Arts & Culture

Burnett Secondary School hosted a Music Monday May band concert gala on May 1.

Photo courtesy Brenda Khoo

Burnett Secondary School hosted a Music Monday May band concert gala on May 1.

Photo courtesy Brenda Khoo

Burnett Secondary’s Musical Monday

By Matthew Cheung

Published 10:43 PDT, Tue May 9, 2023

Last Updated: 4:37 PDT, Mon May 29, 2023

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On May 1, 2023, Burnett Secondary hosted their first Music Monday May band concert. The annual event is held every year on the first Monday in May to recognize the importance of music in the lives of Canadians, this is the first time the school has hosted the event. Regardless, the event was a huge success, making sure the audience was always engaged and having a good time.

“The event was a huge success. The audience was engaged, and the musicians had a lot to be proud of,” said Brenda Khoo, music teacher and conductor at Burnett Secondary.

Burnett’s musicians were made up of the Burnett guitar, developing band club, jazz ensemble, and senior concert band. Additionally, they were joined by Marcato Youth Band, the fifth graders from Wowk Elementary’s Thursday Thrillers, Brass, Wind, and Wire Community Band. All of the musical groups had one thing in common, their conductor Ms. Brenda Khoo.

“As a music teacher, I have been involved in Music Monday for at least ten years with my community bands; in the last few years I have tried to also get my high school students involved,” said Khoo.

There was no entrance fee to the concert but a donation bucket was present by the door, as well as a bake sale and refreshments made available for purchase. Funds raised from the donations will be going towards the school bands’ three-day trip to a music festival in Whistler, as well as allow the school to purchased percussion instruments for the program.

“At the school level, funds raised through donations, concerts, and generous sponsorship by the PAC have helped not only fund our three day trip to the Cantando music festival in Whistler but have enabled us to purchase percussion instruments for the program. Currently, our fundraising is being put towards the purchase of a new baritone saxophone,” said Khoo.

Burnett Secondary has enjoyed a music program for a number of years, but it hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows. Like many businesses and school programs, the COVID-19 pandemic eviscerated any chances the programs had of performing in full force. Attendance numbers dropped and events had to be cancelled due to the restrictions set in place by the provincial government.

“The pandemic decimated the music program. Choir and Jazz band stopped being courses, the senior band dropped from 32 students to 13, junior band had only 17, and guitar dropped to 13 students. No events were hosted publicly for a number of seasons, though we did create virtual submissions for various events like the local winter event by Richmond Arts Council called Songs in the Snow, said Khoo.

Now that the severity of the pandemic has died down, the bands have returned in full force and are looking forward to the upcoming music festivals and events they will be able to participate in. Some notable events include the Steveston Salmon Festival, the Richmond Jazz Festival, as well as the schools own Halloween concert and Remembrance Day assembly.

“Burnett regularly holds a Halloween concert, winter concerts in the community at retirement homes, malls, and spring concerts at school or in the community. We also hope to get invited back to (the Steveston) Salmon Festival on July 1. This year, Burnett’s bands have gone to festivals, as well as hosted a gala concert for a huge project with our feeder elementary schools,” said Khoo.

Students from the music programs were also asked what music meant to them and how it has affected their lives. A few of their responses have been listed below to share the impact music has had on them.

“Music has affected my life in a good way, where I am always able to express my feelings through it. Ever since I was a baby, I have always enjoyed music, this is why I started violin at the age of four and never gave up on it,” said Horace a Burnett student.

“In times that I felt alone, sad, or depressed, music has always been there for me to sympathize with. Each song and their choruses closely related to my own situation, allowed me to feel less lonely, and help heal my soul. Tears stop flowing and the music plays, like a warm and gentle embrace of my emotional well-being. To me, music does indeed heal the heaviest moments in life,” said Zoey Lei, a fellow Burnett student.

“Music has allowed me to collaborate with people in a completely different way. Not through speech or visuals but rather through sound and blend, beats, and notes,” said Yolanda, another Burnett student.