Celebrating Music

Sandi Chasson, Department Head of Music, says students who participate in the Music program not only develop technical facility and musical literacy, but they also leave the program with a love and appreciation of music. 

It’s not only about academics and athletics; St. Andrew’s has a vision of excellence for the School, which includes incredible support for the Arts. They’ve established a place where kids have an opportunity to explore their own music,” says Chasson.

Boys, from grades 5 through 12, are invited to explore all kinds of music at St. Andrew’s, including curricular instrumental band classes (wind and percussion), or regimental piping and drumming classes. 

The Pipe and Drumming program, which continues to thrive and cultivates a wealth of musical talent, is one of the leading programs of its kind in Canada, and is a unique and age-old tradition of the School. Double gold medalist, Jim McGillivray, Director of the Piping program, and touted to be one of the world’s best all-round pipers ever, inspires a high level of musicianship. Many students go on to perform in the world’s leading pipe bands.

Strings, Jazz and Choir are also offered as extra-curricular options for the boys outside of class time, and there are many opportunities to perform throughout the year both on and off campus.

Staging Dreams

Every year, St. Andrew’s hosts a three-day festival of plays, films, visual arts, music and social events for students, parents and guests. Boys who have never been involved in drama are encouraged to participate by writing their own plays, directing, producing or acting in performances large and small.

St. Andrew’s offers boys an exciting opportunity to explore the world through drama. Through role-playing, scriptwriting and character development, students create situations and actions which allow them to make sense of their world, and to respect and appreciate diversity.                                

More than half of the student body takes part in the 30 or more plays staged at the School every year. Boys receive their first introduction to drama by working on a major production of a classical play in the fall.  

As head of drama, Oxford University graduate, William Scoular – actor, director and celebrated author – brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the School.

Boys are encouraged to take part in “the most exciting productions possible,” says Scoular. “No other school in Canada or in Britain can produce plays like this school,” he adds.

From classical plays to experimental theatre, students have an opportunity to act, direct or be technically involved in contemporary, classical and devised monologues, scenes, one-act plays and full-length productions.

Envisioning the Arts

Art is alive and regularly on display at St. Andrew’s!  Middle School students who choose a Visual Arts stream enjoy virtually unlimited resources and participate in a variety of media: painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking and more.

While many of the students are really intimidated at the beginning, Randi Berman, who teaches art in the Middle School, explains that students don’t have to have any skills to come into her art class.

“I pick assignments in September that allow everybody to be successful. I tell them, something cool is going to happen and sure enough, they’re all really proud of their first work. It gets their self-confidence up in art, and I often hear, ‘wow, I was never really good at art, until now,’ from many of my students,” says Randi.

Upper School students are offered a comprehensive program in Visual Arts, creating their own works in our dedicated studios. This experience is enriched through the study of other artists, together with numerous field trips to museums, galleries and local artists’ studios.  

Tino Paolini, Head of the Visual Arts program in the Upper School for the past 30 years, is an accomplished artist, who teaches with passion, dedication and skill. Like any artist or musician, he finds that his teaching skills are very much enhanced by his own work.

“Being able to demonstrate things in class is very helpful for an art teacher. It isn’t so much intellectual; it’s often about showing students how to do things. We try to teach process, technique and the act of creating something out of your imagination,” says Tino.

Upper school students are also invited to navigate through our exciting Media Arts program, which boasts state-of-the-art facilities and all the latest industry standard software available. In an increasingly visual world, computer-generated media present infinite possibilities for students who want to explore graphic design, produce websites, and direct or edit their own digital movies.