Cabaret Night

On October 19, musicians and music-lovers alike gathered in IRHS cafeteria for our first major music event of the year- Cabaret Night. Our school’s bands and music classes, not to mention individual performers from the student body, have been preparing for a long time for this event, and their practice really paid off.

The night started with a performance by the grade 10 music class, and the rest of the evening tended to alternate between class/band and solo performances. The choirs and bands seemed to be really enjoying themselves, outdoing themselves in their performances. Later, some of the performers shared what they liked best about the evening. A few grade 9 vocals students said that they found their class really fun- being in a choir, they said, was a bonding experience. Though they had to work hard to prepare for the night, they felt it really paid off.

The music classes had been preparing for Cabaret Night since about the 3rd week of school, said Mrs Belanger, and the bands since about a week after that. She enjoyed seeing all their preparation paying off, and seeing the musical talent of students around the school. Mr. Schouten, a new teacher at our school who conducted the grade 9 band this year, agreed: he really enjoyed preparing for the concert, and was very impressed by the “level of musicianship” throughout the school. They both enjoyed conducting their respective bands and classes- in fact, Mrs. Belanger’s favourite part of the evening was when she had to fill in for an absent trombone player by singing the trumpet solo for the grade 9 class! She really loved all the performances, though- our school showed a lot of talent at Cabaret Night. She hopes to continue our school’s musical traditions, and encourages anyone interested in music to try to get involved in it- our school is always welcoming to new musicians!

There were plenty of independent performers, too. Sam Hollinrake, a grade 10 student who has performed in-school multiple times, said what she really likes about performing here is sharing her love of music with people, and she thought this event didn’t disappoint. She practices her music a lot- this event, she played and sang an assortment of songs. She thought the audience seemed really inspired by the show in general. Parents and students she didn’t know kept coming up to her to ask her about and compliment her on her music. “[There was] positivity all around!”, she said.

The audience seemed to really enjoy it too. It was a really fun event in general, with an amazing assortment of different musical genres represented throughout the night. A fan favourite seemed to be the Michael Jackson medley performed by the grade 10 instrumental band, which was widely loved by both performers and viewers. Many came to see their friends or their children perform, but everyone came out of the evening very impressed by the performances.