Skip to content

‘There’s no rivalry’: 2 Chilliwack high school bands join forces to perform in Disneyland together

CSS and SSS concert bands will perform live plus take part in workshop in California

Music students from two different Chilliwack high schools will be heading to Disneyland to perform, but there will be no competition between them.

“There’s no rivalry. Everybody is one,” said Bob Tarr, a teacher at Chilliwack Secondary School (CSS).

The concert bands from CSS and Sardis Secondary School (SSS) have joined forces and will be performing together on the same stage at Disney California Adventure Park in May.

Tarr is one of three music teachers involved in the trip along with Jens Nissen (CSS) and Kris Werner (SSS). They’ve been working on it since May 2022.

The kids will be performing five songs live – one of which will feature a chorus – and they will also be taking part in a workshop. It’s all part of Disney Imagination Campus, a program that runs all year long.

A total of 40 students from Chilliwack and 45 from Sardis make up the concert band. It’s the first time they’ve ever done something this.

“The exciting thing for us is the collaboration between the two schools. The collaboration is something that we don’t believe has been done before,” Nissen said.

The students had to audition and get accepted by Disney in order to perform. Additionally, the songs they wanted to play had to be accepted by Disney.

“This is the real deal. We’ve been accepted to perform. They’ve said we’re good enough to perform in your park,” Nissen said. “It’s a really cool thing for the kids to be involved in and it really does treat them like professionals and raises the stakes of our normal school year.”

The day before the live performance in the park, the kids get to work with a professional Disney musician who will lead them through a two-hour workshop.

“It’s like teaching them how to be a professional recording artist,” Nissen said. “At the end of it, we leave with a video of us as the soundtrack for a portion of the Disney movie.”

Students from both Sardis Secondary School and Chilliwack Secondary School rehearse together at Sardis on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023 in preparation for an upcoming band trip to perform in Disneyland. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)
Students from both Sardis Secondary School and Chilliwack Secondary School rehearse together at Sardis on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023 in preparation for an upcoming band trip to perform in Disneyland. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

Tarr said the three teachers love working together and being in front of such a big band.

“It’s a big sound and it’s very balanced and it’s such a great collaboration,” he said. “They’re so responsive and they sound so great and they get along so well together.”

“(It’s) like they’ve been working together for years,” Werner added. “There’s been no animosity. It’s like they’re old friends hanging out.”

Werner pointed out that some French immersion kids who went to Chilliwack Middle School together and ended up going to different high schools have now reunited with old friends.

“It’s very special to see,” Werner said.

The kids leave home on May 18 and will be taking two buses south of the border to Seattle where they’ll hop on a plane. The workshop is May 19, the live performance is May 20 and then they’ll have a fun day at Disneyland on May 21 before heading home the next day.

A few days before the big trip, some parents will drive all the instruments to California in a truck.

The cost of the trip is $1,400 per student and that covers transportation, Disney tickets and hotel room. The students and teachers are now fundraising and looking for corporate sponsors to help lower the cost for the kids.

They are having two ‘jazz and dessert’ evening fundraisers. The dates are: Feb. 23 at CSS and March 7 at SSS, both taking place at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and will be on sale soon.

Anyone who would like to make a donation can contact Chilliwack Secondary at 604-795-7295 or Sardis Secondary at 604-858-9424, or email any of the three teachers: Bob Tarr at bob_tarr@sd33.bc.ca, Kris Werner at kristoffer_werner@sd33.bc.ca, or Jens Nissen at jens_nissen@sd33.bc.ca.

RELATED: Sep. 28, 2021 • Disney World opened 50 years ago; these workers never left


 

Do you have something else we should report on?
Email: jenna.hauck@theprogress.com
Twitter: @PhotoJennalism

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.



Jenna Hauck

About the Author: Jenna Hauck

I started my career at The Chilliwack Progress in 2000 as a photojournalist.
Read more