A concert planned before the 2020 school year ended due to COVID-19 is returning in 2022.
Carlton Comprehensive High School’s band students will showcase their skills at a live concert titled ‘Where is the Love?’ on Tuesday, April 5 at 7 p.m. in the Carlton Cafetorium.
Carlton Band teacher Brenda Bernath is happy to have the students back playing in front of a live audience.
“Being back in person for a concert means that we can truly give our audience the real experience of music,” Bernath said. “Music is not just about hearing it, it is feeling it. A live concert is also a community of people coming together to enjoy the moment, in this case a moment that celebrates our students and their accomplishments.”
Bernath said live concerts are also important because they give student musicians a place to shine.
“They have asked about it many times during the year. Sometimes it seemed like we were moving in the right direction and live performance would be possible, and other times it just was not safe to do so. Unfortunately, things changed so quickly that one never knew which direction to go in,” she explained.
She said that even while preparing for this in person concert they continued to record their music so that if something happened and we all of a sudden could not perform, they still had video recordings.
“The students would still have a performance and an end product that they could share with family and friends,” Bernath said.
Musicians will have more than just a chance to get back to live performances. They’ll also have a chance to finish something they started in 2020, when ‘Where is the love?’ was originally scheduled.
“It was heartbreaking when we were sent home in March of 2020 and we kept hoping we would be back by the beginning of May so that the show could go on,” she said.
“Well, it’s two years later and the show is finally going on. The concert is focused around social and world issues, and it definitely relays some very heartfelt messages. It is also meant to inspire and offer hope,” she said.
The theme of the concert was inspired by the focus of the arts education curriculum – topics of concern to youth. Not only will the musical selections follow this theme, but student artwork will be on display to reflect this as well.
She added that the world could use a little help on so many different levels that explained the title “Where is the Love?”
Things will look different performance-wise, according to Bernath.
“We continue to be distanced as we play, and students have kept the recommended bell covers on their instruments,” she explained. “Although the distancing makes it more difficult for them to hear one other, and the bell covers dampen the sound of each individual player, it is the way we have managed to play safely during the pandemic, and playing of any sort is better than not playing at all.”
Carlton commercial cooking students will provide refreshments for the evening. The concert will be a celebration of students using their talents to speak messages of the heart.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
