Winter concert will heat things up

Where besides Sturgeon Composite High School’s Winter Concert will you hear a playlist that runs from a black light version of Paper Cut to the Scottish folk ballad Ye Banks and Braes?

As it turns out, right at the Arden Theatre tonight at 7 p.m.

It’s the school’s traditional winter concert open to the public for a minimal $5 admission.

The show stealer bound to generate buzz is the concert band performance of Paper Cut where the 55 musicians use both paper and instruments to create rhythmic sounds.

Sturgeon High School music director Darwin Krips is choosing to create an eye-popping production performed under black light conditions.

“The kids are using glow sticks to light up their sheet music and I have an LED baton so they can see me. I’ll be wearing headphones and listening to a click track while they play in the dark,” said Krips.

“In this one, you can’t deviate from the time. Everybody has to know what to do. It will look cool because the kids will be clapping and snapping paper. It’s become a very immersive piece. It’s very multi-sensory.”

Going in a 180-degree direction, the 17 lads of the 60-piece concert choir take front and centre in the poignant Robbie Burns text Ye Banks and Braes. It is a sad love song about a young Scottish lassie that gets seduced by a roaming romantic lad. She falls in love, but he leaves her and the baby she is expecting.

“It’s going to be sung like Danny Boy. We don’t often feature the guys, but they are the foundation of the choir. Some have been here for three years and it’s time to showcase the men a little more.”

Those 17 male voices are enough to create a tenor and bass section.

“Not every high school choir has this many guys. We’re very fortunate to have them. They’ve opened up a larger selection of music put it at our disposal.”

The vocal jazz section goes seasonal with Please Come Home for Christmas featuring tenor Rod Barrett’s solo.

“He’s really a good singer. He’s got the rhythm and blues sound and it’s a nice little slice of Christmas.”

The 20-piece jazz band plays a medley from the famous Vince Guaraldi soundtrack of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

“A lot of people start the Christmas season with it. When we put up the tree, that’s the first album that hits the stereo. It’s a fairly significant work and it’s such a beautiful arrangement.”

At just under two hours, the winter concert also serves as a fundraiser that generates funding to support music programs, workshops, guest musicians and student retreats.

A silent auction of decorated cakes, Oiler tickets and a 50/50 draw are among the fundraising efforts.

“The students are very hard working and I’m proud of them. There’s some solid talent in the group and I’m always interested to see how the seniors pass a lot of the traditional values down to the juniors and help get them up to speed.”