HONK! Cast List and Picture

Auditions are complete and the cast list for the spring musical has been posted. Tickets go on sale to the public on May 24.

The cast of HONK points at Ugly, the poor misunderstood duckling (played by Jamieson)

CHARACTERS
Fitzgerald, Jamieson - UGLY
Boldt, Erin - IDA
Wiebe, David - DRAKE
Dueck, Dan - CAT
Fast, Hillary - MAUREEN
Driedger Enns, Luke - TURKEY
Dueck, Rachel - GRACE
McLellan, Katie - HENRIETTA
Bartel, Sara - BILLY
Dutchak, Taleen - DOWNY
Funk, Macaila - BEAKY
Ho, Jessie - FLUFF
Falconer, Landon - BULLFROG
Martyniuk, Hailey - LOWBUTT
Schultz, Judith - QUEENIE
Wiens, Jordan - GREYLAG
Wiebe, Jocelyn - DOT
Hooge, Emily - SNOWY
Epp, Ryan - PINKFOOT
Goerzen, Wade - BARNACLES
Jones, Hannah - PENNY
Nickel, Sarah - MOTHER SWAN
Goerzen, Wade - FATHER SWAN
Warkentin, Luke - BEWICK

CHORUSES

Balzer Peters, Kerstin - FARM CHORUS, FISH CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Bartel, Sara - FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Buhler, Clay - JAY BIRD, FARM CHORUS, FISH CHORUS, FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Driedger Enns, Luke - FARM CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Driediger, Sarah - FARM CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Dueck, Rachel - FARM CHORUS, FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Dutchak, Taleen - FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Epp, Ryan - FISH CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Falconer, Landon - FARM CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Fast, Hillary - FARM CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Funk, Macaila - FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Goertz, Tiera - FARM CHORUS, FISH CHORUS, FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Goerzen, Wade - FISH CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Ho, Jessie - FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Hooge, Emily - FARM CHORUS, FISH CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Jones, Hannah - FARM CHORUS, FISH CHORUS, FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Klaassen, Jennifer - OLD WOMAN, FISH CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Lamothe, Stuart - FISH CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Laughlin, Gwen - FLOOR MANAGER, FARM CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Lau, Crystal - FARM CHORUS, FISH CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Martyniuk, Hailey - FARM CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
McLellan, Katie - FARM CHORUS, FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Nickel, Sarah - FISH CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Olfert, Parker - CAMERA MAN, GOOSE CHORUS/ACROBAT, WINTER CHORUS
Paetkau, Brendan - FARM CHORUS, FISH CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Perran, Brooklin - GOOSE CHORUS, FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Rempel, Adam - FARMER, FISH CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Schultz, Judith - FARM CHORUS, FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Warkentin, Luke - FARM CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Wiebe, Jocelyn - GOOSE CHORUS, FROG CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS
Wiens, Jordan - FARM CHORUS, FISH CHORUS, GOOSE CHORUS, WINTER CHORUS

RJC CMU Fundraising Banquet and Concert

Canadian Mennonite University (Winnipeg) joined us for the annual Fundraising Banquet and Concert at Osler Mennonite Church on April 19.  Over 250 people registered for the banquet, and well over 300 came to the concert featuring the CMU Singers (directed by Dr. Rudy Schellenberg) and the RJC Chorale (directed by Richard Janzen.)

Jordan, Erin and Teresa share with the crowd at the banquet why RJC has been an important part of their life.

Dr. Gerald Gerbrandt, president of Canadian Mennonite University addresses the banquet audience.

RJC Chorale (directed by Richard Janzen) opened the concert portion of the evening.

The sopranos of Chorale in full song.

Chorale performed a vocal painting piece entitled "Motion" by Ragnar Rasmussen.  The colourful piece from Finland represents the visual impact of the Northern Lights.

CMU Singers (directed by Dr. Rudy Schellenberg) opened their part of the concert with "Pentatonic Alleluia."  A nice touch was the addition of handbells.

There are four RJC alumni currently singing with the CMU Singers.

The choirs combined to end the concert. Here Richard Janzen leads the choirs through the Easter Carol "The Crown of Roses" by Tchaikovsky

Dr. Rudy Schellenberg directed the combined choirs in a performance of Johann Pachelbel's "Singet Dem Herrn" for two choirs.

CAMS pictures and videos

What a weekend! Truly a mountain top experience for the singers from all the schools. The final concert on Sunday afternoon featured two mass choirs (Middle School and High School) and mass band (High School.)  The concert was held in North Kildonan Mennontie Brethren Church in Winnipeg - a large church that seats 800 people. The audience though, was well over 1000 people and the choirs and bands added another 450 students. It made for tight quarters, but the energy was high and well appreciated. Thanks to Dr. Elroy Friesen who directed the High School Mass Choir and brought them to amazing heights of musicianship. Special recognition needs to be given to the Winnipeg organizers of this massive event, especially Mr. Tim Taves of MBCI who did the lion's share of the work. WELL DONE WINNIPEG!

On the way home, Chorale stopped at North Star Mennonite Church in Drake, SK to be watered and fed and present a full program of amazing music! Thank you for hosting us, Drake.

 YouTube videos at the bottom. More videos can be seen at the RJC YouTube Channel.

RJC students mix it up with singers from the other Mennonite schools during the dress rehearsal.

Hailey, Sara, Jamieson, and Macaila show their happy faces, a sure sign of level of enjoyment the singers had.

All CAMS participants attended a Manitoba Moose AHL game (the final game of the season, perhaps the final game of AHL in Winnipeg?? hmmmmm.) Here Clay Sara and Paul watch from the upper deck.

Sunday morning featured a worship service with all the particpants in Jubliee Place at MBCI. Music was led by John Buhler and a series of inspiring stories were presented by Nathan Koslowsky.

The North Kildonan MB Church was PACKED for the final concert. Here the choir sits in the gymnasium overflow. There were more audience members behind them!

Four of the CAMS directors after the concert. Dr. Elroy Friesen directed the Mass High School Choir. He teaches choral studies at the University of Manitoba, and formerly taught music at Steinbach Christian High School, a CAMS member. Elroy is dressed casually as immediately after the concert, he was taking his university choir on tour to northern Manitoba, and was about to board a bus. The other directors pictured are Richard Janzen (RJC, Rosthern), Rick Heppner-Mueller (MCI, Gretna) and Dean Wedel (MEI, Abbotsford.)

YouTube videos below. More videos can be seen at the RJC YouTube Channel.

Chorale at CAMS in Winnipeg

We are in Winnipeg enjoying the musical experience at Canadian Association of Schools Music Festival.

The Chorale has spent Friday intensively (6 hours today - mostly on their feet) rehearsing for the  Mass Band and Mass Choir concert on Sunday.  The guest conductor is Dr. Elroy Friesen of the University of Manitoba, and a former director at one of the CAMS schools. He has pushed the singers to new heights of musicianship!



This evening each school sang/performed a song for each other in a very informal concert. We sang "Deep River".

The singers get to sleep in tomorrow, the directors have brunch, and then back to the rehearsing in the afternoon!

Chorale Tour and CAMS

On Thursday, Chorale leaves for Winnipeg and the Canadian Association of Mennonite Schools Music Festival.

CAMS Music Festival is a non-competitive celebration of the strong music tradition in our Mennonite Schools. Participating schools are sending their choirs and bands to a central location in Winnipeg to socialize, sing, and perform together. This event happens generally every 4 years, though the last one was hosted here at RJC in 2005 as part of our centennial celebrations.


The choir's weekend schedule looks somewhat like this:

Thursday, April 7

• travel day
• evening concert for the participants by local music groups 
• Winnipeg Wind Ensemble
• Winnipeg Boys Choir
• Prairie Voices
• ice cream social

Friday, April 8

• full day of rehearsals
• evening inter-school performances (each school performs pieces for each other.) 
• NOTE: due to space, this performance is not open to the public. Sorry.

Saturday, April 9

• afternoon dress rehearsal
• evening hockey game at MTS Centre - the Manitoba Moose

Sunday, April 10

• CAMS Worship Service with Jon Buller and Nathan Koslowskyk (morning)
• CAMS Music Festival Concert
• 3:00 pm
• North Kildonan Mennonite Brethren Church (1315 Gateway Rd)
• Free Admission
• RJC supper out after the concert

Monday, April 11

• travel day
• evening program at North Star Mennonite Church, Drake, SK

Participating CAMS Schools this year:

• Rosthern Junior College, Rosthern, SK
• Mennonite Educational Institute, Abbotsford, BC
• Menno Simons Christian School, Calgary, AB
• Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute, Winnipeg, MB
• Westgate Mennonite Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB 
• Winnipeg Elementary & Middle Schools, Winnipeg, MB
• Steinbach Christian High School, Steinbach, MB
• Mennonite Collegiate Institute, Gretna, MB