In the first week of June each year all of the students of Lester B Pearson School for the Arts gather to present what we call, "Choral Celebration". These concert have been going on for as long as Pearson has been an arts school. They are a highlight of the school year, and truly show the musical progression of the students as they move from grade 4 to grade 8. We hope that you enjoy the music that we have prepared for you!

You can go to the playlist or choose individual songs below.

• Choral Celebration 2010 playlist

CD Cover

Pearson Singers

Each year the Pearson Singers welcome a guest conductor for a choral workshop. Over the years a number of exceptional musicians have worked with the choir. This year was no exception. In early March we were pleased to welcome Dr. Gregg Redner. As a part of the workshop this year Dr. Redner chose one of the pieces of music the choir worked on that day and later performed at Metropolitan United Church. The piece is from a set of four songs collectively called “The Place of the Blest” by American composer Randall Thompson. The particular piece they worked on is the first song in the set called “The Carol of the Rose”. For this performance we welcomed Alexia Hlynialuk on the violin.

In conjunction with his first American tour in 1980, Roger Whitaker launched a major international song writing competition, Children Helping Children, from the United Nations in New York. Children from all over the world were asked to submit lyrics and poems on the subject of promoting peace and understanding, the best of which Roger would put to music and record. The contest attracted over one million entries from 567 countries. The winner was 13-year-old Odina Batnag from Manila in the Philippines, who was flown to New York and introduced to the huge audience at Roger's Radio City Music Hall concert where her entry “I Am But A Small Voice”, was performed for the very first time. The song was released worldwide with all proceeds raised by sales being donated to UNESCO's education for handicapped children program.

Grade 4's

The grade four classes of Mrs. Case and Mr. DaSilva were pleased to be a part of their very first Choral Celebration. Their first selection was “Come Closer”, a song which shares visions from the child's eye of the wonders of nature that surround them. The text is shared from the child's perspective, as this child realizes, perhaps for the first time, the beauty of nature that surrounds us - the first song of the birds in the springtime, the warming rays of summer sun, the splendours of our rivers and lakes, and the majestic power of our trees.

Their second song tells the story of a cool cat who has a whole lot of soul, because he is a "true mewsician"! It is Mira and Michael Coghlan’s “Scat Cat”.

Grade 5's

The grade 5 classes of Mrs. Bailey and Ms. Bird were next on our program. Their first selection, “Ah, Poor Bird”, is a setting of an English round that dates back to the early 1600's. The round is one of the earliest forms of multi-voice vocal music. One part sings a melody that is imitated by other parts joining in one by one. Some rounds, even from earliest times, display great ingenuity by having voices imitate not at the unison, but at other tones of the scale, even upside down or backwards.

Their second song tells the story of the well-known nursery rhyme character, Humpty Dumpty. He is typically portrayed as an egg, but many accounts state that Humpty Dumpty was actually a powerful canon during the English Civil War. It was mounted on top of the St. Mary's Church in Colchester, England, defending the city against siege in the summer of 1648. A shot from a Parliamentary canon succeeded in damaging the wall underneath Humpty Dumpty, causing the canon to fall to the ground. "All the King's men" attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall, but even with the help of "all the King's horses", Humpty went tumbling to the ground.

Grade 6's

Next on stage were the grade 6 classes of Mrs. Brock and Mr. Wasse. Their first selection, entitled “Birdsong”, is a song which celebrates life. The text comes from a collection of poems written by children who, while incarcerated in the Terezin Concentration Camp in Czechoslovakia during the Second World War, wrote of their experiences and their dreams. The lyrics are about the beauty of the world rather than of the horrors and destruction experienced in that war. In the young author's words, "how wonderful it is to be alive".

Their second selection was “Going Down To Cairo”, which is one of the many ‘play parties’ from the American folk repertoire. It's a song that is performed as a "singing game," with accompanying steps similar to that of a square dance. Cairo, Illinois sits at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and the story behind this song goes back to the late summer in 1858 when an early frost killed all the corn and tobacco in Southern Illinois. As the crops south of the Ohio River had not been damaged at all, planters from that region sent a portion of their harvest up river to be sold in Cairo. Men journeyed to Cairo, many arriving several days before the boats came in with cargo, and while there, ventured into local saloons for entertainment! Wives noticed on return trips that their husbands had ‘blacked their boots' and were dressed up a great deal more than usual. Many fabulous tales were told about the men having a ‘Liza Jane' that they were interested in. As a result of this, wives began accompanying their husbands on the trips north, and the manner of entertainment in Cairo was somewhat changed!

Grade 7's

Ms. Anslie and Mrs. DePace’s classes were the next to perform. In grade 7 one of the eras of music we study is the Renaissance Era. In this unit one of the terms that comes up is antiphonal music. At the concert the grade 7's demonstrated antiphonal music with a smaller choir positioned in the balcony and the main choir at the front of the auditorium. Sections of the piece were sung back and forth between the two choirs and at times both sang together. The piece performed was “Celebrate This Day Together” by 16th century composer Pierre Clereau.

Later this year, in December of 2010, the first movie of the final book from the Harry Potter series will be coming out. A number of the grade 7's were quite excited, so to get ready we prepared a piece connected with this event. “Double Trouble” takes its text from Shakespeare’s “Scottish Play” and is set to music by John Williams for “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”.

Garde 8's

Mr. Malik and Mr. Cairns’ grade 8 class then moved to the stage to sing. For the Jewish culture the Book of Lamentations is traditionally recited during the saddest day of the Jewish calendar – Tishah B'Av. At this time the destruction of the Jewish Temple and other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people are remembered.

The second last verse is particularly meaningfully for many congregations as this is when the scroll is returned to the Ark and together they speak, Hashivenu Adonai, elecha vena-shuvah; chadesh yamenu kekedem: "Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old". The grade 8's sang a beautiful arrangement of this text by Sally Albrecht, entitled “Hashivenu”. The grade 8's second song featured four soloists and then the choir. You will hear, Aidan Scott, Maddie Cardillo, Alexandra Nunez and Ceilidh Harrison. The piece was one that everyone in the audience was easily able to recognize at the concert. Made popular in 1969 on the Beatles’ Abbey Road album, it is “Let It Be”.

Twelve

The next group to perform at the concert was Twelve. Twelve’s first selection is from the early Baroque opera “Dido & Aeneas”. “Dido’s Lament” is sung at the end of the opera when Dido has decided to kill herself because she can not be with her lover Aeneas. The role of Dido is sung by Jessie Hilton and the choir is accompanied by a string quartet consisting of Alexia Hlynialuk - 1^st Violin; Noah Battaglia - 2^nd Violin; Cherry Zong - Viola; and Annie Foley- Cello.

One of the most popular series on TV this year is called Glee. The show is about a group of students who have joined the glee club at their high school. There’s a lot more than that, but that is the short description! Twelve sang a number of songs that have been featured on the show. At the beginning of the year the members of Twelve picked the songs that they wanted to sing, then Mr. Cairns went into the recording studio and edited together the instrumental background that you will hear. They then auditioned for solos and came up with their own choreography. Please enjoy Twelve with the music of Glee!

Whole School

Our first whole school song celebrated the start of a new journey and exciting new phase of life for Mr. Saynor. At the end of the year Mr. Saynor retired. Mr. Saynor was one of the founding teachers when the school for the arts opened in 1989. Starting as the shop teacher, he has moved through various teaching roles and has most recently assisted students with extra help, provided guidance and has made sure that all of the grade 8's make it to the right high schools. In honour of his retirement we sang an old Irish Blessing, “May The Road Rise To Meet You”.

Our final selection this evening featured all of the Pearson students singing a song that celebrates a special moment of our country's history. This song captured the Canadian spirit and gave us permission to dream and celebrate our Canadian heritage. It is the official song of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, “I Believe”.