The Juno Awards, honouring the best in Canadian music, took place at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto the evening of Sunday, May 15th. As part of the televised broadcast, hosted by Simu Liu, six members of our Trinity College School community performed with Vancouver hip hop artist bbno$, in a drumline with wind players and choreography. Grade 9 student Alex Sprayson and music teacher Nicola Lee were on bass drums, Mr. Michael Beauclerc and music teacher Jeff Biggar were on tenor drums and Grade 10 students Darren Du and Xyon Johnson were centre stage on snare drums.
Michael Beauclerc is the drumline instructor at TCS and was called by the producer of the Juno Awards to create a drumline for the show. Mr. Beauclerc has established a diverse and exciting career as a professional drummer, percussionist, composer and author in Canada. He is also a busy marching percussion clinician for Yamaha Music Canada, having performed over 400 clinics from coast to coast. Currently, he is the editor in chief of Drumline Magazine and the executive director of the Canadian Drumline Association.
Thanks to Mr. Beauclerc, we had a chance of lifetime to be on the Juno stage. We had rock star treatment including catered meals, wardrobe, hair and make-up, and backstage security passes that gave us full access to all areas including the front row. bbno$ was very gracious after the performance to sign our drumsticks, toques and security passes, and pose for selfies. This was a day that we won’t forget. Thank you, Mr. Beauclerc!
- By Nicola Lee, music teacher
