Grade 8 students Kendra Martinussen of Westwood Elementary and Anika de Groot of École Riverside will be among those playing for the Manitoba Junior Provincial Honour Band.
The auditions, which are open to all Manitoba students, are submitted by way of anonymous recordings to a panel of judges. De Groot won a space among 12 clarinets; while two spaces were open for bass clarinets, only Kendra qualified throughout the province.
Stevie MacPherson, Martinussen’s and de Groot’s music teacher, notes that Thompson music students have qualified for the program every year for the last six years: “A lot of kids from Winnipeg make it into the ensemble because of access to things like private lessons, but having northern representation is something we should be really proud of,” she said. “It’s a standard we’ve upheld in our program for years. I went as a student, and it was the reason I wanted to go into education. Now these kids are going to bring back the skills to our program that will inspire other kids to go.”
MacPherson herself is a graduate of R. D. Parker Collegiate’s band program, and attended provincial honour band as a student as well.
Qualifiying for the ensemble was no easy task: de Groot noted that she practised every day for up to two hours, a work ethic that surprised even Martinussen. But the real challenge will be the performance piece: the students will receive the music a week prior to performing, and once the students arrive in Winnipeg, they will have three chances to rehearse their piece as an ensemble at Elmwood High School. “When they go to honour band, they’re going to be doing the work that we usually do in months in a matter of two days,” MacPherson stressed.
Their final performance will be on May 7 at the North Kildonan Menonnite Brethren Church.
While MacPherson noted that access to resources meant Winnipeg students largely dominated the ensemble, both Martinussen and de Groot felt the school’s band program was an exceptional foundation in itself: Martinussen noted that many programs lacked both motivated students and teachers, while de Groot appreciated the school’s own selection of instruments, saving eager students the barrier of high instrument costs.
“I always had the idea that being up in Thompson, we were underprivileged, but that was quickly put out.”
In addition, Grade 8 students Hannah Lowen, on trumpet, and Pawel Petrowski, on precussion, were selected as alternates, should either frontrunner be unable to attend. Earlier this year, Grade 11 RD Parker student Martha Magaji was accepted into the senior honour band, where she played precussion.
In her spare time, Martinussen also plays the tenor sax. She hopes to study music at Brandon University. “I love band; I’d basically say it’s my life. All I want to do is play my instrument.”
De Groot also plays the ukelele, though she’s a little less certain about her future. “There’s a lot of things that I want to do right now, though being a band teacher was actually one of them.”
Martinussen and de Groot also attended the Parkland Norman Honour Band Festival in March, where they performed as part of a 140-piece ensemble in Dauphin.
