Music is a wonderful gift designed by our Creator. What a joy it is to learn more about this gift and make some beautiful sounds in which to praise our Lord.
Arts Education in BCCA strives to encourage and engage our students’ creative minds to nurture their God-given gifts and learn Arts as a means of self-expression, of understanding, and of connecting with various renowned artists and art processes. We are grateful to our Art teachers for sharing their love of the arts with our students.
Music
From K – 12 students have an opportunity to learn more about music. In the primary grades, the students learn the fundamentals of music and have an opportunity to perform in the Christmas and Spring Concerts. In addition, at the grades 4-7 level, selected students have the opportunity to join our beautiful Handbell Bell Choir. The handbell choir practices before school and performs at school concerts and at churches and other community events.
From grades 6-8, band classes are mandatory for all students. During these grades, the students will achieve a good skill level in a particular instrument. Band classes also teach important transferrable skills including teamwork, self-motivation, growth-mindset, listening skills, and organization. Band students have the opportunity to participate in sectional rehearsals with mentor students, and perform at concerts and in the community.
From grades 8-12, the students have an opportunity to join the Concert Band, Choir, Handbell Choir, and Worship Team.
The training in the concert band helps students excel in one or more instruments as they progress from grade 8-12. They have several performances throughout the year and often play multiple instruments and learn increasingly demanding repertoire. Select concert band members are invited to join the advanced jazz combo, practicing once weekly after school.
The high school Worship Team members learn how God has intended us to use music and song to give Him praise. Worship Teams rotate in order to allow everyone a chance to participate in worship without the pressure of leading it. Worship Team members play keyboard, drums, bass, guitar, and sing. They lead the worship component of our weekly chapels and rehearse before and after school twice a week in the days leading up to chapel. The Worship Band is spiritually focused, learning how to bring others along in worshiping and praising God.
The high school Handbell Choir is a small cohort of musicians who work together to learn and play beautiful music from a variety of genres. Handbell Choir music includes everything from Christmas carols to Disney tunes and is open to all students in grades 8-12.
The choir practices twice a week and is open to all students grades 8-12. The choir is one of BCCA’s most active performance ensembles, as they perform for all major holiday events plus community events and school-affiliated concerts. BCCA’s choir participates in choral festivals, performs at retirement residences, performs at community events including Remembrance Day and Christmas events, and sings regularly at school chapels and concerts.
Our goal is to help all of our students develop a healthy understanding of God’s purpose for music, a variety of musical skills, as well as an appreciation for music. Let’s make some beautiful sounds together!
“I will sing and make music to the Lord.” (Psalm 27:6c)
Arts
Some of the art projects done by our students in Elementary and High School.
Elementary Art
Grade 7 Hand and Map Project – represents the combination of a map and our hands, allowing God to lead and guide us through the “Map of Life”. This project starts with Blind Colour Line drawings of their hands from observations, then transferred drawing of their hands onto clear contact paper and placed over the map, choosing to line it up with key cartographic features like rivers, coastlines, highways, etc. Students then select a symbolic Bible verse to go with the Hand and Map artwork.
Motivation from British Artist Ed Fairburn’s Map series.
High School Art
High School Art Class is studying landscape painting and specifically looking at paintings by the Group of 7 Canadian artists and European impressionist paintings like Monet and Van Gogh. We have been spending time practicing various drawing skills, looking at famous art pieces from history, and also drawing and painting outdoors in the fresh air.