Winter recitals at The Lane School of Music are next week. Our students have been preparing for months! We aren’t kidding! It takes that much time to set yourself up for a successful performance. Rebecca and Zara are here with five tips to help you get ready for your next recital. They have advice on choosing repertoire and outfits, practicing and de-briefing with your teacher.

Book a free trial lesson: www.laneschoolofmusic.com/trial

Rebecca and Zara are back with more interesting instruments! This week we are learning all about the clarinet. And no one is better to give us the ins and outs of this member of the woodwind family (and a few of its cousins) than Kelly Sanchuk. Kelly is a multi-instrumentalist hailing from Saskatchewan. She is also one of The Lane School of Music’s fabulous instructors. She teaches us all about reeds, when kids can start clarinet lessons and how learning recorder at school is setting you up to be a skilled woodwind player.


Book a free trial lesson: www.laneschoolofmusic.com/trial

The Hockey Sweater is a Canadian children’s book by Roch Carrier. It tells the story of a boy in Quebec who gets the wrong jersey in the mail and is forced to play hockey with a group of Montreal Canadian’s fans, while repping the Toronto Maple Leafs. In February, The Toronto Symphony will be presenting this book in concert form. How cool is that? The conductor of this show, Trevor Wilson is here to tell us all about this marriage of sports and classical music. We chat about why this story resonates with Canadians, how a book becomes a concert and what to expect when you watch this musical hockey match on February 5th.

Buy tickets for The Hockey Sweater: https://www.tso.ca/concerts-and-events/events/the-hockey-sweater/

Learn more about Trevor: https://trevorwilsonconductor.com/about/

Watch The Hockey Sweater short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hka6mVkszq0

Music is a big part of any celebration, and the holidays are no exception! We have created a list of holiday musical classics to make your season even more merry and bright. It includes classical, jazz and pop music inspired songs and shows. Watch and listen live or cozy up with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy at home. How will you be adding music to your holiday traditions this year?

This is our episode all about The Nutcracker: https://www.laneschoolofmusic.com/single-post/the-nutcracker-episode-12

Watch at home:

The Nutcracker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_Z1LUDQuQ
Handel's Messiah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR0cEOTpYSk
Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fh133ZO1AE&list=PLEpZan9S2GOFesp-gJqsdD80a7zoaflHa
The Snowman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AIhMpdpzbg&t=144s

The music world is VERY small! Today’s guest is extra special because she is the parent of one of Rebecca’s former violin students and a fellow music studio owner. Rhonda Hanson is a music teacher and soon to be accredited music therapist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At her music studio, she runs a very important and unique program called Sing It Girls. Sing It girls helps female identifying adolescents develop confidence and community through singing. Rhonda tells us all the whos, whys and whats of the program as well as how music therapy can help other demographics of people.

Visit Rhonda’s website: http://www.setthetone.ca

In this episode Zara steps down from hosting duties to be a KQTM guest! She is joined by soccer teammate and Lane School of Music student Norah to compare playing sports and taking music lessons. From an outside perspective they may seem to have no connection. But, both involve winning, practicing, scoring, building skills and teamwork. They often look different in each activity but these important life skills are prominent in both.

Sign-up for a free trial lesson: http://www.laneschoolofmusic.com/trial

Tania Miller believes that anybody can be a conductor, just like her! Tania grew up in small town Saskatchewan and now conducts orchestras all over the world. She even conducted Rebecca in the RCM orchestra 15 years ago. And no, her job does not involve driving a train. She shares with us what the conductor does up on the podium, what the white stick is for and why anybody can be a conductor.

Learn more about Tania: https://taniamiller.com

If you’re in Toronto between October 14th and November 4th, head over to The Four Seasons Centre to see the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Carmen by Georges Bizet! Carmen is one of the most well-known and commonly performed operas in the world. It is a tragic love story, full of earworms and a very energetic children’s chorus. In this episode Rebecca goes solo to interview two members of the children’s chorus Lee and Leo. These young singers are members of the Canadian Children’s Opera Company and take centre stage in this new COC production.



Learn more about the CCOC: https://www.canadianchildrensopera.com

Get tickets to see the COC's production of Carmen: https://www.coc.ca/productions/23489