participants of the 2023 Armstrong Talent Show!

It was an amazing show and everyone worked very hard to make it fun and exciting! Congratulations to all of the presenters. It is very brave of them to defy stage-fright fears and get up in front of their peers to perform. And thank you to the back stage crew of Chavez Dunbar, Jaila Franklin, Magdalene Tesfamariam and Gemma Ji. Also thank you and great work to our hosts: Benny Thomas, Sienna Mah, Peighton MacDonald, Rachel MacPherson and Wren Andersen.