Students from John Barsby Secondary School will bring an evening of rock and roll to the Port Theatre next week.
The Grade 9-12 students are part of the Barsby School of Rock program, which stemmed from the school’s traditional band program.
Music director Russ Der created an all-percussion group during the COVID-19 pandemic because he did not feel wind instruments were a safe option for students. According to a news release, the group played at events but enrolment for music did not increase. He then started a rhythm-and-blues band and students enjoyed it. This eventually led to the current program, Barsby School of Rock.
It started last year with more than 40 students and the group put on three successful performances. A small extracurricular group called the 'Road Trip Crew' performed at the Queen's and went on a week-long tour in B.C. and Alberta. According to the news release, the tour was successful and inspired a school in Kamloops to create a similar program.
“I have never seen the self-motivation that this program is bringing. The kids, they do it all. They are learning the chords, they are learning the lyrics, they are learning all the different nuances in the songs and they are really taking it by storm,” Der said.
The Road Trip Crew has performed at several events and venues and will be bring their show 'Rock the Future' to the Port Theatre on April 23. The show will include music from groups such as the Eagles, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fleetwood Mac. There will also be School of Rock merchandise at the show.
“You are going to see an amazing group of young musicians who have over the last couple of years really developed their skill both musically and as far as developing their personalities just in general through this whole process of this school rock band,” Der said.
He said he used to have a hard time getting students motivated to practise music when he taught the traditional program, but with the School of Rock it is easy.
“The neat thing about this is the teamwork skill that they’ve all developed – how to work with your bandmates and how to balance things out as far as repertoire and even musically,” he said. “They are going through all those skills on their own. I am actually more or less a facilitator with these kids.”
Tickets are $16-35 and can be purchased at http://porttheatre.com.
