Today cellist William Findlay of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra came and performed two concerts. The first was for the younger students and was enjoyed by the Playschool, Kindergarten, and Primary Class. He demonstrated to the students how he could play a song two different ways a happy way (in a major key) and in a sad way (in a minor key) William Findlay played a few children’s songs and had the students guess which one he was playing. Finally, he told the students a story and used his cello. He used different music to depict different characters in the story. The students had to tell him what animal or character he was playing at different parts and what the characters were feeling based on the music. One of the favourite animals he played was the cheeky squirrel.

 

 

The next performance was for the older students and any staff or parents who wanted to watch as well. For the older students he talked about the cello and about the composition of the bow. I was very impressed to see every students’ hand shoot up when he asked what the bow was made of. He discussed how important it is for the beat and the melody to work together. He played “O’ Canada” using different beats and showed us how it could completely change the song. He then got the students to be the “beat” of a song by clapping their hands and saying “chhh” to imitate a drum and cymbal while he played his cello beautifully. The students and faculty had many questions for him and he eagerly answered them all.

Both were great performances which I very much enjoyed!

To learn more about Olivet School please visit our website http://olivetschool.ca/.