May 5: Rainbow Schools celebrate Music Monday with regional concerts

Rainbow Schools will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Music Monday on May 5, 2014, marking the beginning of Education Week. There will be a series of concerts at area schools, including regional celebrations at eight Rainbow secondary schools featuring elementary and secondary students from across the Rainbow District School Board.

Music Monday brings together millions of voices to celebrate the importance of young people learning music, especially in schools. Since the first Music Monday in 2005, more than four million students and music makers have participated in coast-to-coast events. For Music Monday’s 10th anniversary, hundreds of thousands of students across Canada will unite in song as part of regional celebrations like those in Rainbow Schools.

Each year, participating schools across Canada join together for a simultaneous performance of the Music Monday theme song, performed in Ontario at 1 pm Eastern. This year’s theme song, I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing), was co-written by former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies. The song debuted in February 2013 during a live simulcast featuring Commander Hadfield singing and playing guitar while on the International Space Station.

For more information about Music Monday, visit http://musicmakesus.ca/musicmonday

Chelmsford Valley District Composite School will host a regional celebration featuring their Grade 7-8 music ensembles, as well as choirs and instrumental groups from Levack Public School, Larchwood Public School and Chelmsford Public School. The event will begin at noon and end at 1:15 pm. It will include a wide repertoire performed by choirs, bands, guitar ensembles and world drums. The participants will all sing the Music Monday song at 1 pm.

Confederation Secondary School will host a regional celebration featuring students from C.R. Judd Public School, Redwood Acres Public School, Pinecrest Public School and Valley View Public School. The repertoire will focus on the music of the Beatles, celebrating the 50th anniversary of their first North American tour. The concert will begin at noon and end at 1 pm with the singing of the Music Monday theme song.

Lasalle Secondary School will host a regional celebration featuring Lasalle’s Concert Bands, Jazz Ensembles and Choirs, as well as student groups from Churchill Public School and Markstay Public School. Acts will also include bands, choirs, guitar ensembles, a ukulele group and a dance piece. The concert starts at noon, ending at 1:15pm. Lasalle and Churchill will also present a public performance in the evening at 7 pm.

Students from Walden Public School, Copper Cliff Public School and R. H. Murray Public School will gather at Lively District Secondary School for a special musical celebration starting at noon and ending at 1:15 pm. This is the first time that all four schools have joined together for a concert. Performing groups will include choirs, concert bands, rock bands, guitar ensembles, and a melodychimes choir. All of the participants will join together to sing “Is Somebody Singing” at 1 pm.

Lockerby Composite School will join with Alexander Public School and MacLeod Public School to present a Music Monday musical extravaganza, starting at noon and running until 1:15 pm. The concert will feature performances by concert and stage bands, choirs, recorders, world drums and body percussion. The Music Monday song will be performed at 1 pm, featuring all of the participants singing along with the Lockerby Concert Band.

The Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School jazz and concert bands will host students from Monetville Public School and R.L. Beattie Public School as well as Grade 9 and 10 students from Lo-Ellen Park. Audience members will have the chance to hear The Barontones from R.L. Beattie Public School perform the songs Sing It and La vie est belle and also The Band of Barons perform What a Wonderful World and Captains of Adventure. The Monetville Public School ensemble will perform Jambalaya and their choral group will present a dramatization of The Cat Came Back.  Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School music students from the Junior Jazz, Senior Jazz and Senior Concert Bands will then entertain everyone with various musical selections before everyone joins in to sing the Music Monday theme song Is Somebody Singing, singing along with a projection of last year’s performance by Chris Hadfield that was broadcast live from the International Space Station.

Students from across Manitoulin Island will gather at Manitoulin Secondary School for a concert starting at noon and ending at 1:15 pm. Performers include Little Current Public School, Assiginack Public School, Central Manitoulin Public School, Charles C. McLean Public School, and special guests from the Lakeview School. The concert will feature instrumental and vocal ensembles from each school, with everyone singing the Music Monday song at 1 pm Eastern.

Sudbury Secondary School will host students from Lansdowne Public School, Queen Elizabeth Public School, Princess Anne Public School and Adamsdale Public School for a joint concert starting at 11:45 am and ending at 1 pm. The concert will feature two performances of Pharell Williams’ “Happy”, sung in English and in French, as well as bands, drums, choirs, guitars and an excerpt from Sudbury Secondary’s current musical “Legally Blonde”, playing May 1, 2 and 3 at 7:30 pm. The Music Monday song will be sung at 1 pm by all participants, supported by the Sudbury Secondary School band and guitar ensemble.

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Media Contact:

Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,

Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,

Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171, ext. 7217.