Page 112 - 1986

108 BAND & CHOIR
This has been a very exciting and exhilarating year for all of us. We started off the school year with a dynamic exchange between Admiral Collingwood and our own school.Mr. Mitchell of Admiral Collingwood taught grade nine instrumental for one semester while I taught grades ten and thirteen instrumental to our school and grade one to six vocal at Admiral Collingwood. This arrangement has led to close cooperation between the two panels and an enrichment peformance experience for all band and vocal students.
Special thanks must be given to Admiral Collingwood principal Mr. T. Geddes and our own Mr. T. Moore. Both men have been and will continue to be supportive of the music programme. Special thanks must also be given to the Student Executive, Music Parents' Association of both schools, the Enrichment for the Arts Committee and Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts in sponsoring my piano recital and our drive for new uniforms for all our music students.
I am very proud of our concert and stage bands because our students never let us down. For very important occasions they did their best and played exceedingly well. Thus commencement, Christmas and Remem- brance assemblies, Christmas Parade and Grade eight Parents' Night performances were all exceedingly successful. .
Although my association with the choir has been brief, I am very en- couraged by my forty vocal students. They are an amazingly talented group and will have been showcased in important concerts by the time you will have read this.
Talking about the future, we look forward to hosting the Area Four Music Festival May 14 and 15 at C.C.I. This will be a performing experience for both the band and choir.
If all goes well, May 17-20 will find the choir and band in an exciting cultural trip to Washington D.C. and Gettysburg. The Gettysburg high school has invited our band and vocal students grades seven to thirteen to put on a concert there. If this trip turns out to be a success it could mean a very important field trip to a major music centre every school year.
We will also be performing for our General and Marine Hospital in the spring, area four schools and education week events.
I would like to mention that our school's new and exciting Enrichment Programme has very important implications for our music programme. Three senior students at this time are doing voluntary and independent thirty hour quarter credit studies in topics that range from popular to classical music.
In conclusion , we all look forward to a full music programme at C.C.I. next year .
J. Senyshyn