November 19, 2014
Publication title: sistemanb.ca, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Ginabeth Roberts
Young Metro musicians meet Canadian pop icon
Knees shaking and selfie-taking, 12 young Metro Moncton musicians were a bundle of nerves as they sat in chairs on the floor of the Moncton Coliseum on Tuesday afternoon.
The kids – all past or present members of Sistema New Brunswick – were awaiting one of Canada’s most-loved singer-songwriters ahead of her concert later this evening.
And as soon as Sarah McLachlan arrived – her expression calm, her tone engaging and her spirit Bohemian (complete with a feather in her hair) – those nerves turned to smiles.
“It’s very exciting,” said 13-year-old Grace Hamilton, who, along with the other students, presented McLachlan with a card and a vase of roses.
The meet-and-greet was sponsored by Sun Life Financial’s Making the Arts More Accessible Program and The Sarah McLachlan School of Music, which is based in Vancouver and has about 700 students.
McLachlan regularly visits with kids before her concerts, giving them a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be a Grammy and Juno award winning artist while promoting musical education for children, especially those who may not have much else to inspire them.
“I think about my own personal experience with music, and it saved me in many, many ways,” she said. “It also – it gave me a sense of self-worth and sense of belonging.
“In times like this, when the Internet is such a powerful force and there’s such a lack of connection, I think making music for kids is incredibly important and, in particular, making music together because it forms a community of like-minded souls who can share their emotion worlds and open up emotionally.
“What that does is create well-rounded adults.”
Getting to participate in a musical group like Sistema NB is a great start for kids who may be shy to take to the stage themselves, she said.
“It’s a great way for a kid to ease into a group because they’re not in it by themselves,” she said. “They’re in it with a big group of kids and they’re doing it all together. There’s strength in numbers. They’re not singled out; it’s about inclusivity.”
Before the kids even met McLachlan, they got a first-hand look (but no touching) of her stage and all that goes into its make-up.
They located upstage, downstage, stage left and stage right, and learned why McLachlan’s baby grand piano has a matte finish (the lighting guys don’t like the reflection off the usual shiny top) and that the couch and lights used on stage for the show are from the artist’s own home.
They also took away some lifelong musical lessons: McLachlan’s experienced drummer still uses a metronome, and it takes a whole afternoon for two guitar technicians to fix and tune all of the stringed instruments to be used that night.
And for those thinking about becoming a touring artist, they were briefed on the two-year life cycle of a tour, starting with writing and recording songs, promoting the record, going on a tour that could take them across North America.
Even though 13-year-old Hamilton doesn’t see herself on stage like McLachlan in her own musical career, she does want to continue to play in an orchestra.
“It’s fun,” said the trombone player, who’s a member of the New Brunswick and Moncton youth orchestras and past member of Sistema NB. “I find it really fun just to see how my part works with other people’s.”
Her favourite thing about the stage tour was learning how all the cool lights worked, and she was looking forward to hearing her two favourite songs, “I Will Remember You” and “Arms of an Angel,” when she attended the show later that night.
Each young musician was given two tickets to the Shine On Tour show, which McLachlan calls the “culmination of blood, sweat and tears – and loneliness and isolation of writing.”
“It’s joy, pure joy,” she said.
The event also proved to be a boost for Sistema NB, as Antonio Delgado, music director and conductor of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, and the orchestra’s executive director Don Matheson accepted a cheque for $35,000 from Sun Life Financial.
The program began as a one-year “experiment” in Moncton in 2009. Now it’s grown to include for orchestra centres across New Brunswick – in Moncton, Saint John, Richibucto and the Tobique First Nation.
Kids receive intensive classical orchestral music instruction five days a week for up to three hours a day. There is no cost for them to participate.
