Music is a powerful and moving experience
Friends in Music rehearses each Thursday at Long and McQuade
Friends in Music, a community band for all ages and instruments, begins their new season, with rehearsals on Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Long and McQuade Music Centre, 129 Aylmer St. N.
Anyone who plays woodwinds, percussion, brass and strings is welcome to join the band, playing music at an easy-to-medium level of difficulty.
The group’s members include those in a range of ages, from high school students to retirees.
When asked why playing music together is important, band manager Lori Schuett responds: “Playing music for me it is a most powerful and moving experience,” says Schuett.
“I see a music group as similar to a sports team where all the parts, or instruments, are important to the success of the whole.”
Schuett says that working on a piece of music, especially a challenging one, is a process that offers great learning, camaraderie, and fun for everyone at each stage.
Achieving the final goal is always a high when seeing the progress and how much is accomplished. “Sharing this sense of accomplishment is what makes playing music so wonderful because music speaks to all ages, beliefs, and peoples,” she says. “Music is a universal language that everyone can understand and appreciate.”
Schuett says that she has always followed the motto that “your best is good enough and that is what team spirit is all about. I can`t think of anything that so totally engages my mind and emotions like music - it can be very meditative.”
The group’s music director is Marilyn Croteau Chalk, who has much experience conducting bands with energy and enthusiasm and is currently also the director of the Junior Kawartha Youth Orchestra. Chalk says that the band loves to play and learn from all styles and genres of music.
“The repertoire is what sets us apart from other, ranging from classical to beloved band literature to musicals and always including new modern works,” says Croteau Chalk.
The group performs several times a year at local retirement residences and community events.
For further information about Friends in Music please visit them at www.friendsinmusic.ca or email lorick@cogeco.ca.”
Oak Coronation Tree
Everyone is invited to attend the unveiling of a new plaque and garden donated by the City of Peterborough at 1 p.m. on Thursday at Roger Neilson Public School, 550 Erskine Ave.
This ceremony is to dedicate the Royal English Oak Coronation Tree in front of the school, formerly the site of Grove Public School.
“Sixty-five years ago, in 1953, in honour of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, acorns from the Windsor Great Park near Windsor Castle were sent across Canada and to all commonwealth countries,” says Councilor Lesley Parnell.
“Shirley McDowell, a kindergarten student at the time, planted this acorn and cared for it. The principal of the day was Mr. Joe Barnard. Local resident Frank Millard was also a student there the day of the planting. When Grove Public School was demolished in 2003, the Coronation Oak Tree was saved and still stands today.”
Artisans Centre Peterborough
Coinciding with Arts Week Peterborough, the Artisans Centre Peterborough will host open houses on Saturday and Sept. 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. upstairs at 993 Talwood Dr.
The theme is “Creative Hands in Action” and visitors will see all that the centre has to offer.
The Artisans Centre will also be holding special classes during Arts Week Peterborough, and people are asked to register at http://artisanscentre.ca: Multimedia Gourd Art on Sept. 24,
10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.,$60 all materials supplied; Basic Turning of Pens on Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m..
$70 all materials supplied; Woodland Gnome Felting on Sept. 30, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., $67 materials included; and Wire Tree Sculpture on Sept. 29, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., $50 materials included. For more information, please call 705-775-1797.