Colborne jazz band tours Montreal

The Colborne Public School Red Hot Jazz Band left on April 24 for Montreal. Behind, from left, are - Vanessa Herley, Joshua Griffin, Isaac Hall, Nathan Samis, Rusty Ashwood, Dylon Scriver, Chad Morford, Drew O'Gorman, Garrett Warner, Justice Fritz, Michael McLaughlin, Rylan Newport and Mikayla Nowee. In front - Rebekkah Hall, Logan Jenson, Skylar Bailey, Corey Fryer, Gage Benyon, Nandini Balkarran, Brittany Parker and Cassie Ton.



On Friday, April 24 the 20 grade 5-8 students in the Colborne Public School Red Hot Jazz Band loaded a Coach Canada bus and headed for Montreal. This is the trip the band has been anticipating all year!

After a couple of pit stops along the way, and picking up their excellent tour guide, Amy, they arrived at their first destination of the day, The Montreal Art Museum. This was a very interesting place with the John Lennon and Yoko Ono exhibit being one of the highlights. The kids at least knew who they were!

One exhibit was an interactive chess area where you played with trust! This chess game consisted of both sides being the same colour (white), so you needed to concentrate on where your pieces were and to trust that your opponent was honourable.

Isaac Hall, Dylon Scriver and Rusty Ashwood playing chess.





Then it was off to Vanier College for their Montreal Music Festival performance. The kids did wonderfully!! They were nervous, and went a little fast at the beginning, but overall they were incredible!

After their performance one of the three judicators spent time with the group, going over areas where the kids could improve.

With the performance out of the way, they then had a tour of Montreal, observing the old charm and detailing in the buildings and how the new buildings complemented the old architecture.

Dinner was at the Upstairs Jazz Club where they watched a live jazz band perform. Then it was off to the hotel! The kids were so excited! Theywould flit back and forth between rooms. Things quieted down around 11 p.m., with the help of the security guard standing watch throughout the night.

The next morning started with a walking tour of old Montreal and a tour of Notre Dame Basilica. This is one of the oldest and largest Catholic churches in Montreal It was stunning! This is where Celine Dion was married and Prime Minister Trudeau's funeral was held.

Then it was back to Vanier College for the Music festival awards.They didn't win the top honours of excellence, but the Colborne kids where the only public school jazz band in the competition.

It is rare for a public school to have such an advanced jazz band; all the other teams where high school level. Some of the teams travelled as far away as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Burlington and Brockville.

Our kids should be very proud of themselves -they are in league with these senior students and that speaks volumes about the quality that this group has achieved, none of which would have happened without their dedication and the tremendous dedication of their teacher Mr. Chad Morford.

After the awards, it was shopping time down St. Catherine's street. There were a couple of street performers, Spiderman and Michael Jackson, that were quite entertaining.

As part of the music festival they went down to the harbour front for dinner and dance boat cruise. Montreal's sky line from the water was a stunning night! At 9:20 p.m. it was 24 degrees Celsius outside. It was quite windy, but incredibly warm.

The only member of our band who was not physically present was Mitchell Ferguson, who died last December, but Mitch sure was shining down on us with this gorgeous weather!

This is the same weekend that Toronto had torrential rain and a tornado touch down.

On the last day the band was up and out of the hotel by 7:45 a.m. They toured the Botanical Gardens and Butterfly Exhibit, the Insectisarium and the Bio Dome. The kids had quite a lot of amusement in the penguin area.

Then there was a little time to shop in Montreal's underground, before loading onto the bus and heading for home. This certainly will be a trip the kids will not forget any time too soon!



In front of Notre Dame Basilica, from left, are - Drew O'Gorman, Michael McLaughlin, Isaac Hall, JusticeFritz, Rusty Ashwood, Dylon Scriver, Logan Jenson, Rylan Newport, Cory Fryer, Brittany Parker and Nandini Balkarran.