Kanaka Creek Elementary KC Kid’s Choir will be performing with multi-award nominee children’s entertainer Will Stroet.
Stroet, of Will’s Jams, is a JUNO, Western Canadian Music Award, and Canadian Folk Music Award nominated musician known for his original rock, folk, and blues music with witty wordplay and catchy choruses.
He is also a CBC Kids, a Universal Kids, and KidoodleTV star.
“The children are very excited,” said choir director, Dawn Flanagan, and teacher at the school.
READ MORE: Kanaka kids choir sing with Rick Scott
The choir, made up of 44 students ranging in age from six- to 10-years-old, started practicing in January for the concert and meet once a week , after school, said Flanagan.
On stage, she said, they will be joined by about 42 kindergarten students, who have been learning the music during class time.
The students have been working on 12 songs and will get to meet Stroet in person the afternoon of their performance.
Crowd favourites will include Rocks and Roots, Rock and Roly Guacamole, Reading Revival, and I’m the Moose.
The tunes, said Flanagan, are really catchy and the students especially like the fast-paced ones.
“This is the first time that any of us have worked with Will’s Jams. The music was pretty new to all of us. Some of my oldest choir members have performed the past six years at the ACT with artists such as Rick Scott, Norman Foote, Fred Penner and Charlotte Diamond,” said Flanagan.
READ MORE: Fred Penner on stage with Kanaka kids
The KC Kids’ choir has been performing since 1999.
Stroet first discovered his talent for writing children’s music while completing his education degree at the University of B.C.
He released his first album in 2005 and played hundreds of shows around Vancouver.
In 2009, he took leave from teaching to pursue music full time. Stroet has recorded 10 albums – five in English and five in French – that have garnered national recognition including a 2017 JUNO nomination, six Western Canadian Music Award nominations, three from the Canadian Folk Music Awards and two from the Sirius XM Indies.
In 2015, UBC’s Faculty of Education honoured Will in their top 100 Alumni awards, along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Since 2005, Stroet has performed 2,000 shows for young audiences across Canada and China.
His bilingual music in English and French inspires kids to be active, healthy, creative and engaged in the world.
Will’s 10th album, Rocks and Roots, has been nominated for a 2020 CFMA and is a celebration of nature, the outdoor and trying new things.
This fall, Stroet premiered his symphony show with the 67-piece Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and is currently working on bringing the show across Canada.
The Kanaka Creek Elementary’s KC Kids’ Choir will be performing with Will’s Jams at 7 p.m. at the ACT Arts Centre, 11900 Haney Place, downtown Maple Ridge, on Mar. 18.
The show is open to the public and promises to be lots of fun for the whole family.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, youth and children and $10 for kindergarten performers.
For more information go to theactmapleridge.org or call 604-476-2787.
cflanagan@mapleridgenews.com
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