The 7th annual Jingle Bell Rock Christmas concert is taking over the Lester Centre Sat. Dec. 15.
The student performance is entry by donation and has been very successful seven years running, raising between two and three thousand dollars every year, said Ian Lihou, the band’s teacher and concert organizer.
Lihou and his giant band of students will be rocking the house for a good cause, with hits from the Spice Girls, The Eagles, Neil Young and The Beatles.
Lihou said the concert started small nine years ago before it garnered a huge amount of attention and gained its festive title, Jingle Bell Rock.
“It started small and once we got all the attention I thought it was time to give the money to a good cause,” said Lihou, “I thought it would a great idea to put on a Christmas concert with his students, all the money goes to the Salvation Army.”
The concert has been a huge success, raising between two and three thousand dollars every year.
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New to the group is bassist, Asten Clouthier. He joined the group only a couple of months ago, but is having mixed emotions about the big concert around the corner.
“I’m pretty stoked, it’s the first time I’ve been on stage and it’s been a dream of mine, but I’m nervous about how many people are going to be there, there is going to be a lot of people,” Clouthier said.
For Lihou music is essential and has been a part of his life for as long he can remember,
“Music is everything to me, it’s been a part of my life since I was six years old, and I never stopped and don’t plan on it,” Lihou said.
“For me, knowing how much I loved music, when I can share that with the kids and they start to love it as much as I do is really important.”
Lihou said that Rupert is a great environment for young performers to plant their musical roots,
“We are lucky in Rupert because we have such a beautiful venue, and the community has always been really supportive,” Lihou said.
