After a long, arduous and unprecedented year, we are finally in the home stretch – the end of 2020 is almost here! Many people are quite ready to leave this very unusual year behind. It’s exciting to hear that the first vaccination for COVID-19 was given earlier this week.
A quote often attributed to Confucius says ” Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.” With the playing of wind instruments barred from most schools in Ontario this year, there’s been very little musical pleasure.
Now that we’re about two months into back-to-school, it’s heartening to see some good news stories about music teachers finding ways to be innovative. Of all the school subjects, music class is by far the hardest to recreate virtually, and for those able to teach in person and physically distanced, generally there’s no wind instrument playing or singing allowed, so kudos to everyone for finding new ways to make music.
As this unprecedented school year begins, it is more important than ever to ensure our children and students are getting all that they need academically, emotionally and culturally. Schools and parents are facing a situation which demands real innovation. It is also a time of great opportunity, to which Bandology has much to contribute.
The end of summer is always bittersweet, but usually there’s the excitement of a new school year to look forward to. Not so this year – without clear direction from the Ministry of Education, it’s been up to the 70+ school boards across Ontario to figure everything out at the last minute.
Band Camp Online was a huge success! After all the dreariness of quarantine, it was a blast to meet so many talented young musicians. And since it was online we were able to hang out with musicians from all over, including all the way from Montreal!
Happy summer and congratulations on the end of a very unusual school year! It’s been a rough year in education, with labour action and strike days followed by months of emergency remote learning. We feel especially bad for the grade 8, grade 12 and university graduates who are missing out on the pomp and circumstance of a graduation ceremony.
Happy almost summer! There’s been a LOT happening at Bandology lately, thus this mid-month update. The sad news – after much research, deliberation and study of government regulations, it’s with a heavy heart that we let you know we have decided to cancel Band Camp 2020.
Now that our team here at Bandology has more helping hands, a wide variety of projects are underway to support our hard working educators, students and guardians. Our team is working eagerly to develop unique lesson plans and instructional videos, providing online performance opportunities, a new musician interview series and much more!
As we enter week seven of self-isolation, it’s been lovely to see so much music being shared online. We were delighted the Oakville Choir for Children and Youth was chosen to provide the beautiful music for this inspirational tribute film to our pandemic heroes – click here to listen.
