Bella Rose has been playing the alto and tenor saxophone and piano for nearly four years, and now she cannot imagine her life without music.
“I can absolutely see myself playing the piano for the rest of my life. I always want music to be part of my life,” said the 17 year old.
The Grade 12 student will be helping spread a message of the importance of music education at six elementary schools in Bradford West Gwillimbury next week as part of a travelling concert series featuring the Bradford District High School jazz band.
For Bella, music class is about a lot more than learning to play songs.
“It’s a good break from doing school work. I love the camaraderie of band, too,” she said. “Knowing how to play an instrument is cool. It’s broadened my perspective in life in general. I understand music I hear on the radio better. I’m able to appreciate a broader range of music.”
The jazz band, made up of 25 students from Grades 10 to 12, will perform 30- to 40-minute shows on Dec. 17 and 18 at Fieldcrest Elementary School, Fred C. Cook Public School, Chris Hadfield Public School, W.H. Day Elementary School, Honourable Earl Rowe Public School, and Sir William Osler Public School.
The high-school students will play two concerts at Fieldcrest to accommodate all the students there.
The band will play music and introduce the instruments to the elementary students, even letting some of them try them out.
Christina Paton, who has been a music teacher at Bradford District High School since 2006, has organized these concerts for the last four years.
Simcoe County elementary schools do not have a formal music program; they are run at the discretion of each principal and if the school has a qualified teacher, she said.
Music education is so important, she said, and it has a lot more benefits than just learning an instrument.
“It helps with self confidence for sure — performing in front of people. (It improves) attention. It’s a hand-on class as well,” Paton said. “I find a lot of students who aren’t good academically are good at music because it’s something tangible. Plus, it’s fun.”
Students get to help choose some of the music they learn to play, she said, and in past years that has included songs by Van Morrison and Stevie Wonder.
Paton said the travelling concerts will be partially funded by donations from the school’s Christmas concert Dec. 13 at 7 p.m., which the public is welcome to attend. The cost of busing the band to the elementary schools is more than $700 and not covered by the program's regular budget, she added.
Curtis Chambers, 17, who plays tenor saxophone, has participated in previous travelling concerts as a member of the school’s jazz band.
“It’s a nice break. Outside of being academic, to be with everyone is just always a lot of fun,” he said, adding he wants younger students interested in music to know it’s a great social activity.
“You can connect with others through it. You learn one instrument (and) it becomes a lot easier to learn another. We’re here to have fun.”
