KAMLOOPS — Young musicians are refining their skills this month at the Kamloops Interior Summer School of Music (KISSM) taking place at Sahali Secondary School.
Students come from all over the district to participate in the intensive program, eventually performing the work that they have been practicing.
Today, July 20, was both a Canada-themed “Wacky Wednesday” and the halfway point of the summer program.
KISSM Music Director, Syd Griffith says more than 250 students have been sharpening their skills as they crescendo toward a final week of performances.
“It’s like-minded people all together enjoying music and dance and friendship,” Griffith said. “So kids meet each other from all over the district and it’s just a fantastic, play-filled learning day.”
Most of the young musicians have been performing together for only 9 days.
“We start people from scratch: how to put the instrument together, how to read music, how to play in the band, right up to advanced,” Griffith said. “So they can progress tremendously, and we don’t ask them to go home and practice because they’re playing all day.”
Despite a wide range of musical experience, students come together as a cohesive unit, learning to work and sing in harmony with one another.
Cameron Snee has been attending the music program for six years. He says it still amazes him that KISSM is able to pull together an entire musical production in only three weeks.
“It’s just the amount of productivity and how everyone’s here for the same thing lets us get to work and complete something amazing in a very short amount of time.”
Alexis Schill-Yargeau has attended the program for five years and says the program has brought out different facets of her personality.
“I’ve made so many friends here and when I first started I was very to myself where joining musical has brought so many different colours out of me and it’s been a great experience,” Schill-Yargeau said. “I’ve made so many friends and it’s changed me.”
KISSM has approximately 30 instructors who use their talents to coach the students toward a successful future in music.
Tomas Bijok instructs choral and musical theatre, witnessing first-hand the impact his lessons have on the students in a very short period of time.
“I see a lot of growth, I also see that they’re given an opportunity to perform and learn music at a very high caliber, which they might not necessarily be permitted to do so in their schools given situations,” Bijok said. “I also see them coming out with outcomes that we sometimes see in university students, especially in the choral respect. We can really make some beautiful music here.”
The lessons the students are learning go beyond hitting all the right notes, Griffith says they’re also learning to dedicate themselves to a craft that requires hard work and practice.
“It’s something that takes determination, and it’s long term, and there aren’t instant results, and that’s huge if you want to learn self-discipline and you want to realize that anything that good in life takes a lot of work, and that’s OK because the process should be fun,” Griffith said. “So you’re trying to develop a joy in learning how to work hard.”
