LFAS Represented in the BCMEA Conference

Keanu Howarth, Aidan Hoffman, Adam Mah, Logan Ennis, and Stephen Duncan had the opportunity to be members of the BC Honour Ensembles this October, representing Langley Fine Arts School (LFAS) in the province-wide amalgamation of auditioned student musicians.

Held annually as part of the BC Music Educators’ Conference, the Honour Ensembles are a unique example of student participation in a teacher’s conference. The intense eight-hour rehearsals lead to the final performances that showcase the talent of the musicians to music educators, family, and friends. The 2011 Honour Ensemble Concerts took place in the sanctuary of Fraserview Church in Richmond. Though there were four ensembles this year, the LFAS community was represented in the Concert Choir and Concert Band; not only were the students a part of those ensembles, but LFAS teachers Jim Sparks and Rob Goddard also conducted the groups.

Jim Sparks is the director of LFAS’ choral department, conducting the school’s upper level choirs and co-teaching the Music Major. Under his direction, the vocal students have participated in major festivals and performances, such as the Christmas at the Chan Centre, where students had to opportunity to sing with members of the Trinity Western choirs and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. His connections to choirs around the world give him a unique, global perspective on singing, which transfers to his teaching. He is a prolific guest conductor and adjudicator, and the Research Coordinator for the LFAS-SFU initiative, Arts Matter.

Rob Goddard is the other half of Langley Fine Arts’ musical duo. He also teaches the Music Major, and is the director for the LFAS Orchestra, Senior Wind Ensemble, and Senior Jazz Band. Though he has been teaching for 25 years, Goddard still performs in a professional capacity – in the early years of his musical career, he was a member of Canadian Ensemble, Touch of Brass, and currently plays trumpet with the Gordanairs, a European-style music ensemble. This experience translates back into his teaching, as he treats his students like members of professional ensembles. 

This mindset was brought to his direction of the BCMEA Concert Band, and the students seemed to enjoy it. “It’s interesting, but I like it,” one saxophonist said. Her neighbour agreed with the description, saying, “It’s like being in the claws of a lion.”

This attitude did not mean that the musicians were exempt from student problems. In rehearsal, Goddard focused on the rhythm, tonal, and dynamic issues the band faced in their playing. “Some of the clarinets came with B flat and E flat clarinets,” he said, “but we still focused on similar issues to [a high school] band. They’re the issues that all young musicians have.”

These issues may have been enhanced by the eclectic selection of the program, which was technically taxing on the musicians. Symphony No. 1, In Memoriam Dresden, by Daniel Bukavic, was written as a remembrance for the bombing of the German city, Dresden. In the 1945 bombing, 25,000 victims were caught in the firestorm created by the explosives – Bukavic captured this with musicians shouting in German, and chords reminiscent of a B52 bomber plane. Other pieces included Amparito Rosa, which was a march with flamboyant flamenco sections and a soft, energetic trio. An arrangement of the classic Stravinsky piece, The Firebird, stretched the limits of crescendos and sustained lines, while Dusk kept the band at the softer end of their dynamic range.  Ned the Neck, A Reptilian Piece for Wind Ensemble was written for the ensemble by Jocelyn Morlock. She describes it in her blog as an “alternately relaxed and energetic, somewhat fierce, capricious, and rather fast and wriggly” work about Ned, the albino boa constrictor.

Stephen Duncan, an LFAS student who played third Trombone and Bass Trombone in the ensemble, enjoyed the experience; although during the rehearsals, a lack of sleep and mental fatigue seemed to be plaguing him. His response to the question about how it felt to be playing in the BC Honour Band was “Tiring. It’s time for a nap.” Though the band may have suffered from weariness during rehearsals, the performance did not show any of it. “It went really well, when we actually did it. It was hard to say during the performance, but looking back on it, it looked good.” Stephen said.

At the concert, the audiences were entertained not only by the superior musicianship of the students, but also by the antics of Goddard, who wore a Russian hat during Ned the Neck, and Rob McLeod, who introduced the band and shared stories from Goddard’s touring days.

The Honour Choir performed the day before and the conductor, Jim Sparks, said he was humbled by the experience. “The Choir of BC, they really stepped it up. They had some very difficult music, but they worked really hard, and they were prepared when they came.”

The members of his choir were equally enamoured of his conducting and person. “He’s really chill,” Luc Steele said. “I’ve had him as an instructor before, and he says things differently than my usual instructor does. She might say something and I don’t understand it, and he’ll say it differently and I’ll get it.”

“He brings amazing experiences from all over,” another choir member said. “It helps you connect to the songs globally and personally, which is really cool.” Sparks, having been on sabbatical the previous school year, travelled throughout the world learning from different choirs and collecting music. Some of this music he brought back to the Honour Choir – an arrangement of the southern gospel Soon and Very Soon combined with the Masai chant Ombani was gifted to Sparks by the director of the Kenyan National Boys Choir, and presented by the choir with a recording of a Kenyan singer’s rap over the song.

The choir also sang Gratias Agimus Tibi from the Bach B Minor Mass, as well as two songs for which the choir was divided into female and male choirs. Kuka Nukku Tutussasi was the girls’ song from Finland, about the loss caused by Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The boys sang Sparks’ arrangement of Parting Glass, a 17th century Scottish folk song, in which bagpipes, violin, guitar, and double bass accompanied the choir.

The Honour Choir started their selection with having the audience close their eyes, and imagine themselves of a Cuban beach. The sanctuary went quiet, and the choir walked into the aisles, shushing waves and playing rain sticks. The simple melody of the Cuban song split into harmonies, and melded back together for the end. Under applause, the choir moved onto the stage, and set the tone for their global performance.

“The concert was a big success,” Aidan Hoffman said. “Mr. Sparks was a huge part of bringing the choir together.” Another LFAS representative remarked, “It was like we’d been singing together for years.”

The BC Honour Ensembles are meant to give young musicians experiences that they will bring back to their respective high schools, and elevate the standard of musical excellence across the province. The Honour Ensemble program is successful with this, but the experience also gives something else to the student musicians. As the young man who introduced Parting Glass said, it about the companionship and togetherness of “the comrades of the BC Honour Provincial Choir”. It is about the comrades of all the BC Honour Ensembles, and as the boys sang on the Friday: “Good night and joy be to you all.”