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Sooke bands off to national music competition

Journey Middle School musicians among best at Musicfest
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Members of the Journey Middle School bands recently picked up a host of awards from the Musicfest regional competition held in Port Alberni. (Contributed)

For Journey Middle School musicians, the 2019 MusicFest was music to their ears.

The school brought home a host of awards from the regional music festival held in Port Alberni last month.

The Sooke students received superior and excellent gradings for their performances. All five groups performed and received an invitation to the Musicfest Nationals in Calgary next year.

The Journey musicians received the following awards:

• Grade 6, 7 and 8 Concert Band (superior)

• Grade 7 and 8 Concert Band (excellent plus)

• Grade 8 Concert Band (excellent plus)

• District 62 Orchestra (excellent plus)

• District 62 Chamber Ensemble (superior minus)

“I could not be prouder of the students,” said Lorna Bjorklund, Journey Band conductor and teacher.“They’ve performed exceedingly well, and we’re excited at the chance to go to Calgary in 2020.

“I’m really touched by how the community came together to support the kids. We had a wonderful team of parents, teachers, administrators and Sooke residents who helped make our trips possible.”

Stella Champagne, who plays the clarinet in the Grade 6 section, said students are excited about the chance to play in Calgary.

“We were so surprised when they told us how well we’d done,” she said.

The students also performed well in a second event at the Whistler Cantando Music Festival in Whistler on April 26.

The Grade 6, 7, and 8 band received silver and the Grade 7 and 8 band received gold. A

“It was fun to go, and it was an interesting experience,” said Sienna Lajoie, flutist in the Grade 8 band, who attended the Whistler festival.

The Journey band will perform in the Capital City Jazz festival in late May and will be giving further concerts in June.

The band is also planning fundraisers to attend Nationals.



editor@sookenewsmirror.com

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