FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more photos, additional information or to schedule interviews, contact
Cheryl Waldner
Communications Coordinator
204-949-3970
communications@wso.mb.ca
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is the celebrated hub of Winnipeg's rich cultural life, delighting more than 100,000 audience members each year with innovative programming and musical excellence. The WSO presents educational programs for more than 25,000 students annually and tours outside the city reaching out to communities across Manitoba.
Banding Together with the WSO’s
Music Connections Program
Winnipeg, MB - November 18, 2009 – Over 200 students in Grades
4-6 from four inner city schools will show off their sweet-sounding skills in
Offered by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO), Music Connections is a 12-week program that integrates Aboriginal and Western cultural traditions whereby students – a majority of whom are from Aboriginal heritage and visible minority backgrounds - explore music through performance and visual art forms. This year, the number of participating schools has doubled to four, providing over 200 students with the opportunity to build and play their own Native American flute, and to participate in workshops with numerous Aboriginal artists.
The concert will unite all participating students featuring five brass musicians of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. The performance also includes a creative expression component where the students harmonize their own culture within the history of classical music, based on The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, through music, dance, art, and multi-media.
Building on this year’s Playing For Change movement (created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music), the performing students were filmed at each of their respective schools while singing “All One People.” The edited footage from each school – Dufferin School, Mulvey School, John M. King School, and Strathcona School – will build up to the crescendo of Friday’s performance.
“This 12-week program has had a huge impact on the kids participating,” says Tanya Derksen, Director of Education and Outreach at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. “They get a real opportunity to learn how to bridge their culture with classical music and show it off in a variety of ways. It’s important to learn how to build those bonds and to feel a part of something special.”
The concert, this Friday, November 20, is being held at the Westminster United Church at 745 Westminster Avenue from 1 pm to 2 pm. Admission is free of charge.
The WSO would like to thank The Winnipeg Foundation for generously sponsoring this program, and the Winnipeg School Division for their dedicated partnership.
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is committed to reaching audiences of all ages through our Education and Outreach programs. The WSO is the largest performing arts organization offering music education outreach programs in the province of Manitoba. These programs are designed to make symphonic music exciting and accessible to all.
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