Saskatchewan landscape rooted in Regina Symphony Orchestra’s debut composition for students

RSO plays for 400 students at Darke Hall WATCH: The Regina Symphony Orchestra performed a new concert designed for students at Darke Hall on Thursday. Brianne Foley has the story.

The Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) kicked off its In Schools Live Performance program Thursday by performing a new concert designed for students.

RSO in Schools: Grassland, is s musical exploration of the land in Saskatchewan. For premiering composer Matthew Burtner, composing in front of roughly 400 Regina students at Darke Hall was an easy decision.

“It’s a pretty special audience because this age group, they are incredibly open to things and I just felt that they were observing new knowledge,” Burtner said.

His new work combines the RSO musicians with the recorded sounds of the Saskatchewan prairies, allowing students to hear that music is literally everywhere.

"It was really helpful when he talked about using nature and stuff for the music,” said Kaleb Dunnigan, a student in attendance from Regina Christian School.

Burtner mostly works up north, but when he came to Saskatchewan to work with RSO, he instantly fell in love with all the sounds, specifically the grass moving in the wind.

“I hope that this kind of music reveals the connection between humans and nature.”

As part of the performance, guest conductor Karl Hirzer incorporated the students.

“I really liked how the conductor got the audience into with the hand moving,” said Dunnigan.

“It’s the idea that the audience gets to participate in making the sound and being part of the performance,” added Hirzer. He said that the audience added an extra element, which just propelled Burtner’s notion that music is everywhere.

Hirzer teaches music in Calgary, and said anytime he can let his students hear the elements around them and get them to think about how to make that into music, is an opportunity to explore beyond instruments.

Juan-Marie Watkis, a music teacher at Regina Christian School, says she brought 110 Grade 4 and 5 students to Darke Hall to allow them to see what can be used in composing music.

“Sometimes, they think that if they don’t know how to play an instrument that they really can’t do music, but I’m trying to get them to explore how to create using their environment as well as just the every day objects.”

Opening them up to this train of thought is essential in order to cultivate their growth, especially within the arts.

And this experience is one of a kind.

“Being exposed to the arts and the performing arts on a regular basis is not just important but I think it’s essential for young people growing up,” said Hirzer.

Each year, the RSO musicians visit schools to offer educational musical presentations to engage students, allowing them to interact with musicians, ask questions and experience live orchestra.

This year, the RSO is introducing the live performance, a new music education project that was inspired by southern Saskatchewan.

For students like Dunnigan, they enjoyed this element of music.

“I love music, I want to create music one day.”