Dear Friends of Sistema Kingston,
Deep into the second fall season during COVID-19, I hope this newsletter finds you well and thriving. With vaccination rates high in our community and more scientific evidence to guide our practices, we are thrilled to be on the way back to engaging in person. Like all organizations we continue to face challenges, but we are buoyed by the energy around us and the support we have received from families, donors, and local Kingston institutions. I’m delighted to share some snapshots of what we’ve been up to.
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Fall 2021 Activities
Building upon what we learned last year, we started this year earlier than normal with outdoor musical fun! Back in the park, we were joined by new and returning families for singing and drumming. Returning string players joined the mix on Thursday afternoons.
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Cello group
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Drumming
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We are happy to welcome Yessica Rivera Belsham to our Teaching Artist team this year. Yessica is leading a special “Drumming Connections” project which explores drumming from different cultures around the world. This project is generously supported by a Project Grant from the City of Kingston Arts Fund.
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Yessica Rivera Belsham
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Although after school programming is still not permitted in school facilities this year, we have found a temporary home at First Christian Reformed Church for three afternoons a week. The fun starts at 2:45 pm each day with our walking bus from Molly Brant school! As always, participants from other schools are welcome to join.
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Behind the Scenes
Our preparation this year included a 6-hour course called “Trauma Informed Care” from the Community Resilience Initiative. Thanks to our friends at the Kingston Community Health Centre, the facilitator tailored the training to our specific program and team. Through this process we learned how to recognize and effectively respond to the impacts of trauma in the students we serve.
The Canadian Sistema-inspired network continues to blossom through monthly Zoom calls that include 16 programs from British Columbia to Newfoundland to Nunavut. Colleagues at Sistema Toronto and YONA-Sistema (Youth Orchestra of Northern Alberta) are working on a project to develop repertoire by BIPOC composers for use by all Canadian Sistema-inspired programs. The first two commissions are works by Shreya Jha and Cris Derksen for intermediate ensembles.
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Coming Up
As winter approaches, stay tuned for our upcoming Holiday Video release on Thursday December 9th at 4:00 pm on YouTube. While students work hard to prepare this recording, you can explore past videos on the Sistema Kingston YouTube channel.
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Recording session at Duncan McArthur Hall
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On break! Saying hello to the Dinosaur at the Queen's Faculty of Education
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We hope to have our first live performance in two years at our year-end celebration on May 11th, 2022, at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. Save the date!
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Thank You
We are pleased to announce that Sistema Kingston was awarded a Fall 2021 community grant from the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area. This generosity will help support programming this winter. Thank you to CFKA for continuing to believe in our vision.
Sistema Kingston is made possible through the generosity of donors and community partners. In the spirit of Giving Tuesday on November 30th and the upcoming winter holidays, please consider Sistema Kingston for your charitable giving this season. Your support helps to bring the joy of music to more young people in our community.
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Contact Us
Karma Tomm, Director: tommk@queensu.ca
Administrative Coordinator: sistema@queensu.ca
Telephone: 613-929-2594
Sistema Kingston website
Follow us on Facebook
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The 2021-22 season is supported by:
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Special thanks to the many individual donors who make Sistema Kingston possible.
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