Charlottetown high school's rock concert puts musical talent and Canadian pride on display

Students at Charlottetown Rural High School are preparing to take the stage at the P.E.I. Brewing Company on Friday for their School of Rock 2025 Showcase. 

This year's theme — "Elbows Up!" — will pay tribute to Canadian musicians, with students performing songs by artists like Alanis Morissette, Bryan Adams and Serena Ryder. 

"We're all different grades from 10 to 12. It's pretty fantastic that we can all work together," said Livia Harris, a Grade 10 student and singer. 

"It's really showing that Canadians — we're our own people, we're our own country…. We're not American."  

Rocking out

The showcase is part of a special music class taught at the high school that brings together students from different grades to play and perform all styles of music, with a focus on contemporary songs.

The course focuses on popular music and performance — two things that appealed to Abby Krauss, a Grade 10 student who plays the keyboard, acoustic and electric guitar, and sings. 

"It's my favourite thing in the whole world," Krauss said. "I get to play music every single day for like almost two hours just with my best friends and just rock out. It's awesome."

Krauss said the weeks leading up to the showcase performance have been a "rush." 

"I've seen so many people get so much better at their instruments," she said. 

When it came time to decide on a theme, Krauss said she liked the idea of a Canadian-inspired showcase. 

"I'm very politically involved because I took a civics class and it was really, really interesting to me," she said. "Getting to explore that and then play music that relates to what I'm thinking is a big thing for me." 

'Much bigger feeling' 

When Emmett Pollard first heard about the "Elbows Up!" theme, he knew what he wanted to play. 

"First thing's first, please let me play Bryan Adams, which we did get to do," said Pollard, a Grade 11 student who plays guitar and drums. 

Pollard said the theme is awesome given that Canada produces some of the best rock music in the world. 

Taking inspiration from Canadian musicians is also timely and relevant given the tense relationship between Canada and the United States in recent months, he said. 

"Most people think that teenagers aren't exactly concerned about politics and this sort of thing, but I mean it's our future that we're thinking about here," he said. 

To be playing at P.E.I. Brewing Company gives the performance a "much bigger feeling," Pollard said. 

"I've seen plenty of good shows there and just the fact that I'm going to be playing where they played, it's pretty cool to me," he said. "You feel like you have to perform a lot better." 

Seeing them in the past few weeks really dig into the songs and really take ownership of the show is just so awesome to see.— Andrew Waite, music teacher

As the performance draws nearer, Pollard said the group has taken a "no-nonsense" approach to practicing. 

"We can't really be sitting around doing nothing. We always have to be playing, noticing little mistakes and fixing them, perfecting them and then making sure we can run through the entire song — no mistakes." 

P.E.I. Brewing Company is a bigger venue than the Old Triangle, where last year's performance took place. 

That's because the Old Triangle reached full capacity, meaning 60 people had to be turned away at the door, said musician Andrew Waite, the teacher of the music class. 

"I think it's important for the students to get an experience playing an actual stage, like a real stage with a proper sound check and lights and the whole bit," he said. 

After seeing music classes like this one offered at other high schools across the Island, Waite said he's really happy to be leading the program at Charlottetown Rural. 

"I just love it. There's so many different skills that students get from learning music and coming together as an ensemble — a sense of identity, a sense of confidence — that I think is so important in education," he said. 

"Seeing them in the past few weeks really dig into the songs and really take ownership of the show is just so awesome to see." 

Tickets for the showcase have been going fast, Waite said, noting that all proceeds from sales will go back into the school's music program. 

"I'm just fired up for them to play and take the stage and rock out."