Golden Secondary School is offering a night of musical delights as the GSS beginner and advanced bands, as well as the choir, get together for a concert on Nov. 29.
“Concerts are fun, I think the kids really enjoy performing,” said band teacher Doug Orr.
The beginner band, made up mainly of Grade 8 students, has been playing for two months now, and has been working very hard to get three pieces ready for the concert. The members of the advanced band have been playing for a year or two.
“Their musical background varies greatly when these kids enter musical programs,” said Orr. “Some of them will have had some musical training, and some will have had absolutely nothing. And it’s the same with choir. We have had quite a range of kids entering. Everything from haven’t seen a note before to having played piano for awhile.”
Despite a low point a few years back, the music programs at GSS are seeing significant enrolment.
“We have about 32 students in the band, and close to 30 in the choir. So we have almost 20 per cent of the school. We’re definitely in the high teens,” said Orr.
The choir, which spans Grades 8 through 12, will be performing four songs. For the first time this year they will be singing a couple jazz songs, as well as one pop and one Christmas number.
The group performs two big concerts a year, the second being near the end of the school year, as well as several small shows at assemblies, and community events such as the Remembrance Day services. And Orr is hoping to take the kids to a music festival in Penticton in the spring.
The choir will be featuring a guest conductor Barbara Ulrich from Music Illuminata, who will also be lending her services as a flutist.
And although the choir is going strong this year, they are looking for a bit of help.
“We’d love to have a pianist if anybody’s interested. It’s very difficult to run a choir without a piano player,” said Gloria Lowe, choir teacher.
“I just try to direct and play and bounce around. It is difficult, it would be really nice if there is a piano player in the community that wants to come play.”
Anyone interested can email Lowe at gloria.lowe@sd6.bc.ca. The fall concert is on Tuesday Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the GSS gym. Admission is by donation, and all are welcome.
