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St. Paul’s Glee wins first place in CBC Music Challenge

December 23, 2020   ·   0 Comments

A talented group of Grade 6 and 7 students at St. Paul’s Catholic School in Alliston have won first place in the CBC Music Challenge in the Junior Vocal category.

This is the third consecutive year that the St. Paul’s Glee have made it to the top ten in Canada, and the first time they have won the top spot.

The winners were announced by the CBC on Tuesday, December 15.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s submission was different as each of the students had to record their own part in the video.

On top of having vocal talent, the group played their own instruments.

They were up against other schools in a category which spans Grades 7 through 10, so the team was competing against students the high school level.

They performed the tune Crabbuckit.

Mr. Miorin created a basic music track for the team members to work from with their instruments.

“When we started this program, it was an acapella type group,” Mr. Miorin explained. “At first it was just acapella and it worked. I gradually started helping people on guitar. Eventually the students started saying ‘we play the guitar, we play piano.’ Over the years, they started learning to play instruments younger and younger. I don’t have to accompany them, they’re doing it all themselves now. We have some really talented kids. Not only can they play instruments and sing, they can also dance and put it all together.”

The CBC Challenge puts out a list of approved songs by Canadian artists that Glee groups can choose to perform.

Normally performances must be recorded live before being submitted. With the current challenges, each member recorded their own video separately. Music portions were also recorded separately.

Mr. Miorin put it all together for the final edit and on-screen performance.

They were notified on December 8 that they had made the top ten. The team was very excited to make it that far.

The first-place finish means the school will receive $3,000 in new musical instruments as well as a plaque acknowledging the achievement.

The win was well deserved for this talented group who put a lot of effort and practice for their winning performance.

You can view the St. Paul’s Glee club performance on-line on YouTube at youtu.be/P_JDNBV9STc.

By Brian Lockhart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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