'I'm extremely nervous': Students rock out on stage for Bluesfest's final night
But The Killers, Avril Lavigne and Guns N' Roses didn't make an appearance at Ottawa's biggest music festival this year. Instead, the guitarists, pianists, drummers, bassists and singers from about 10 different schools or community groups were rocking out on stage, with some performers as young as seven years old.
The performers were part of Bluesfest's Be in the Band and Blues in the Schools programs that offer elementary and high school students mentorship opportunities from local artists. Following weeks of music practice during the school year, the students perform at their school or local community centre.
Some are then offered the opportunity to take their show to Bluesfest.
'It's a pretty big deal,' said Bluesfest community programs manager Alan Marsden. 'You come together for a show in your community and see your kids performing up there.
'It gives you a sense of pride.'
Blues in the Schools — 'a large bucket of cuteness,' according to Marsden — was up first. Twenty-two Grade 2 students from Corpus Christi lined up and sang just under 30 minutes worth of music, accompanied by dance moves and harmonicas simulating train sounds.
The student's teacher, Jeannie Wong, has been involved with Blues in the Schools for 26 years. She gives up her summer holidays to prepare the children to have the 'one-of-a-kind experience' of performing at Bluesfest.
'I'm always excited to learn something new, but also bring that love of music and excitement for the children to spark that passion in them,' Wong said. 'It's thrilling to see the kids so excited and the light in their eyes when they finally get up on the stage.'
Be in the Band was up next, with 18 separate sets of musicians, mostly playing rock or pop tunes to an audience that grew throughout the night, particularly when the rain started just before 8:30 p.m. Each group sang a song or two before cycling off the stage to make room for the next.
Louisiana Saucier from Hadley Philemon Wright High School in Gatineau, Que., plays bass. This was her third time performing with Be in the Band. Before hitting the stage, the 14-year-old said it can be nerve-wrecking to play for a crowd — but it's still a great experience.
'It's fun to be in a band with people my own age,' she said. 'It's nice to just create something.'
Not every performer is as musically experienced as Saucier.
Seventeen-year-old Aspen Horgan, from Norman Johnston Secondary Alternate Program, had never touched a bass prior to getting involved with Be in the Band.
'It's just surreal, honestly,' Horgan said backstage before performing. 'I'm extremely nervous … Bluesfest is such a massive thing.'
Horgan's band, The Tragically Dustins (an ode to their teacher, Dustin Wenzel), performed 'Coffee Girl' by The Tragically Hip with a cool and calm demeanour under the warm glow of purple, red and white spotlights.
'I was very in the moment,' Horgan said, adding that the sizable crowd ended up fading into the background.
Rosy Tlem, also 17, was one of the lead vocalists from Notre Dame High School who sang a rendition of Rihanna's 'Umbrella' and Bruno Mars' 'Finesse.'
While on stage, Tlem and the two other vocalists often took each other's hands as they called on the audience to sing along.
'It's do or die,' Tlem recalled after the show. 'This is my secret desire to perform in front of people.'
For some of the young artists, the music programs gave them an opportunity to grow closer to their fellow musicians, as well as nurture a passion for music.
'I've had kids tell me that the program transformed their lives. Saved their life, even,' Marsden said. 'Music is really important to me. I really wanted it to be important to the people who are involved, too.'
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