Nicholas Donaldson
The Fort Frances High School senior band is trying something different for its pre-Cuba trip concert next month.
The concert, set for this Monday (March 6) at the Townshend Theatre, won’t have tickets for sale.
Instead, FFHS music teacher and band leader Lisa Loney is asking that audience members bring along items to donate.
Loney said people can bring toiletries such as soaps, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc., noting small, travel-sized versions would be best.
Then the items will be taken with the band on its trip to Cuba over the March Break and donated to the students they meet there.
“In the past, the band would get these things together,” Loney explained, though admitting this was tough to do and put all of the pressure on the band members.
“This way, it’s a greater opportunity to gather more things,” she reasoned.
The concert will be run less than an hour and feature the band’s traditional fare, along with Latin music, gumboot dancing, and singing.
Loney said it is really more of a variety show.
She also noted the concert will be exactly what the band will perform while in Cuba.
“This is a chance for parents and community members to see what we will be doing in Cuba,” Loney remarked.
“It’s not like it’s a secret,” she chuckled.
That other benefit is that the concert serves as a warm-up for the trip.
“The concert is a chance to play in front of an audience instead of going to Cuba cold,” Loney said.
Meanwhile, a former Fort High student and a current co-op student will share in some of the band’s director duties and conduct a few songs.
This is part of Loney’s leadership program for students considering a career in music or music education.
The band then will depart for Cuba a week after the concert to play music while exploring the country and its culture.
The trip actually will be a sort of exchange of cultures, said Loney, meaning it won’t be just local students performing in Cuba.
After the Fort High band plays, it will become the audience for the Cuban students.
“This is not just the band going and playing a tour,” she stressed.
The Cuban students also will be giving their Fort High counterparts lessons in salsa dancing.
They, in turn, will return the favour by teaching the Cuban students some gumboot dancing.
“Without the gumboots, of course,” Loney joked. “We don’t need gumboot donations.”
The trip is a collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Culture in Cuba, and will involve performances at two schools, a community centre, and two other venues.
Loney said the band is very fortunate to be meeting with one school in particular.
“They are like the ‘Juilliard’ of Cuba,” she explained.
Loney also stressed she wants this trip to be an eye-opening and learning experience for her students.
“The kids get to do things a regular tourist would never do,” she explained.
“This is not going to be a holiday on the beach but they will still have fun.
“The students will be engaging with Havana,” she noted.
Loney acknowledged the language barrier can be a problem for the students–and recounted story of how that was overcome the last time she took students to Cuba.
While eating one of their meals, the local students began to sing an Adele song.
Loney said the Cuban students joined in and were very enthusiastic because they also knew the song.
“They definitely get some of the Western pop influence there,” she remarked.
