The judges have spoken, and one lucky Surrey elementary school is taking home the biggest prize in the Canadian Music Challenge, a nationwide music competition by CBC Music and MusiCounts to support music education.
Betty Huff Elementary was selected as the winner of the latest MusiCounts Innovation Passion Prize, awarded to a performance "that showcases the diversity of what music education in Canada can look like," with an emphasis on cultural instruments and technology. The school's Grade 6 and 7 music students covered "Everything is Boring" by The Beaches, putting their own twist on the Toronto indie rock band's 2023 single.
"We changed the entire intro of the song - we had the lead singer do kind of a solo with some harmonies and we slowed it down," said core music teacher Joe Franco. "I thought it made it a little more interesting, and then I just wanted the drums and everything to come in and that's how we changed the song up."
But Franco said they didn't set out to win that particular award - in fact, they were nominated in a different category, for a different song. He and his students had also submitted performances of "Reggae Party" by Kirk Diamond, "Here and Now" by Aysanabee, and "Life is" by Arkells. But because they had recorded and compiled individual tracks for each song, instead of live performances, the songs were only eligible for Category 11: Non-Live-Off-the-Floor Performance, inadvertently making for competition against themselves.
While many people felt "Everything is Boring" was a strong contender, only "Reggae Party" made the top 10 for their category. So you can imagine the shock Franco felt to see "Everything is Boring" pop up at another spot on the winners list.
"I knew the winners would be announced in the morning at 5 a.m. eastern time, and so I was waiting - I was up in the middle of the night multiple times, looking at the clock, I was not having a good sleep," he said with a laugh. "I scrolled down to Category 11 and I saw that we didn't win or take second or third place. But then I remembered the passion prizes and that was my last hope, and there we were.
"My heart was beating super fast, I was just very happy and surprised and honoured to have won this particular prize."
The MusiCounts Innovation Passion Prize comes with $5,000 in new musical instruments - five times the prize money of Category 11 - and Franco said his students were just as excited to know that it will benefit music students at Betty Huff for years to come.
"It's a big deal for any school, and this will go a long way to support our music classes," said Franco.
Congratulations, Betty Huff Elementary, on winning the MusiCounts Innovation Passion Prize!
