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Artscene “Connected to your Community”

Canadian alternative rock band I Mother Earth is re-turning to Oakville this Saturday (March 8).

The band, comprised of brothers Jagori and Chris-tian Tanna, Bruce Gordon and Brian Byrne, will be performing at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts at 7 p.m.

Tickets cost $70 and can be purchased online at www.oakvillecentre.ca or by calling the box office at 905-815-2021.

The Juno Award-winning band got back together two years after a nine-year hiatus.

It performed at the Oakville Centre to a sold-out crowd last year in February.

On Twitter and Facebook, Christian wrote the band has pulled out a “few old gems” for its upcom-ing Oakville performance.

“Last time we played this place, it was an amazing night... this one will make you forget that one me-thinks,” he wrote.

The band will also be appearing at Paradiso res-taurant following its performance for an After-Show Artist Chat.

A Few Good Men perform Coldplay’s Viva La Vida at St. Mildred’s-Lightbourn School on Linbrook Road Saturday to provide a glimpse of the impact an Ontario Trillium Founda-tion grant has had on the program. Pictured in the photo at left is (front, left) Neel Sontam, Oliver Waterhouse, Hayden Chan, (in back, from left) Robert Dilawri, Callum Pope,

Randy Wu and Mark Sanadi. At right, saxophonist Neil Morley, 23, and cellist Lukas Bernasiewicz, 12. Video of the performance can be found by visiting www.insidehalton.com/video/4392160. | photos by Nikki Wesley – Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or www.facebook.com/HaltonPhotog)

A Few Good Men isn’t just your av-erage community boys’ choir.

The group, comprised of boys, youths and men between the ages of seven and 29, prides itself on be-ing an ensemble that fosters a safe, supportive and exciting environ-ment in which all members can sing confidently.

Oakville resident and conductor Dave Anderson told the Oakville Beaver what’s truly unique about the program, reinvigorated about a year ago, is the age range that it welcomes.

Sharing his vision through ex-perience he gained singing with the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the 27-year-old said he left the group because there wasn’t really a place for him once his voice changed in his teenage years. Anderson took a five-year hiatus before turning back to singing when he attended Caw-thra Park Secondary School in Mis-sissauga.

But not everyone returns to sing-ing once they’ve left, noted Ander-son.

by Julia LeOakville Beaver Staff

A Few Good Men highlights its success over the past year

I Mother Earth ready to rock Saturday

“If boys continue to sing through their middle school and high school years, they’ll probably sing for the rest of their life,” he said, noting A Few Good Men provides that op-portunity.

Part of the success of the boys’ choir, he added, is the leadership role the older members take in

helping younger choristers become more comfortable and confident in what they’re doing.

“The mentorship and camarade-rie built across two decades and age range is incredible,” said Anderson.

A Few Good Men is one of two Oakville Children’s Choir (OCC) programs being supported by an

Ontario Trillium Foundation grant.

In March of last year, the group and the Little Notes, which is for children aged three and four, re-ceived a $117,700 grant to build and grow participation in the choir programs over the next two years.

A recognition event was held at St. Mildred’s-Lightbourn School on Linbrook Road Saturday to give residents a glimpse of the impact the grant has made on the two programs to date.

A Few Good Men gave a sneak peak of its upcoming performances by singing a few songs to a crowd that in-cluded Oakville MPP Kevin Fly-nn and Ontario Trillium Foundation volunteer Kari Cuss.

Anderson said A Few Good Men is a “true passion project” for the OCC and one that he feels is part of his “legacy work.”

He noted the success of the pro-gram can be seen in its numbers. When its first season ended last year, there were 29 members and now it boasts 46.

Singing everything from tradi-tional choral repertoire to unique choral arrangements of pop cov-ers like Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, he

said the group incorporates move-ment and instruments into its per-formances.

Johanna Zemmelink-Pope said the choir has been a great “artistic and creative outlet” for her 12-year-old son Callum Pope, who joined the group after hearing about it through a presentation at his el-ementary school, Joshua Creek Public School.

“Of all the activities he’s involved in, it’s the only one we don’t have to, at one point or an-other, drag him out to,” she said, noting Callum is growing into his musical voice and is singing louder and more confidently as time progresses.

“He also found his voice

more at school in presentations and those sort of things are just more comfortable for him.”

Zemmelink-Pope added the group has a different energy that brings a nice contrast to the OCC’s other choirs.

The choir will perform at First Unit-ed Church in Port Credit on April 26 at 2 p.m. and at the OCC’s 20th anni-versary celebrations at The ClearView Christian Reformed Church on Sheri-dan Garden Drive on May 3 at 3 p.m.

For more information, visit www.oakvillechildrenschoir.org.

Canadian alternative rock band I Mother Earth will perform at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts Saturday (March 8) at 7 p.m. | photo courtesy of the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts

The mentorship and camaraderie built across

two decades and age range is incredible.

Dave AndersonA Few Good Men conductor