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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2017-05-31, Page 5Wednesday, May 31, 2017 • Signal Star 5 55 -member St. Anne's Concert Band attended Nationals in Niagara Falls. St. Anne's Concert Band wins National Gold Standing St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School Concert Band travelled to compete at the Music Fest Nationals in Niagara Falls this past week and achieved a Gold Standing. The National music festival, which was held at the Scotia Bank Convention Centre, sees the best bands in the country gather to perform over five days. In order to attend this compe- tition, bands must qualify at a Regional festival. St. Anne's band qualified to attend Nationals in a festival at Oakridge Secondary School in London earlier this spring. The 55 -member $t. Anne's Concert Band travelled to the National Festival on Tuesday, May 16 and performed three challenging pieces on the festi- val stage for an audience and adjudication panel. Following the performance component of the festival, each band received a workshop from an adjudicator. St. Anne's band was awarded an "Excellence in Clinic" award for their phenomenal job during their workshop session. Grade twelve saxophonist Ben Luelo received the ensembles Honour Award for his perfor- mance and leadership in prepa- ration for Nationals. St. Anne's Concert Band prac- tices two mornings every week at 7:15am, from September until the end of May. Music teacher and band director Mr. Josh Geddis remarked: "Over the last nine years at St. Anne's we have had some amazing Concert Bands. This particular band is very spe- cial. I have never had a group that I have pushed so hard. The band this year is also unique as over half of them are junior [grade 9 or 10] students, and our Concert Band usually consists of higher ratio of senior students. Both the junior and senior stu- dents really stepped up and the entire school along with myself and Mrs. St. Onge [Choral Direc- tor, Band assistant and Educa- tional Assistant at St. Anne's] are extraordinarily proud of these students." In addition to the Concert Band's performance at Nation- als, Joshua LeBlanc -Demers, a grade 11 student'at St. Anne's from Goderich was accepted, based on audition, to the National Wind Ensemble and National Percussion Ensemble. LeBlanc -Demers performs as a member of the St. Anne's Con- cert Band and Jazz Band. He studies percussion privately with Jeff Christmas and Dave Robil- liard and teaches private percus- sion lessons as well in Goderich. These National honour ensembles are audition -based bands that hand-pick the best musicians from various high schools from across the country. While are Nationals, LeBlanc - Demers was involved in nine hours of rehearsal per day for a full week with world-class con- ductors playing extremely hard repertoire. The National ensembles closed out the festival on Fri- day night, with a performance for over 1, 000 audience members. "We are extremely proud of Josh's accomplishments both in and out of school. He is the first St. Anne's musician that Grade twelve saxophonist Ben Luelo received the ensembles Honour Award for his performance and leadership in preparation for Nationals. has performed as a member. of the National Honour band at Music Fest. He is a great talent and is learning a lot through this experience," said Geddis. These performances wrap up a big year in the St. Anne's music . program. This year, students had many amazing opportunities, which included a workshop with Dr. Richardson at the University of Western Ontario Don Wright Faculty of Music. They also were part of a drop-in performance by Canadian Juno award winner and multiple East Coast Music award winner, Joel Plaskett. Contributed Photos Joshua LeBlanc -Demers of Goderich, has been selected to the National Wind Ensemble and the National Percussion Ensemble. Harbour Hill Retirement Communit & MacKay Centre for Seniors present "Living Best Life" A 55+ Expo to Celebrate Seniors Month MacKay Centre, 10 North Street, Goderich Friday, June 9th & Saturday, June 10th, 2017 Friday, June 9th • 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm 5:30 pm for Beef on a Bun 6:00 pm Guest Speaker Nancy Revie, "Living Your Best Life" MacKay Centre for Seniors Saturday, June 10th • 9:30 - 3:00 pm Featuring Motivational Speaker - Merri Macartney • MacKay Centre's - Kathleen Buckley Readiness Facilitator - Stephanie Hartwick • Elder Planning Counselor - Judy Jenkins Back Pack Boomers - Candas Whitlock & Alastair Henry Mayor Kevin Morrison a � 1 Refreshments provided veryoneis me to attend this complimentary event. ,ft ,trui - P rY For more information call 519-524-6660 1 4•1111111T '4""4.