Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School: Showcase Series for Asian and South Asian Heritage Month
On May 31, Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School students and staff traveled to the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto for the Canadian Opera Company's Showcase Series for Asian Heritage Month. Students learned about South Asian Women and Music, hearing live performances in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. The Showcase Series featured artists from the Asian, African, Caribbean, and Latin American diasporas, to celebrate and honour these many cultures and histories through creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation.
Parsi-Canadian Meher Pavri, Iranian/South Indian-Canadian Tahirih Vejdani, and South Indian-Canadian Suba Sankaran (with Dylan Bell, as an a cappella, live-looping duo FreePlay) joined musical forces to celebrate South Asian Heritage. The students learned about South Asian history and culture through the lens of the personal stories and songs relevant to the artist's lives in Canada. Their performances spanned many centuries and styles of music including Bollywood, musical theatre, pop, opera and original works. It was a valuable learning experience for all!