A Concert to Celebrate an Era

 

After 30 years of teaching in the St. James Assiniboia school division, Mr. Edwards has made the difficult decision to pass on his baton. The question then arises, how do you say goodbye? Do you fade out like a dying light bulb or appear in the sky like a firework set off in celebration? If you know anything about Mr. Edwards, he's not the fade-out type.

After years of bumping into alumni across the city, there arose a common theme. All of them, at some point in conversation with Mr. Edwards, would bring up the fact that they truly miss making music. They miss being actively involved in the construction of musical excellence. So, from these interactions, an idea was born to create a unique opportunity to relive those musical experiences.

 

Our aim is to get as many alumni as possible back together for one last epic concert featuring alumni from a quarter-of-a-century residency at Westwood Collegiate and reaching all the way back to his time at Silver Heights in the mid 90s and Bruce Middle School in the late 90's.

 

Using his little slice of localized fame, there arose some hope that somehow this moment in time could contribute to the greater good of our community. This event is not just about music, it's about making a difference. Mr. Edwards, along with countless others, has lost friends and family members to cancer over the years; most recently Westwood's beloved clinician of 19 years, Ms. Suzan Muncer. From there it wasn't a great leap to turn this once in a lifetime event into a fundraiser for Cancer Care Manitoba.

 

So, with a gentle nudge from family and friends, the alumni gala concert in support of Cancer Care Manitoba was born.

 

We hope you will support this concert by purchasing a ticket, inviting friends and family and possibly making a small donation to make this event a night to remember. Tickets will go on sale sometime in January. Let’s get people in the seats and pack the concert hall with music fans from all over. In addition, tag, e-mail, post, forward, or mention this event to as many alumni as you possibly can. Mr. Edwards and his team are spending countless hours behind the scenes scanning music and posting it to this site to make sure that you have access to the repertoire months in advance so that you can dust off those band skills and come together on the 22nd of June and make music together one last time. 

Want to learn more?  Head on over to www.edwardsalumnigala.ca to find out how you can get involved.

Don't forget to follow us on instagram @edwardsalumnigala

Westwood Arts Advisory Council

 

Welcome Back!

 

Hey everyone!  Welcome back to Band at Westwood Collegiate.  For those of you who are familiar with our program or for those of you who are new, welcome to one of the most award winning programs in the province. You are all apart of an amazing tradition of excellence and I truly look forward to making music with each and every one of you.

Just a reminder that we communicate almost exclusively with Instagram. There you will find all the happenings going on in our program.  For those of you without access to instagram at this time, you are able to see all the posts across the banner of our blog site above.   Follow us on Instagram: @bandatwestwood

This site is the place where you will go for all of the other information about our programming and where you will find things like: FAQ's, Section leader responsibilities, Course Outlines, Uniform requirements, recordings of our music and assignments.

As well, all playing assignments are done through youTube.  All students are to create an UNLISTED youTube channel for your own privacy.  You will upload your playing assignments to you channel and then email me the link.

That's all for now.  Any questions, feel free to reach out via email:  greg.edwards@sjasd.ca

Playing a musical instrument good for brain health

 

The study found playing keyboard instruments was particularly beneficial for brain health

Playing a musical instrument or singing could help keep the brain healthy in older age, UK researchers suggest.  Practising and reading music may help sustain good memory and the ability to solve complex tasks, their study says.

In their report, published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, they say music should be considered as part of a lifestyle approach to maintain the brain. More than 1,100 people aged over 40, with a mean age of 68, were studied.Scientists at the University of Exeter observed their brain function data as part of a wider study that has been finding out how brains age, and why people develop dementia.
They looked at the effects of playing an instrument, singing, reading and listening to music, and musical ability.The researchers compared the cognitive data of those in the study who engaged in music in some way in their lives, with those who never had.Their results showed that people who played musical instruments benefitted the most, which may be because of the "multiple cognitive demands" of the activity. 

Playing the piano or keyboard appeared to be particularly beneficial, while brass and woodwind instruments were good too. 

Simply listening to music did not appear to help cognitive health.

The benefit seen with singing might be partly because of the known social aspects of being in a choir or group, the researchers say. "Because we have such sensitive brain tests for this study, we are able to look at individual aspects of the brain function, such as short-term memory, long-term memory, and problem-solving and how engaging music effects that," lead author Prof Anne Corbett told the BBC.  "Certainly this confirms and cements on a much larger scale what we already know about the benefits of music.
"Specifically, playing an instrument has a particularly big effect, and people who continue to play into an older age saw an additional benefit," she said.

In the study, people who read music regularly had better numerical memory.

Prof Corbett said: "Our brain is a muscle like anything else and it needs to be exercised, and learning to read music is a bit like learning a new language, it's challenging." Researchers did not test potential benefits of taking up a musical hobby for the first time later in life, but Prof Corbett said she believed, based on current evidence, it would be "very beneficial". Prof Corbett said that, although more research was needed, promoting musical education could form a "valuable" part of a public health message, as would encouraging older adults to return to music in later life. "The message is around how people can proactively reduce their risk of cognitive decline or dementia, and really thinking about engaging with music as a way of doing that. This study does suggest that it could be part of a much wider lifestyle approach to improving brain health as you age." "We regularly play at memory cafes so have seen the effect that our music has on people with memory loss and, as older musicians ourselves, we have no doubt that continuing with music into older age has played an important role in keeping our brains healthy."

The study was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

You can see the article on BBC's web site - HERE

Band gives you the TOP skills

 Keep your kids in band if you want them prepared for the future according to a study done by the Indeed Hiring Lab.

"Interpersonal soft skills are going to be even more important in the age of AI, according to Sadek. These include creativity, adaptability, critical thinking, problem solving, time management, emotional intelligence and communication.

All of these skills are developed through the arts and specifically - Band. 

Read the full article here - 

Looking for a job or career change? These skills will be in high demand in Canada in 2024

WCAAG is Looking for Volunteers

 Westwood Collegiate Arts Advisory Group.  

The parent group WCAAG supports the arts programs and staff at Westwood Collegiate. Westwood parents who are interested in the arts, or have children enrolled in an arts program(s) meet once a month to plan for the annual “For the Love of the Arts” arts evening, as well as lend support to staff for events such as the musical when selling tickets and running a canteen.

For the Love of the Arts (FLOTA) is an evening that celebrates the arts programs and students. This school year FLOTA will be held on Monday April 8, 2024. Set up for the event will take place on Sunday, April 7, 2024 and it takes the efforts of parents and students to set up the gym for the big event. The night of the event, parents are needed in many capacities from taking tickets to preparing refreshments. Planning begins at the monthly meetings with email sign ups shared prior to the setup and event. The funds from the evening are used by the arts department at Westwood to buy items such as costumes, upgrade equipment, or purchase instruments.

What are the arts programs at Westwood? The arts department is made up of band, choral, dance, drama, graphic tech, musical theatre, photography, and visual art.

Your help is instrumental in making the various arts events throughout the school year successful and well attended. We would love to see you at the monthly meetings, or volunteering to help with FLOTA or other arts events would be greatly appreciated!

For more information you can contact Mr. Brian Toms at brian.toms@sjasd.ca.

If interested, please scan this QR code and fill out the database form!

We’ll be in touch shortly!

 

Jazz Band

Jazz Band begins the week of the 11th.  Monday - Sr. Jazz at 7:20 AM. Tuesday - L.T.J.O.  7:20 AM and B.I.G. Band at 12:03PM.  No Instrument Need for the first class, but you can bring yours if you like and put it on the shelves.