December 07, 2015
The award for Canada’s greatest music class goes to Ottawa’s Hillcrest High School. These kids seriously rock!
Attitudes toward high school band class often go one of two ways. You’re either a keen music nerd who opted for it, because you love music and can’t wait to learn all the right scales and techniques to make you a master player, or you thought it was the easiest alternative to whatever else and can’t wait to stop playing scales and learning techniques.
Hillcrest High School students performing Serena Ryder’s “Stompa.”
From the looks of the video above, the kids of Ottawa’s Hillcrest High School are of the keener attitude (which is the cool one, for the record). Along with MusicCounts, CBC Music held an inaugural search for Canada’s greatest music class, with teachers able to submit videos of their kids showing off their best tunes, and Hillcrest took home top honours with their cover of Serena Ryder’s “Stompa.” Employing all types of instruments—including unconventional ones, like tires!—and even some Inuit throat-singing, the cover is a pretty heart-warming example of the power music has to bring people together and make them happy.
CBC Music’s senior director, Mark Steinmetz, released a statement along with the announcement of the winning class, thanking all of the participants. “It really doesn’t matter what kind of music you perform, or where you live, or even your level of proficiency; the gift of music is to give kids the chance to be in harmony with each other through a common purpose,” Steinmetz said. Hear, hear. The kids at Hillcrest High certainly have that figured out.
In Other News:
- Country fans in London line up overnight for CCMA tickets.
- Dine Alone releases lullaby album to help benefit SickKids Foundation.
- Montreal’s Igloofest lets loose its 10th anniversary programming.
- It’s the end of the year, which means the best albums lists are rolling out, including one from NMC.
- Bruce Springsteen has one Canadian stop on his upcoming tour. Guess where.