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Tuesday, August 25, 2020 – The back to school season bodes to be cautious, with masks and physical distancing measures in place. So the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) is adding a breath of fresh air to make music vibrate in the schools.
Building on its past twenty years of experience with school networks, and its educational platform to discover Quebec composers, this year, the SMCQ is launching a project bringing together virtual choirs to provide a year’s worth of rhythm. The project will focus on the four seasons, with the musical cycle Au regard des solstices plus new creations by François-Hugues Leclair.
“Following this past spring’s successful Grands espaces Virtual Choir featuring composer Katia Makdissi-Warren, the SMCQ proposes singing and dancing, discovering local artists, reconnecting with nature through art, and participating in a major collective musical work … Whether at school or at home, students from across the country (and even around the world) will be able to add their voices and sing new musical creations,” notes Claire Cavanagh, SMCQ‘s Director of Communications and Education.
The Rhythm of the Seasons
Augmenting the four canons of spring, summer, fall, winter, already enthusiastically welcomed in 2016, we will be adding four new canons giving voice to animals native to Quebec. Students will be invited to learn one or two pieces each season and to register to be part of a large virtual choir.
Students may also partake in a prelude to dance featuring choreographies designed by Barbara Diabo, a specialist in traditional and contemporary Indigenous dance from the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake. The videos, produced by a professional team with the contributions of the students will then be shared on the web and in a public space at the Quartier des spectacles.
The Importance of Music in Schools
For the SMCQ, contributing to the vitality of arts education in schools is an important part of its DNA. “Music at school contributes to a child’s development and sense of belonging, while preventing students from dropping out. It has the great potential to bring joy and a better understanding of the world that is especially needed in these times,” says Cavanagh.
This initiative builds on the SMCQ’s youth program, which already reaches more than 200 schools and 40,000 students across the country through workshops, concerts and activities. Bringing together artists and educators, over the years the SMCQ has developed a wide range of projects and more than 300 educational resources to discover today’s composers and musical creation. Presented in the form of thematic “teaching kits”, these tools are available free of charge to teachers on the smcqeducation.ca platform.
About the SMCQ
The SMCQ has been at the core of music creation for over 50 years and is dedicated to promoting the work of composers. Throughout the years, the organization established itself on the cultural scene by the quality and the scope of its concerts and activities which stand out for their unifying aspect. For more information about SMCQ projects, subscribe to the newsletter: http://www.smcq.qc.ca/smcq/fr/apropos/liste/.
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Français (French)
