A high school music teacher in the small community of Campbellford is earning national recognition.
Dave Noble, teacher and director of music at Campbellford District High School, has been named this year’s recipient of the Tommy Banks Outstanding Jazz Director Award from MusicFest Canada. The award was established by MusicFest Canada in memory of the Banks, a pianist, conductor, arranger, composer, TV personality, actor, producer and longtime politician. He died in January 2018.
According to school principal Doug Birch, Noble will receive the award at the MusicFest Canada Nationals being held in Ottawa on May 17, at the National Arts Centre. The event brings together more than 10,000 of Canada’s finest young musicians (ages 12-25) who perform for recognition as the country’s foremost musical ensembles.
WATCH: CDHS students compete at the 2018 MusicFest Canada Nationals.
“It was noted by one of the directors of MusicFest Canada that Mr. Noble is to receive this award because he has produced incredible bands year after year, despite the limiting circumstances of being in such a small community,” said Birch.
“Mr. Noble has been producing gold-standard jazz bands for nearly two decades now.”
Birch says Noble and his students, from the high school 50 kilometres southeast of Peterborough, are eager for the trip to Ottawa.
“This is the largest music festival in all of Canada and, to compete on the national stage, your band must achieve gold standard at the regional level and receive an invitation to compete on the national stage,” Birch explains. “Such is the case for our CDHS bands again this year.”
WATCH (Feb. 14, 2018): Life of Tommy Banks honoured at Edmonton’s Winspear Centre