Music Festival Help Needed Soon!

Anyone interested in volunteering as strings coordinator for the P.A. Kiwanis Music Festival,  please contact Sheila Holash for more information. (she is in the phone book.)   This is a position for an adult, not a student and Sheila can give you an idea of the commitment of time involved.  The position is currently unfilled and the strings portion of  the music festival cannot go ahead without a coordinator!

We Are Tuning Up For A Great Year!

I hear that we have a great turnout for orchestra this year which is music to my ears (ha ha.) I hope you all have a wonderful experience in the program - just remember to ALWAYS check with your teacher to see what work you have missed EACH and EVERY class that you have gone to your orchestra with Mr. B. Use your agenda to keep track of assignments and exams, stay on top of your homework and it will all be good! Your teachers are here to help and your classmates can also keep you up-to-date on notes you may have missed. Just keep in mind that you are the one who is ultimately responsible for checking to see what went on while you were gone!

I don't often post TED talks here because they are a bit long, but this one is worth watching. Ji-Hae Park is a violin virtuoso who discusses her journey back from depression. Here is her biography from the TED website:

Why you should listen to her:
Ji-Hae Park was on the fast track to violin stardom when she ... paused. Why was it simply her goal to be the best violin player in the world? Was there more to music than that? And thus she began to think differently about how to "play" her life. Now -- along with playing prestigious concert halls, winning prizes and making a new album for Decca called Baroque in Rock -- she makes time to play in hospitals, churches, prisons, anywhere she feels she can reach people with music. Her friendly, entertaining rearrangements of classical music invite new listeners in.
She was named The Respected Korean 2010 for her leadership and influence on the national development. She is playing on the Petrus Guarnerius 1735, Venedig on loan from the German Foundation (Deutsche-Stiftung- Musikleben) since 2003.

Welcome Back!

Aren't we all super-excited to be back at school? I know I am! Orchestra is shaping up to be even more awesome this year, and Mr. B is hoping to have all of you showing off your skills more than ever. Mr. B as usual had a very busy summer not only keeping up with the horses and cowboy-type work, but teaching at fiddle camps, participating in a concert celebrating the 110th anniversary of the arrival of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary in Saskatchewan in 1903, and attending the 2013 Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition where his son Wyatt was a showcase performer. BTW, first place in that competition went to James Steele, from Saskatoon! Go Western Canada!
I hope all of you who are signed up for orchestra are as enthusiastic about the program as Mr. B and I are! It really is such a wonderful opportunity and you would be amazed at what just a few minutes of regular practice each night will do for you over the school year! Remember to keep an eye on that orchestra schedule - it is vitally important to attend those classes and your subject teachers are aware of that and will arrange for you to catch up on what you have missed in your other classes. Speaking from Quinn's experience, she was a bit apprehensive at first - she waited until grade eight to sign up - but it became one of the favourite parts of her day! I really, really hope for that for all of you this year!

Mr. Bernier playing at the 110th Anniversary concert of the Sisters in July.

Finals are fast approaching!

Or so I hear from Quinn and other students of Mr. B's.  That stressful time of year is upon us with year-end concert next week and your academic finals coming up along with the final testing for your year of work with your strings instruments.  Good luck to all of you and kudos to everyone on the wonderful performances at Variety Night this week!  What an amazing mix of talent this year - it was a pleasure to be in the audience.  As an afterthought, I grabbed Quinn's camera and did manage to tape a couple of acts, including Mr. Bernier and Wyatt - although the stage lighting kind of washed out everyone's faces (okay I am just using that as an excuse for my complete lack of technical skills.)  Anyway, you can still hear the music, which is the important part.  This is their second piece - I was struggling with the zipper on the camera bag for the first song.  (I told you I have my challenges to overcome - and it was very dark in the audience.)
Mr Bernier and his son Wyatt accompanied by Arthur Lavertu:

Giddyup!

The very fortunate grade sevens from Mr. Bernier's science class will be having a live demonstration tomorrow, March 13th of blacksmithing and farrier science which will give them an excellent real-life example of heat and temperature as they have been studying from the curriculum! They will watch the forging of steel and see live horses get their shoes fitted (not heels though.) This will be in the yard, not the classroom, btw.

Mr. B. also wanted to thank all of his students who took the time and effort to prepare for and participate in Music Festival this year and said he was very pleased with all of your performances. Way to represent!

In other strings-related news, the PASO, or Prince Albert Strings Orchestra is having its annual concert at Rivier on April 21 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased from any of the orchestra members. I know we have at least five at school this year: Quinn, Emma Eaton, Violet, Jordan McEwen, and Megan Dierker. Sorry if I missed anyone!

Great Job At Music Festival!

A big congratulations to all of our Rivier music festival participants - it was great to see such wonderful representation once again this year. I know it is nerve-wracking to get up there on that stage, so WAY TO GO!!! Now you can breathe a sigh of relief (a bit) until the year-end concert!
I thought I would post this little video I really enjoyed from Soul Pancake - even though it's Christmas-themed it includes Kevin Olusola, a really awesome beat-boxing cellist. If you enjoy this little snippet of him here, I'm sure you can find out a lot more about him with a google search. Plus, "kid president" is just adorable! Enjoy.