Join us on Friday, May 29th to see our students perform alongside the Nathaniel Dett Chorale!
This term, our students have worked with award-winning composer Aaron Manswell to create an original piece of music for choral performance. Funded by SOCAN Foundation, the Toronto Arts Council, and Desjardins, the project has spanned the whole term, and will culminate in this community performance alongside the professional musicians of the NDC on May 29th.
Manswell, a celebrated producer, conductor, and award-winning composer, began working with students at Sistema Toronto – Scarborough in January, engaging the students in a two-part workshop designed to inspire their creativity. During the two sessions, Manswell worked with students to determine a list of themes important to them, including Peace, Bullying, Parents, Safety, Denial, and Pressure. From this list, students voted on their final theme of Trying, before writing lyrics and devising a melody that would become the “hook” of the final piece. As Manswell explained to the students, the hook is a central part of a composition – the part that gets “stuck in your head” – making the students’ contributions and voices truly central to the piece.
Once the students established their lyrics and wrote their melody, Manswell worked to develop their composition into its final iteration: a 5-6 minute piece for choral performance entitled Try.
You’re invited to witness the debut!