YHS Awarded Gold at the Whistler Cantando Music Festival
We are thrilled to announce that the York House Choir and Junior Concert Band were both awarded Gold standing for their performances this past weekend at the Whistler Cantando Music Festival. Sixty York House choral and band students attended this year’s festival, together with over 1500 music students from across Western Canada and Washington State.
The choir adjudicator commented that the YHS Choir had “a powerful sound,” and the band adjudicator said that the YHS Band was “one of the best sounding Junior bands” he has heard during his years of adjudicating at the Whistler Festival. The girls were absolutely stellar this weekend – they were focused, polite, responsible, and compassionate team players. We could not be more proud of our students and the YHS Music Department.
In addition to performing, our musicians enjoyed a weekend full of musical activities. They listened to a variety of bands and choirs from other schools and community groups, and participated in group master classes with professional performers and vocal clinicians. The choir rehearsed and performed as part of a mass choir and participated in singing workshops about South African folksongs, hosted by the University of Pretoria Youth Choir while the band participated in jam sessions and instrument workshops.
A huge thank you to our Music Directors, Ms. Wolfe and Ms. Christiansen, who worked tirelessly to prepare our girls for this festival. They challenged our students to expect the best from themselves and each other. Thank you to all of our teacher chaperones for assisting this weekend: Mr. Bester, Ms. Adzinska, Ms. Haylett, Ms. Harrigan and Ms. Kealey. Congratulations to everyone involved in this outstanding weekend!
Just before spring break, Grade 9 art students worked together to create a mural for Como Lake Gardens, a YWCA community housing facility for low-income women.