Guelph students join in a beautiful performance with musician Coco Love Alcorn
April 4, 2019
GUELPH, Ontario – They had Dublin Street United Church swaying and singing along to the music. On April 3, Canadian musician Coco Love Alcorn performed in Guelph with students from Rickson Ridge Public School and Mitchell Woods Public School.
It was an amazing performance that was preceded by weeks of hard work by the school choirs, taking time on their lunch breaks at school to practice for the big show.
Watch a video of the rehearsals and performance here: https://youtu.be/giqX2Dx9F94
In the afternoon on Wednesday, Coco and her band rehearsed with the Mitchell Woods Choir and the Rickson Ridge Rock Opera. Then later that evening, they performed together at a live show in downtown Guelph.
The idea for the event came from Rickson Ridge PS music teacher and president of the Upper Grand Elementary Music Teachers Association, Aaron Duncan. In 2017, Duncan attended a workshop run by Coco. In the span of a 45-minute session, Coco and her band invited anyone who wanted to sing to join them. She taught participants the choir parts to her original music and two hours later, the choir made up of singers ages 8 to 80 performed to an audience of 200 people. Duncan thought to himself, this would be an awesome experience for singers in UGDSB schools.
Coco has been involved in this type of event for several years, visiting and singing with dozens of choirs across Canada. “To show up in each new town and be immediately embraced by a community of people who sing together is an incredible thing. I have always loved to sing for people, but to sing with them is an even greater joy. I have found a new passion and my new calling,” said Coco on her website.
The event gave students the opportunity to learn some really great music while being immersed in an authentic professional music experience, with a tightly run rehearsal followed by a performance to a large audience. “These experiences are exhilarating and are never forgotten,” said Duncan.
The event also brought together parents, students, staff and community members from different schools together, to celebrate the arts.
