OrKidstra featured on CBC’s The Current!
Music has the power to change lives! OrKidstra was very pleased to be recently featured on CBC Radio’s The Current with Matt Galloway! On February 27, 2020, host Matt Galloway spoke with Dr. Richard A. White (R.A.W. Tuba), Chris Lee (Principal Tuba at the National Arts Centre Orchestra) and OrKidstra’s own CEO & Artistic Director Tina Fedeski, MSM, about the recent screening of the new documentary R.A.W. Tuba: From Sandtown To Symphony. The half-hour CBC interview also featured the stories and voices of OrKidstra students Julian, Raquel and Mateo!
The film, R.A.W. Tuba: From Sandtown To Symphony, had its Ottawa premiere on February 25, 2020, presented by National Arts Centre Orchestra in partnership with Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre and OrKidstra. The event featured a performance by OrKidstra’s KidPlayers along with remarks, a Q&A and an impromptu performance from Dr. White himself on the tuba!
Dr. White is now the principal tuba player with the New Mexico Philharmonic orchestra and a music professor at the University of New Mexico. He defied the odds and became the first African American in the United States to earn a doctorate in music for tuba performance.
Excerpt from the interview:
MATT GALLOWAY: So what is it like when they [the students] get it, when all of a sudden you can see that the light goes on?
TINA FEDESKI: It’s magic. You know, their eyes just pop and they’re so excited and they want to share what they’ve learned [about music]. That’s one of the most heartwarming things for me – I’ll share a quote from the founder of El Sistema in Venezuela. And he said, A child who only knows five notes can help a child who only knows two. And so that’s what we really foster [at OrKidstra], is that helpfulness, that kindness. And it’s when the child finds they’ve got something to give when it really takes hold.
For the full transcript of the interview, please click here.
