Kids at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School will be making music on a plethora of new instruments, thanks to the Niagara Conservatory of Music.
Those instruments included a guitar, 24 ukuleles and a cajon that will be used by students in the school’s music program. The gifts were a part of the Conservatory’s Music Gives Movement.
The initiative is an offshoot of the Conservatory’s practice of giving free music lessons to children in need, said owner Greg Wierzcholski.
“We have dozens of kids that were benefiting who otherwise might not have the opportunity,” he said as he and students from the Conservatory prepped for an assembly where the kids would perform, and the instruments were handed over to the school.
“We knew that, just based on a lot of our students at the Conservatory and feedback we got from them, a lot of the schools were lacking musical instruments,” Wierzcholski said. “We thought, what a great time to get in there and try to ramp up their music programs.”
In the 10 years since the program started – with a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic – 24 schools have received instruments, including the three benefiting from the program on Thursday.
“This means a lot. This has been a big part of my life," Wierzcholski said. “I was fortunate to be able to take music lessons growing up and fortunate enough to work in this field my whole life. I want to make sure that every child out there has the opportunity to experience it as well.”
Holy Rosary Principal Chris Zamuttini said the gifts were most welcome.
“It’s certainly a wonderful opportunity for the school and our school community to have a nice donation of musical instruments to add to our itinerant arts program,” he said.
Meanwhile, Melissa Severy, Itinerant Arts Coach – Music, at the Collier Road School, said the gift is a timely one.
“Our instruments are so old, like, since the beginning of time,” she said with a chuckle, adding that someone attending the school in the 70s may have used them.
The stop at Holy Rosary was the first of three the group would be making on Thursday with the others being Richmond Street Public School in Thorold as well as Gracefield Public School in St. Catharines. In all, the value of instruments gifted to the three schools totalled $7,500.
St. Catharines country singer Tim Hicks has been scheduled to take part in the event but couldn’t attend as he is recovering from minor surgery.
