Parents The Arts
Cuba Trip for Performing Arts StudentsGrade 11 and 12 Performing Arts students at LCS recently returned from a cultural and musical exchange in Cuba. Their trip ran from May 3-10, 2024 and offered many exciting opportunities for our band and choir students to perform, learn from professional musicians and collaborate with the top music students in Cuba.
Dance, vocal and percussion workshops and presentations, salsa lessons, and a number of band and choir performance exchanges, including at La Escuela Nacional de Musica (the National Music Academy), where they were blown away by the talent of the jazz band, offered rich musical and cultural experiences beyond our expectations. Our group even enjoyed an unexpected collaboration at their hotel. when the hotel’s evening entertainment – a singer and saxophone duo – welcomed LCS student Sam M.C. to play along with them!
The group took an excursion to the countryside, touring a national park and a 19th century coffee plantation, where they learned about the incredibly difficult economic realities for Cubans today. Classic car rides and time spent in the market in Havana were highlights for many of our students. We also spent time at the beach and visited an orphanage and two community centres. The choir students enjoyed a surprise encounter when they realized that Abel and Raquel, leaders of a 25 year-old community project, the ‘Cascabelitos Children’s Choir’, were believers, and that the community centre where they were hosting us was actually their home, which also serves as a house of prayer for the entire community!
Thank you to our Performing Arts staff Kim Neufeld and Bobbie Fast, supervising staff and supportive and praying parents. The 2024 Cuba trip was an enriching experience for all of our travelling students.
