Kelsley Grant's journey with music has brought him many accomplishments as a musician before his time as a program coordinator of Humber's illustrious program.
Grant has performed with many other renowned musicians, and has been nominated twice for trombonist of the year with the National Jazz Awards. He was also the musical director of the JAZZ.FM91, and now shares his talent and expertise with music students at Humber.
Grant is one of the organizers who helped organize the Latin Night showcase night at Lakeshore Campus and the program coordinator for the Certificate Music Program. He explains the strong connection he has with the Latin bands.
“As a young musician, those were some of the first real gigs I played with great Latin in Montreal and in New York,” Grant said. “Just to be in those clubs and to see the way the people love the music and to feel that connection with such a part of the culture of those countries, the dance and that music is really connected to the people.”
Grant said he loves the music and it has great energy.
He said the Latin culture that is represented is Brazilian and Cuban and it’s “just a celebration of those cultures.”
Grant said it’s not only about the student performers in the showcase, held on Thursday, March 19 at the Recital Hall in Humber Cultural Hub. It also a chance to show the community more of what the music program offers.
“It's to highlight the versatility of the Humber music faculty and just how many great ensembles and different kinds of ensembles we have. It's to really highlight the versatility and the broadness of the musical spectrum that we cover in the Humber musical program,” he said.
“It's also great for the other students to be able to come and watch their peers perform. So, it's a really nice kind of unification bringing everybody together.”
Grant sees the performance as an opportunity for the musicians to see one another’s talent, and that strengthens the students’ connection.
“It’s funny how the students generally really like to support each other. A lot of these ensembles rehearse on their own behind closed doors, so I think when they get to perform publicly, other students get to hear what their peers can do,” he said.
Grant says he is proud of what the students have achieved, and that really comes through when he hears them perform.
“Just to hear the way they grow and to hear what they can do is always exciting to me. So I always feel a real sense of pride in watching how hard they're willing to work and watching how much they can grow in a couple of years,” he said.
First-year student Katharine Cresswell plays trombone in the salsa ensemble. She’s been playing the instrument for a year and a half, but she joined the ensemble just at the last minute.
“The members of the ensemble were placed randomly, but yeah, we were asked to join the showcase last minute,” Cresswell said.
She found it interesting to hear how Latin music is the same and also different from salsa music.
“I think experiencing the different styles is just an informative experience. And it’s nice to experience other cultures as well because it's a very nationalistic kind of music,” Cresswell said. “It’s just cool to feel that kind of emotion coming through.”
Jacob Lee, a second-year student, is part of the salsa ensemble, doing hand percussion and has been playing the drums for six years. He usually plays a drum kit of straight-up drums, but the salsa ensemble is hand percussion, which inspired him to work harder.
“I was put in the ensemble based on my private-lessons teacher last year, who is one of the ensemble leaders in the Latin Night. I think that’s why I was put in the salsa ensemble,” Lee said.
Lee says that “when we come to the ensemble, it’s like we all have to help each other and that grows connections with each other.”
“I feel like the longer we're in this ensemble, the closer we feel to being comfortable when we're playing together. So, when we have to do these performances, it's like we're just having fun.”
Sophia Cuni-Hall, a third-year student, said music has always been a huge part of her life. She grabbed the opportunity to be in the ensemble.
“I love performing so it’s always a good time, and I’m a part of the ensemble for my family,” she said.
Cuni-Hall says she is playing with this ensemble for her family, especially her grandfather.
“My grandfather is actually a Cuban singer. He was part of the Buena Vista Social Club, and he toured and released a bunch of music. I’m doing it for him and then my dad too, and because of my dad’s family,” she said.
Cuni-Hall talks about her experience of being able to perform in the salsa ensemble in front of the audience.
“A lot of times when I perform, I feed off the audience's energy. It's nice to be able to share my love for something with other people and see how they embrace it. A lot of times I inspire people, and they inspire me, so it's just great to be in that space,” she said.
“I put a lot of emotion into it, so when I'm on stage, I try to put a story to the songs I'm singing,” she said. “When I'm on stage and performing, it's like I'm telling the audience a story and a lot of times, depending on the song, depending on the emotion of the song, I've had a lot of people come up to me and tell me that the way I performed it and the way I told the story inspired them in their own lives.”
Deirdre Sansone came with her friend Larry Oke to watch the performance. She said she really liked the music and she danced a lot.
“They were all so good. The energy from the players and singers was fabulous, and you could really feel the joy when they’re up there performing.”
“It makes me want to get my clarinet out again,” Sansone said.
Anne Harrison came to watch the show for the first time with her friend Lee-ann Mclean.
Harrison also came to last year’s show, and said she loves all varieties of salsa music, including Brazilian.
“Great energy, and they’re singing in different languages, many of them not their first language, so that was a great job,” Harrison said.
Mclean was also impressed.
“Oh, it was on fire. It takes a lot of energy to perform, and good for them for trying a different genre that they probably weren't aware of coming into this program," Mclean said, adding that she will be sure to come back and watch another showcase as it “was quite something.” It made her want to learn how to play an instrument.
The next student showcase concert is a Vocal Night on Thursday, April 9 at 7 p.m. in the Humber Cultural Hub Recital Hall.
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