Encore! Sistema Québec

April/May 2018 — As the school year draws to a close, students at each Encore!Sistema Quebec (ESQ) site perfected their repertoire and performed for their schools and communities.

Students at St. Gabriel School have prepared arrangements of Mozart’s 40th Symphony and the popular song “Fireflies” by Adam Young. ESQ head teacher John Dodge arranged both pieces for the Sistema students. The ESQ video page currently features footage of an in-school rehearsal and a performance at the Festi-Pointe festival in Pointe-St.-Charles. In the final number of their presentation the ESQ Sistema students were joined by string players from Share the Warmth’s music program. The ESQ students will also be performing at St. Gabriel School in June.

On May 5, the elementary and high school students at Kahnawake joined the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil and the Mohawk choir for a Spring Concert presented by Kahnawake Tourism. This concert was a benefit event for Kahnawake Education Center’s music programs and directly supports Encore!Sistema Quebec’s programs at Kahnawake. All of the students had the opportunity to perform accompanied by the full orchestra; the elementary students performed “Allegro,” “Lightly Row,” and “Soldier’s Joy,” and the high school students performed “Tempest,” “Chameleon,” and “Lean on Me.” Both groups then played Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” with the orchestra and choir. This event offered an invaluable opportunity for the ESQ students to work with professional musicians and, in the case of the wind students, to be seated side by side with professionals on their own instruments. Several excerpts are featured on the ESQ video page.

At the new ESQ site in Parc-Extension, participating children, led by head teacher Michael Depasquale, are learning basic musical skills and violin technique through fun musical games and engaging practical exercises. Although the students have played violin for only four months, they presented a short community concert at Centre William-Hingston on May 30, 2018. The ESQ video page features interviews by participating students and gives a glimpse of typical afternoon activities.

March 2018 — We finished the month with two exciting concerts that brought together Encore!Sistema students, Métis multidisciplinary artist Moe Clark, and the Orchestre Nouvelle Génération. These concerts were the culmination of several months of hard work on the part of ESQ students and teachers, and followed on a week of interactive workshops with Moe Clark at three ESQ sites.
The first concert, at Kahnawake Survival School, featured the students from our Kahnawake elementary and high school sites. The second concert, at St. Gabriel Church, featured the students from our St. Gabriel School site.
These “Side by Side” concerts featured a number of unique musical collaborations. At both concerts, Moe Clark invited the Encore!Sistema elementary students to join her for a song she had taught in her workshop earlier that week. At Kahnawake, she performed the classic “Lean On Me” with student performers from ESQ’s band program at Kahnawake Survival School.
Moe Clark and the Orchestre Nouvelle Génération joined forces on Clark’s “niki pawatin,” written in the Plains Cree language, and both concerts culminated in an energetic rendition of Bernstein’s “Mambo” from “West Side Story” featuring the Orchestre Nouvelle Génération with ESQ students.
The Encore!Sistema students had their own moments to shine, too. At St. Gabriel Church, the students performed an arrangement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40. At Kahnawake, the high school students performed Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon” and the elementary school students performed the traditional fiddle tune “Soldier’s Joy” and “Allegro” by Shinichi Suzuki.

February 2018 — Encore!Sistema is proud to feature our Kahnawake Survival School program in this month’s update. The KSS program is for youth in grades 7-11 and includes both an after-school wind program and — new this year — a lunchtime ukulele and guitar club. Each activity meets 2 days per week, for 2 hours per day.

Under the guidance of head teacher Gabby Smith and tutor Tehoniatarahthe Diabo (guitar, bass), students in the lunchtime ukulele and guitar club work in small groups to develop instrumental technique and learn music fundamentals. Many bring in songs which they are interested in learning. Says Gabby Smith, “We have covered many elements of theory and harmony: exploring ideas of groove and different rhythmic patterns on the ukulele is a fun way to approach learning music theory. Most recently, we have been re-writing the words to Smashmouth’s All Star, and students can play all the chords on the ukuleles with many different strumming patterns. This lunchtime program has been a great way to learn about musical notions used on the wind instruments through a different musical genre.”

The after-school program often sees the same students as at lunchtime but on their wind instruments. Through repertoire such as Chameleon, by Herbie Hancock, and The Tempest, students are learning to play complex syncopations, exploring jazz grooves, and learning to layer phrasing, dynamics, and multiple melodies in a single piece. Says Gabby Smith, “We are really beginning to understand the need to breathe together, and to listen to all the different lines playing at once, as well as focus on sound quality.”

The Encore!Sistema program at KSS reaches approximately 10% of the student population weekly. According to one student, the music program is part of what makes him continue to come to school. Says another, “It feels like family.”

January 2018 — Encore!Sistema Quebec is proud to announce the opening of two new programs in the Parc-Extension neighbourhood of Montreal. Both programs are located at the Centre William Hingston.

Our new strings program for children in grades 2-6 meets 4 days per week, for 2 hours per day. This program is in collaboration with the Parc Extension Youth Organization. Under the guidance of head teacher Michael Depasquale, the students made and decorated their own paper violins. They will use these to learn basic positioning and technique in preparation for receiving their real violins in a few weeks!

Our new winds program for youth in grades 6-11 meets 2 days per week for 2 hours per day. This program is in collaboration with Loisirs du Parc. Under the guidance of head teachers Carol Kay and Kerry Roebuck, the students are learning flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone.

December 2017 – The third year of the Encore!Sistema is off to a strong start, with nearly 100 students registered at the elementary and high school levels.

At Saint Gabriel School in Pointe-Saint-Charles, new students are learning to hold the violin and the bow, and playing simple rhythms on open strings. The orchestra (made up of returning students on violin and cello) is playing “Soldier’s Joy” and an arrangement of Haydn’s “Surprise Symphony.” Students attend the after-school program four days per week.

At Karonhianónhnha School in Kahnawake, new students are learning foundational musical skills using Orff instruments and singing and movement games. Returning students are working on “Sherbrooke Reel”, a traditional fiddle tune, and “Allegro.” Students attend the after-school program two days per week. They also receive semi-private in-school lessons once they have begun playing the violin or cello.

At Kahnawake Survival School, high school students continue to develop their skills on a variety of wind instruments through the after-school band program, which meets two days per week. This year, the program has expanded to include a lunchtime “Guitar Club,” which also meets two days per week. Students learn guitar and songwriting skills.