Blues in the Schools Virtual Edition in 21 Local area schools

The week of March 8th, 2021 saw the launch of Blues in the Schools in 21 local and surrounding schools in an online format presented by 15 local, cross Canada and International artists. Elementary school students were treated to roots based musicians sharing their craft online, playing songs, giving instrument demonstrations, and participating in illuminating question and answer periods directly following the presentations. Alan Marsden, RBC Bluesfest Community Program Manager, was pleasantly surprised at how well the technological aspect worked. ‘Technology really came through for us this year as we managed a relatively glitch free set of presentations. There were 21 schools every day with multiple classes in each school tuned into the streams! I think that if anything, the pandemic has taught us all how to be a little more techno savvy in regard to communications. The schools knew what to do as well as the artists’.

With artists performing from the Ottawa area, Gatineau-Quebec, Sydney-Nova Scotia, Peterborough-Ontario, Toronto-Ontario, Manitoulin Island, and Hampton Falls New Hampshire there was no shortage of diversity. Students saw a wide variety of musical genres and approaches to music with award winning musicians performing Blues, Gospel, Scottish, spoken word and Hip Hop, Folk and traditional, and importantly, all presentations were ‘Live’. Schools had as many as 32 classes signed in to the streams, while some students could be seen dancing to the music at home.

“This was our school’s first year participating and we were blown away by the talent, engagement, enthusiasm and knowledge of the artists.  We had the pleasure this week of hearing from JW Jones and Brittany Wynne-Jones, TJ Wheeler, Chrissy Crowley and Mary-Beth Carty, and Graham Linsday and Arthur McGregor.  All of them entertained and educated the students on the love of music.  There are many things that stuck with me, but I appreciated how JW Jones gave us a great background and history of the blues (“Blues are the roots, the rest are the fruits”) and TJ Wheeler taught the kids that “we sing the blues to lose our blues”.  I don’t know if the artists could see how the children were responding, but there was always a lot of enthusiasm and participation.  I loved the mix of experiences from the Blues to Celtic and everything in between. 
I know it was challenging this year to have to hold the presentations virtually, but one benefit was that we were able to keep our microphones muted and the students were often up and dancing to the beat and truly “feeling” the music.  Some classes even brought out rhythm instruments and played along with the artists.  And in one class, they used “found” items at their desk to create “mock” instruments to play along with the artists.  In another class, a student pulled out a banana from her lunch box to use it as a flute.  And in one of our kindergarten classes, a student was overheard saying “my hands are dancing”!
Thank you for helping to provide this rich, authentic learning experience and for helping us to bring the love of music to our staff and our students.

Kimberly Hutchinson, Principal, Thomas D’Arcy McGee Catholic School

“Dear Alan and your wonderful artists,
I would like to thank your artists for coming to Carleton Place High School this week. I was moved by the
huge variety of artists from Angelique Francis who was just starting her career with the help of her
Father. She showed us how to turn popular charts we know into the blues which I think made them
sound better. JW and Brittany Jones showed us the business side of the scene and why hard work and
dedication can turn into a thriving career. Rick Fines shared his musical imagination through his
songwriting process and how the discipline of continuously refining your craft is essential for anyone
who wishes to improve as a musician. To top everything off was the vast knowledge of TJ Wheeler who
shared his musical lifetime with us and was able to share the deep roots of the blues in a way that would
reach and speak to youth of today with his brilliant musicianship and warm candor.
Your presentations this week could not have come at a better time. We have had a super hard week
here at CPHS with several students being tested positive for COVID 19 resulting in many staff and
students being sent home to self-isolate and get tested for the virus. It has been a huge disruption for
everyone and the solace of the blues and the amazing musicians who shared their music with us was
exactly what we needed.

Our students are left feeling inspired, rejuvenated and know so much more about the rich blues
tradition that is being promoted by Ottawa Bluesfest and we are so thankful for your dedication and
perseverance in these challenging times”.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Yuschyshyn
Carleton Place High School