This morning our Senior Band was treated to a workshop by Mr. Kevin Hayward, the music teacher from Toronto District Christian High School. Our band, made up of 80 students from grades 6-8, began with a short warm-up and tuning session before performing the four pieces of music that will be showcased at the Spring Concert next week. A few short areas were worked on with Miss Errington, and then Mr. Hayward was welcomed and invited up to work with the band.
He spent almost an hour encouraging, challenging, and sharing with our students and his words of wisdom and various suggestions were greatly appreciated. He helped our Wesley musicians focus more on balancing their sound, playing with musical phrases, and paying closer attention to the articulation in music. He complimented them on their attention and focus, their solid technique, and the power that they can produce! After the workshop, Mr. Hayward shared with Miss Errington how much he enjoyed working with our Wesley students and how receptive they were to learning and trying different things.
After Mr. Hayward finished his workshop, the band was blessed with a spectacular performance put on by Mr. Hayward’s two children, Kevin and Anna. Kevin is a recent University of Toronto music graduate, now pursuing a Master’s degree, and Anna is a grade 12 student, also hoping to go into music. Anna showcased her amazing talent on the flute while Kevin accompanied her on the piano, and they wowed everyone in the audience. It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to witness what practice, hard work, perseverance, and a love for music can look like, years down the road.
It was a great morning of music-making and we are very thankful to Mr. Hayward, Kevin, and Anna for taking the time out of their day to travel to Wesley and share their experience and expertise with us. We look forward to working with them again in the future!