On Saturday, June 9 during Seafest weekend in Prince Rupert, young music students will be performing in Rockstock, a show that will be benefiting the Lester Centre of the Arts.
51 students will be performing in Rockstock, at some points all together, with 47 of them being taught by Ian Lihou of Ring System Sound Studio and the remaining four being John Campbell’s drum students. A majority of the students have been working on their vocals and guitar skills, with the remaining students learning the bass guitar and drums.
“We’ve got everything from “I am the Walrus” by the Beatles to “Chicken Fried” by the Zac Brown Band,” said Lihou.
Lihou has been teaching full time for three years now, with many of the student set to perform in the charity-concert being taught by him since the start. The youngest student taking the stage will be nine-years-old, with the eldest being a decade older, at nineteen years old.
The students have been preparing for the Rockstock since December, when the Ring System Music Studio and Summit Sound Lounge Studio students performed a Holiday Concert that also benefited the Lester Centre of the Arts. Lihou says that holding concerts for his students to partake in gives them a sense of accomplishment for their hard work.
“Unless you’ve actually ever done it, it’s hard to explain how it feels to perform on stage, especially a stage of that magnitude. It’s an intangible reward,” started Lihou, adding, “Applause is the reward for their efforts, and they have been working really hard so I hope they get lots of that.”
Rockstock will start at 7 p.m. on June 9, with entrance being by donation. All proceeds collected from from the show will once again be donated to the Lester Centre of the Arts.
“Without the help of my good friend Dwayne Harrison, who always runs sound for us, and without the staff at the Lester Centre, Crystal and James especially, we could not do this. Without those people, all of this would be in vain. I am very happy and thankful that they are in this community,” commented Lihou.
Crystal Lorette, General Manager of the Lester Centre of the Arts says the funds collected will be going towards purchasing new theatre lights, in the Lester Centre’s continuing effort to upgrade the aging technical equipment.