They are among the 10 finalists in the Junior instrumental category of the Canadian Music Class Challenge.
All tolled, around 50 thousand students from roughly 12-hundred classes signed up in eleven categories in total.
Anita Mamela is the band teacher at QJS…
“We had to choose from a list of songs written by Canadians and I let the kids actually chose the song. We started with the words and the chords, and then we wrote an arrangement for guitar class, and then from that, we scored it out for a band class, so we wrote out our own version of it and that’s it.”
The song they ended up picking was Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated.”
Mamela says she is particularly proud of this group because they don’t have a lot of experience…
“This is a beginner band class, that’s what makes it really special for us, this is a beginner group with only five kids who played last year.”
The winners will be announced on Tuesday, Dec. 17th.
First prize is three thousand dollars, money Mamela says would go towards the purchase of some new guitars.
Mamela says people wanting to see these kids perform can do so next week…
“We have a big concert this coming Monday, the day before we find out who gets it. We’re going out to Barkerville. We’re playing Victorian Christmas out there and we’re coming back here, and we’re going to do a concert for Quesnel, whoever wants to come out, and that’s at 7 o’clock at Quesnel Junior School in the gym.”
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