Chinook Music Week provides students and teachers with some wonderful learning experiences in band and elementary music classrooms across the division by bringing in first class performers, educators and clinicians. This year’s week, February 8-12, will focus on band and guitar. “Command Brass”, the RCAF Band’s brass quintet will give concerts and workshops at Irwin, Ecole Centennial, Gull Lake, Maple Creek, SCCHS, Fairview, Central, and Success, Monday, February 8th to Thursday, February 11th. This talented group featuring two trumpets, tuba, French horn, and trombone, performs a large and diverse repertoire from classical music to exciting arrangements of Jazz, Swing, Latin and Pop.
Guitarist, singer, song writer, blues artist Jack Semple will be giving guitar presentations and workshops for 3 days visiting some rural schools including Ponteix, Wymark, Herbert, Eastend, and Shaunavon. Saskatchewan born Semple has won two western Canadian music awards and as well as a Juno and he continues to perform as a solo artist and with the Jack Semple Band, across Canada. During his three days working in the Division, Jack will be giving an evening concert on February 11th at Central School.
In addition to these special activities a wind instrument repair workshop took place on January 26th giving some of the division’s band teachers the opportunity to learn about instruments repair from Kevin Junk. Kevin Junk started his music career playing oboe with the Saskatoon Symphony in 1979. He received his Bachelor of Music in Performance on oboe in 1983 from the University of Saskatchewan. On graduation, Kevin moved to Wisconsin and worked as an apprentice in the world's largest band instrument rebuilding plant at Allied Music Corporation. In February 1986, Kevin opened Musicraft Instrument Repair and has since repaired, at Musicraft, well over 44,500 instruments.
Chinook Music Week promises once again to be a tremendous learning experience for students and teachers alike!
Top photo: Jack Semple
Bottom photo: "Command Brass", Royal Canadian Air Force
