Inspiring, Creating, Performing: Brennan Cardinals Soar in the Arts
The F.J. Brennan Arts Department is off to a great start this school year, with many exciting artistic endeavours well underway in all of our subject areas! Meetings and rehearsals are occurring daily in preparation for our amazing fall performance season. We hope you will join us for these wonderful student presentations and debuts. Dates and details are provided below:
Music
The Period Two Grade Ten Instrumental Music Class have recently completed their study of methods to target tone quality and tuning. They have been working daily on technical exercises to improve their skill level in these areas. After detailed lessons on simple and complex time signatures, students composed their own rhythmic phrases which they used in the execution of a traditional Aboriginal Drum Circle. Students have also been exploring the Creative Process in performance and will be putting these concepts to use as they begin their next two selections: Wipe Out and Irish Air. They are currently completing an in-depth Listening Analysis Project which includes a survey of music from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Canadian Folk and Aboriginal genres. Recently this class also had the opportunity to attend the Collective Art Theatre's Production of Westside Story at the Olde Walkerville Theatre. This student run production was very inspiring and a wonderful way to spend a Friday morning.
The Period Four Grade Nine Integrated Arts - Music Class, while only in the their first seven days of this course, have selected their instruments and learned about proper care and daily maintenance of their equipment. They are also busy learning new fingerings, basic scales, and will be tackling their first selection together very shortly! In store in the near future: Class composition, Song Reviews, Stomp Rhythmic Presentations.
Our After School Program: Concert Band , Jazz Ensemble and Choir are in full swing with rehearsals 4-5 nights per week and weekly lunch meetings. The Brennan Jazz Choir had its first performance at our recent school Liturgy on October 21, 2014 and did a tremendous job setting a prayerful tone and lifting the spirits of all in attendance . A special thank you is extended to the talented soloists and rhythm section that made this event extra special. In three weeks our Concert Band will host guest conductor Professor Janice Waldren from the University of Windsor. Professor Waldren will be conducting a workshop with our young musicians during their regular Wednesday rehearsal and we are looking forward to it immensely! The bands and choir are looking forward to future performances this fall and of course, the annual F.J. Brennan Catholic High School Christmas Concert on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at 7pm in our Caritas Theatre.
Excursions: Last year the Brennan Music Program had the opportunity to travel to "Music City" ,U.S.A , Nashville,Tennessee (a few pictures included later on this blog). This year our Bands and Choir hope to travel to Chicago, Illinois where they will tour and perform in this exciting city renowned for its unique Blues and Big Band sound! To help support the cost of this event, our music students are hosting and participating in several fundraisers throughout the year, including a Halloween Bake Sale on October 31, 2014 in our main hallway and a school wide Talent Show on November 28, 2014. (Be sure to check out the pictures included in this blog from our most recent music trip to Nashville Spring 2014! This talent show is open to all Brennan students and will include a variety of exciting artistic skills; everything from dance routines to dramatic monologues to music performances. Auditions take place the second week of November and will be open to all Brennan students. First and second place winners will receive prizes. All period three and four classes are invited to attend this exciting presentation. Visiting feeder school students will also have the opportunity to attend this show, aptly titled "Brennan's Got Talent!"
Photography
F.J. Brennan's Art Photography program will be hosting a public exhibition from November 3 to 7, 2014 at ArtSpeak Gallery. The show, titled, "The Interpretive Lens", will feature exceptional photo works composed by senior students during the past seven months.
Over 100 photographs spanning diverse genres will be available for viewing. There will be selections from student projects in Abstract, Landscape, Portraiture/Self-Portraiture, Nature, Street/Urban and Architectural photography. Both black and white, and colour images will be displayed. This is Brennan's second public exhibition of 2014, featuring new images not previously displayed or published.
Brennan's photography students produce artistic photo works that are often thought provoking, interesting and attractive; they are very proud of their individual and collective creative expression.
ArtSpeak Gallery is located at 1942 Wyandotte St. E. The exhibition is open from Monday, Nov. 3 to Friday, Nov. 7 and runs from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m daily. A closing reception will be held Friday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.; all are invited!
Dance
In September, the grade 11 and 12 dance students enjoyed the great outdoors while they choreographed dances in "outer space". The unit concluded with the students performing their compositions in front of their classmates as well as residents of Amica, down at the Riverfront.
October has been a busy month with students in the period 3 Gr.11& 12 and period 2 Gr. 10 & 11 classes working on their independent study compositions. The students choose a style of dance they would like to explore and choreograph a dance to a song of their choice. These compositions collectively lead to the dance programmes semester end showcase where students put on a recital for the student body as well as friends and family to come out and enjoy in the Caritas Theatre. Stay tuned for showcase dates!
We also had the opportunity to enjoy community theatre in October. Sixty of Brennan's dance and music students went on a field trip to the Walkerville Theatre to enjoy the Collective Arts Theatre's production of West Side Story. It has been an incredible month!
Members of Brennan's dance team have been busy preparing routines for Kinetic Cohesion, a competition being held in Kitchener on the weekend of February 20th. Our team will present their dances in front of a panel of judges, they will attend workshops from professional choreographers and will participate in a showcase during this weekend festival. We anxiously await this event.
Visual Arts
Gr. 9s and 10s just completed landscape painting projects in watercolour and watercolour and ink. We studied the layers of a landscape, sky and cloud studies, how to draw trees and other natural subject matter. Gr. 9s created oil pastel drawings of leaves found on our school grounds. Colour wheel theory, design, shape, form, and space were our focus.
Gr. 10 students are completing pumpkin bas relief sculptures with carving tools. The Halloween theme is our subject. Many of these are currently on display in the trophy case in the Caritas hallway and will be going home shortly!
We are still actively collecting yarn for the baby hat making project (includes the gr. 12 Social Justice class and V. Arts Club and V. A. classes, and other students from the school who have expressed interest) Anti-Bullying "sculpture in the round" with gr. 10s was introduced today for students to begin the brainstorming process using various "found objects". Sculptures will be able to stand on their own and environments can be incorporated and all will be completed by the beginning of December for display for our upcoming Grade Eight Night.
Drama
Throughout the month of October, our Grade Ten Drama class students have been working hard to create a spectacular Haunted House for Halloween. This malevolent mansion of mischief is the result of individual and group work and has allowed students to experience set design and construction, first hand. Modified and original set boards, animatronics, sound effects, masks and puppet creation are just some of the components of this exciting project. For those who dare, there will also be a night walk through on Oct. 30th ( 6:30-8:30pm) $ 3.00 admission. This will be accompanied by a viewing of the movie Goonies in the South gym. Brennan students are invited to experience this dramatic theatre of horror, Friday, Oct 31st ( period 1&2 $ 2.00 admission) Not for the faint of heart!
In ADDITION to the entrance fee, please note that there will ALSO be a can drive. Anyone who brings a can can take a shot at knocking the teeth out of a giant Jack-O-lanterns mouth.
( AKA bowling) If all the teeth are knocked down, participants name will be entered for a chance to win a basket of Halloween Treats!
