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Two of New Brunswick’s Sistema youth orchestras will take the stage this week. Sistema Moncton performs“Hallelujah” at the Celebration Centre tonight, while Sistema Richibucto Centre musically transports the audience to“Hollywood” on Wednesday night at the Capitol Theatre.
Originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 10, Sistema Moncton postponed their concert in the wake of the shooting spree that killed three RCMP members, wounded two more and locked down a large part of the city for more than 30 hours.
The concert will now be held tonight, beginning at 7 p.m., at the Wesleyan Celebration Centre.
The concert is to commemorate five years of the Sistema program in New Brunswick but will also be dedicated to the fallen and wounded Codiac RCMP officers and their families.
Codiac RCMP Superintendent Marlene Snowman will attend the concert and offer a few remarks.
Guest artists include Le Choeur Neil Michaud, Riversong and the Anglophone School District Choir, for a total of 275 performers on stage.
Admission is free,but donations will be accepted for the Moncton Fallen RCMP Members Fund.
If you’re a fan of movie soundtracks, then join Sistema Richibucto Centre when they bring Hollywood to the Capitol Theatre on Wednesday, June 18, at 7 p.m.
Themes from movies like Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lion King will be performed by the youth orchestra, whose members range in age from six to 14 years.
“It will be the first time the kids will perform at the Capitol”said Richibucto Sistema director and teacher Swan Serna. “They know it’s a place where some of the world’s best professional artists play.”
These aspiring young musicians practise three hours a day,six days a week and are part of the El Sistema program co-ordinated by the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra.
“It’s about youth, music and social development through an orchestra,” said youth orchestra president and CEO Ken MacLeod.
MacLeod is also the founder of the Sistema initiative for the province. The idea of the program is simple: Any child who comes through the door showing enough enthusiasm and commitment to learn gets the instrument of their choice and free instruction every weekday afternoon and Saturday mornings.
The after-school program is intensive and features three important aspects: teaching kids to work as part of a group and an orchestra, offering kids who come from a challenging background the chance to know they have unlimited potential for success in life and working with children to achieve a high level of musical performance.
Originating in Venezuela and known as El Sistema (the system), the program is nearing its 40th year, and alumni now number some 400,000 around the world New Brunswick’s Sistema is now in its fifth year and operates programs in Moncton, Saint John, Richibucto and Tobique First Nation.
“It was nothing short of inspiring,” MacLeod said when he visited El Sistema centres in Venezuela in 2009.“I felt compelled to bring the program to New Brunswick.”
MacLeod said they started the Moncton centre with one teacher and 50 kids. Students were taught string instruments like the violin, viola, bass and cello.
“Our goal was to inspire children in youth to reach their full potential through music and orchestra,” Macleod said, emphasizing he wanted to offer the program in rural as well as urban settings and operate in both official languages.
In Richibucto, Serna has 56 students at his centre with the program taught solely in French.
“In this region, there’s not much opportunity for kids to do stuff,” Serna said, noting cities have more school activities for youths. “This program nurtures your soul”
Serna said many kids who first started the program had low self-esteem. “You start to see the progress and results when they commit to the program. Their character and personality grow. They learn to be with others and to perform in front of people.”
MacLeod said a two-year research study by the Department of Wellness confirmed phenomenal social outcomes from the program.
“In the first three months we see increased behaviour, confidence and self-esteem with students in school,” MacLeod said.
Currently, there are 37 teaching artists and 500 youths at the four New Brunswick centres,and there is a waiting list to get in. MacLeod said they receive two to three times the number of applications they can fulfill every year.
Another challenge for the program is finding the right teaching artist to fit their social mission. MacLeod said it requires people who are highly skilled not just in music but in social development.
“We have teachers who moved to other parts of Canada who have come back to New Brunswick to join the program,”MacLeod said.
Funds for the Sistema program are equally shared by the provincial government and through private donors.
MacLeod said they couldn’t continue the program without the support of local communities.
MacLeod was invited by the South Korean government to share his expertise on the program.“We just came back two weeks ago,” he said, noting he took two of his teaching artists with him.“We did lectures and workshops and they were looking for best practices in their Sistema program.”
The Koreans also came to Canada to visit with Serna’s Sistema centre.
“They were touched by the kids and how they acted when they were together,”Serna said, referring to the harmony between his students.
Sistema Richibucto Centre opened in September 2012 at École Soleil Levant in Richibucto. The centre now serves students from École Soleil Levant, Dr-Marguerite-Michaud,and École Marée Montante in the Francophone South School District.
Other musical themes that will be featured at the concert includes Star Wars, Chariots of Fire, “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz and many more.
The Richibucto Sistema orchestra will feature violin, viola, piano and clarinet. As an added treat, a choir, which feature family members of Richibucto students, will accompany the orchestra with two songs during the concert.
This is a free event and open to the general public.
Students of Richibucto Sistema spell out ‘Hollywood’ on the playground of École Soleil Levant. PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED
Show facts
- WHAT: Sistema nb richibucto Centre brings Hollywood
- WHEN: Wednesday, June 18, at 7 p.m.,
- WHERE: Capitol Theatre, 811 Main St. (506) 856-4379
- TICKETS: Concert is free of charge.
- WHAT: Sistema nb Hallelujah concert
- WHEN: Monday, June 16, at 7 p.m. Wesleyan Celebration Centre, 945 St George blvd.
- TICKETS: Admission is free. donation proceeds will be given to the Moncton Fallen RCMP Members Fund.
