Sturgeon High musicians in high demand

Sturgeon Composite High music program has developed such a potent reputation that organizations keep knocking on their door with performance requests.

“The phone continually rings,” says music director Darwin Krips, the creative driving force that has put the school on the map.

“We’re going to be singing as part of the Singing Christmas Tree next month. On Remembrance Day, CTV came and taped us live. And now people are looking for Christmas carollers and we just had a request to perform at the Mazankowski heart fundraiser.”

Thrown into the mix is a full-throttle winter concert on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at the Arden Theatre with special guest pianist/composer Andrew Glover.

“But we’re not doing Christmas stuff. I don’t do Christmas,” laughs Krips, now in his 12th year teaching music at the school.

Instead the concert band plays an eclectic blend from that old standard Amazing Grace to Steven Reineke’s Fate of the Gods, a movie style score loosely based on a battle between mythological Norse gods.

“You can feel and see all the action as it goes down.”

The 49-member band’s flourishing finish is The Big Cage, originally written about Clyde Beatty, a Barnum and Bailey lion tamer.

“It goes at the speed of light or as fast as I can conduct it.”

The 62-member choir goes international with Tshotsholoza (Go Forward), a South African freedom song, Danny Boy, a gorgeous Irish a cappella arrangement, and the straight-up rockin’ gospel tune Walk on That Heavenly Road.

The smaller 13-member vocal jazz ensemble sings a funk arrangement of I Hear Music and the intricately rhymed Everybody Eats When They Come to My House.

“It’s very clever and made famous by John Lithgow and his children’s album. It’s a beautiful swing song. “

They also sing Come Back to My Place, a gentle, light swing piece with solos from Amber Edwards on alto sax and Tia McLean on trumpet.

The 20-member jazz band makes its mark with Jaco Pastorius’ great bass jazz funk tune The Chicken highlighting solos from Wyatt Whitnack on bari sax and Mathew Webster on tenor sax. The band closes its set with a new Mark Taylor composition, Bradley’s Groove Shop, a straight-ahead shuffle.

“The quality of these performances is very high. At no time do we think people will look at their watch and wonder when it’s over. Our students are putting on a top-level show. We pushed the boundaries and set the bar high and they have risen to the occasion. We’re really excited about having a fun-filled year.”