It was a guaranteed night of entertainment for everyone who attended the annual U-Rock Music School’s awards night. The awards were handed out on June 22nd at The Brass Monkey.
To an enthusiastic audience of 250, the school’s students proudly displayed their talents by hitting the notes on the many songs studied throughout their year of lessons.
Twenty students received the Most Awesome Rock Star (MARS) awards for 2019. The MARS awards are presented to the students who — engage in the school’s events, display improved technical skills, exhibit a keenness to be taught and reveal their passion during lessons. The students all received the coveted Mars chocolate bar along with their award, with the exception of Avery Rumsey who received a pair of U-Rock socks and her award.
The list of award winners are —
- Lia Smith, age 13, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award winner for guitar for ages 12+;
- Rachel Robinson, age 14, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award winner for vocals in the age 12+ category;
- Katelyn Forsyth, age 12, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award winner for New performer of the year in the age 12+ category;
- Jack Bayley, age 11, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award winner for vocals under age 12;
- Avery Rumsey, age 11, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award’s “Rock your Socks Off” was chosen as student of the year and received a pair of ‘U-Rock’ socks along with her award;
- Aiden McDonald, age 13, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award winner for drums;
- Rylen Marsden, age 10, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award winner for ukulele;
- Savannah Philpot, U-Rock’s 2019 New Performer of the Year Award, under age 12;
- Sam Crighton, age 10, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award winner for piano, under age 12;
- Xavier Ross, age 14, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award for piano for age 12+;
- Caitlyn Nguyen, age 14, U-Rock’s 2019 MARS Award winner for guitar age 12+ (tie)
- Avery Stone, age 13, was co-winner of U-Rock’s 5 year achievement award for 2019;
- Kiley Sass, age 15, was co-winner of U-Rock’s 5 year achievement award for 2019 (Both Avery and Kiley are continuing on with the school for their 6th year of lessons);
- Pranay Agrawal, age 10, winner of the 2019 MARS award for guitar, in the under age 11 category;
- The Roxies won the MVP: Emerson Lever, age 8 and Anna Beckstead, age 8;
- Kidz Band MVP went to Leah Peacock, age 7; and
- The Crushers MVP was presented to Abby Thompson, age 14;
Along with performances by the awardees, the audience heard from Phinley Agate, age 12; the Marsden sisters – Rylen, age 10 and Kiara, age 12; Jack Bayley, age 11 and Rowan Hendrick, age 12 who presented their duet performance; the Roxies; and the youngest performers were the Kidz Band with members aged 6-8. The most animated kid on stage was 9 year old Myla Brown.
Under the tutelage of U-Rock Music School teachers, Cathy Hallessey and Brian Brodersen, have definitely inspired these local kids to put on a show and fill the night with 60 performances — an evening not to be forgotten anytime soon.
At the U-Rock awards in the Brass Monkey the rockers were made to sound as professional as possible by Andy White working the sound control system. Andy has almost 40 years of experience behind him, beginning with a rock group formed at A.Y.Jackson Secondary School in Glen Cairn when it was part of Goulbourn Township (before Kanata came into existence).