Scott Roos stood behind the curtain at Vincent Massey Public School on Tuesday evening, facing his students with the look of someone taking in a final moment.
The room beyond the curtain was quiet at first, with only a few people seated for a concert scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Roos waited as more people arrived. By the time the Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band began, the room was nearly full.
Then the mood changed. The curtains opened, the band launched into the first song, and the audience responded with applause. Roos moved through the evening introducing students and guest musicians with the pride of a teacher watching a group reach the end of one chapter together.
For Roos, the concert was his final performance at Vincent Massey under his direction before he moves to a new role with the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Division.
“It’s emotional, no doubt,” Roos said after the performance. “I mean, it’s a little bittersweet, because this was something that I started as a passion project.”
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald
Scott Roos stands behind the curtain with members of the band before his final Vincent Massey performance as director of the Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band.
Roos is the founder and director of the Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band. He is also the band director and music teacher at Vincent Massey Public School and John Diefenbaker Public School.
He said the youth jazz band began because he wanted to create an opportunity that did not already exist in the same way.
“I enjoy and truly love directing jazz bands,” he said. “I pretty much started this one out of thin air, because in my heart and soul, I needed it.”
The band will still have one more performance with Roos at the Street Fair on June 20. Roos said the group will help open the event with O Canada before performing on the main stage at Diefenbaker Square at 11 a.m.
He said the Street Fair appearance is a major step for the youth band.
“It’s a hired paid gig,” Roos said. “It’s not, you know, let’s put the kids on stage and clap politely. This is like as legit a gig as we possibly can get in PA, I think, and the kids have earned it. They worked hard and they deserve it.”
At Vincent Massey, Roos said one of the things he is proudest of is the level of music the students are not able to play. He said the bank has been performing grade three and grade four charts, music he described as difficult for a youth ensemble in a smaller centre.
At Vincent Massey, Roos said one of the things he is proudest of is the level of music the students are now able to play. He said the band has been performing grade three and grade four charts, music he described as difficult for a youth ensemble in a smaller centre.
“There are some killer players who could, at the young age of 12 or 13, potentially outplay people in high school programs in the city,” he said. “They have worked that hard and they have put in the time and the effort and the energy.”
Scoot Roos leads the Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band at Vincent Massey Public School.
Roos said the students have reinforced his belief that young musicians can handle challenging music when the arrangement fits the group and when students are placed in the right roles.
“If they believe and they put the time and effort in, they can achieve,” he said.
He said music is about more than notes on a page.
“Playing music, or involving yourself in the arts, is about community, and it’s about confidence building,” Roos said. “It feels good to play music, it’s a joy.”
That lesson was visible in the students who spoke after the concert.
Abby Roos, Scott’s daughter and a Grade 12 lead tenor saxophone player in the band, said the night was a fitting way to close the year.
“I think it’s just a really great way to wrap things up and really show how much we’ve grown throughout the year,” she said.
She said watching her father direct the band from inside the ensemble has been special.
“It’s just really nice to see him in his element, since jazz is really his thing,” Abby said. “To watch him really blossom and grow and take on a leadership role is very inspiring.”
For Abby, the evening was emotional for more than one reason. It was her father’s final Vincent Massey performance, but also her final year in the band.
“It’s my last year being able to be a part of this band,” she said. “I’ve really seen these little kids grow, and it’ll just be sad to not play with them anymore.”
Augustine David, who plays drums, joined the band this school year. He said Roos quickly became one of his favourite music teachers because of how hard he pushed him.
“When I joined the band, I was not really a great drummer,” David said. “I got like 10 different songs that I had to learn all of a sudden while reading music, which I never had to do before.”
David said the first few were humbling, but Roos kept pushing and he kept working.
“Now I just feel like I’m a totally different player,” he said. “It’s amazing.”
David said the performance was one of his favourites of the year, especially because of a drum solo that pushed him physically and musically.
“I actually checked my heart rate at the end of the song. It was up to 175 ppm,” he said. “It was an experience, but it was really fun.”
The concert also featured guest musicians Shannon Fehr on tenor saxophone and Val Olsen on alto saxophone, who sat in on “Achin’ and Breakin’,” a slow blues number. Their addition gave the evening another layer, placing the young musicians beside experienced players in front of a nearly full room.
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald
Guest saxophonists Shannon Fehr (left) and Val Olsen (right) perform with the Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band.
Kayleigh Skomorowski, a Prince Albert music educator and parent of young musician in the band, said Roos created an opportunity that matters in the wider community.
“I can speak personally for my son,” Skomorowski said. “I know it’s meant the world to him to meet someone like Scott, who’s passionate about band at the level that Scott has.”
She said the band gives younger students a chance to learn from older students while playing music they might not otherwise acccess.
“I think introducing kids to the genre of jazz is huge,” she said. “But I think the mix of ages and having the built-in mentorship with the older high school students, and then the opportunities for the younger students who’ve only been playing a few years to be able to play music at the level they get to access because of the support of those older students is just really special.”
Skomorowski said losing Roos will be felt in Prince Albert.
“There’s less and less of us out there that are willing to do more than the nine to five,” she said. “Losing somebody that sees the value and giving their time in that way is always a big loss to our greater community.”
She said the experiences Roos gave students are part of his legacy.
“The kids and the experiences that he provided for them, like that is a legacy that is worthy of note.” she said.
Roos said the Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band is expected to continue, although he could not yet announce details.
“There definitely is a plan for the band to continue,” he said. “I think it’ll be in very good hands.”
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald
Scott Roos speaks to the audience before the Prince Albert Youth Jazz Band’s farewell performance at Vincent Masey Public School.
Roos will move on to teach band with the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Division at Holy Trinity in Warman, Holy Mary in Martensville, and St. Angela in Saskatoon.
He said Prince Albert welcomed his family after they moved from Yellowknife in 2018, and that support from parents, students, school administration, and the community made the work possible.
As the night moved toward its final notes, the concert became more than a school performance. It became a farewell to a teacher, a celebration of a band, and a reminder of what can happen when young musicians are given a place to grow.
Roos said he hopes students remember him as someone who helped them find joy in music.
“That crazy guy that maybe hopefully inspired them to greater heights,” he said.
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
