It was an evening to sit back, enjoy the music and a few sweet treats.
Innisfail middle and high school students presented their annual dessert concert at Innisfail Middle School on March 21.
“We came up with the idea about 10 years ago. It's just a fun way for family and friends to have a nice evening,” said Chris Bushell, band teacher. “We have all of our bands playing tonight. We have our beginner band, a concert band, which is intermediate level, and then two jazz bands – one junior and one senior -- and a senior concert band.”
About 70 students in grades 6 to 9 make up the bands between the two schools, all of who play different instruments at varying skill levels. Some have played for six years while others for just one year, noted Bushell.
Students played everything from flute, trombone and trumpet, to piano, drums, clarinet and saxophone.
The annual concert is a fundraiser to help students cover costs for local trips, instruments and a variety of activities for the students.
“They have to fundraise money and this is one of the ways they do that,” said Bushell. “This year we're going to Calgary and Banff (on a combined trip) in April.
“Every year our band provides things for the kids like workshops, festival fees, busing (and transportation),” he added. “We're also going on a band camp overnight, which is only costing students $30, and normally it would be $125 to $150,” explained Bushell. “The band is able to help offset that cost a lot through our fundraising efforts.”
Concertgoers heard a variety of tunes during the evening. Some of them included the theme from Hawaii Five-O, some traditional band music such as Arikara, Three Faces of Kilimanjaro, a few traditional tunes based on classical melodies and contemporary music such as the popular song Radioactive.
Bushell said in addition to learning an instrument, he hopes by joining the band students will learn to appreciate music in all its forms.
“Students get to see how the audience reacts to the hard work that they've put in,” he said, noting the time and effort students dedicate to music. “By the time they get to high school they can really appreciate that they're making the audience feel something (with their music) and that makes them feel good,” Bushell concluded.
