At Armstrong, we encourage all of our grade seven students to take band. It is such a lucky opportunity the children are afforded in the Burnaby school district – to have this program, not as an add-on, but as part of the instructional time for these students. They build a connection to high school learning, get ahead in a high school elective, and can make an informed decisions when it comes to their high school choice electives. There are no down-sides to taking band in grade seven. The focus, team building and musical language acquisition is so good for these kids!
Here is the link to the band information form. You can fill it out online so next year’s band teacher can get to know your kid, their instrument preference, level of music knowledge and interest.
Thank you for filling this out ahead of the September term. It will help with our planning for the 2024-2025 school year.
I am sharing this letter from the BCMEA past president with the Armstrong community, because I know most of you appreciate our strong music program at Armstrong and in Burnaby. But, as budgets get cut, this may not always be our reality. Write a letter (see template below) to support adequate funding for your child’s education that allows the entire curriculum, including arts education, to be taught in schools.
As you may be aware, school districts throughout our province have been grappling with deficit budgets, leading to significant cuts in teaching positions, student programs, and essential student support services. These budget constraints have profoundly impacted the quality of education our students receive, including their access to music education.
In response to these challenges, a letter writing campaign to the provincial government has been initiated. The primary aim of this campaign is to advocate for an increase in the per student fund allocation, which is crucial for restoring the resources necessary to provide a well-rounded education for all students, including robust music programs.
I urge you to join this campaign by mobilizing your music parents and families to participate in sending letters to their Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). By raising our voices collectively, we can emphasize the importance of adequate funding for education and highlight the value of music education in fostering creativity, discipline, and academic success among our students.
Below, I have included a template letter that you can share with your music community. Feel free to customize it to reflect your own experiences and perspectives:
Together, let’s work towards securing the resources our students need to thrive academically, socially, and artistically. Thank you for your dedication to music education and your commitment to advocating for the best interests of our students.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out. Let’s make our voices heard and effect positive change for the future of education in our province.
So, some of you may be wondering why I took some time off last week (the first week of May). I was in charge of the steering committee of the 28th bi-annual conference of Carl Orff Canada. It took place from May 2-5 at Capilano University. Almost elementary music teachers came from across Canada, from the U.S. and from Germany to learn, celebrate and collaborate in North Vancouver. We called our conference Constellation 2024.
Here is a link to the instagram and Facebook pages that documented this event:
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.
Cassie Luftspring is a versatile choral conductor, composer, soprano, and pianist. In addition to her work at VAM, she is currently Artistic Director of the British Columbia Girls Choir and Conductor of Voces Gioventu. She has held conducting and teaching positions with several other organizations, including the Vancouver Youth Choir, Vancouver Children’s Choir, Vancouver Opera, Toronto Children’s Chorus, Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley, Pacifica Singers, Mississauga Festival Youth Singers, Cantabile Choirs of Kingston, and University of Toronto Women’s Chamber Choir and Men’s Chorus, among others.
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.
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
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:
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
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