The UGDSB MADE Urban Arts Program in conjunction with the GCVI Chamber Choir has been selected to perform and record background vocals on a new version of Triumph’s 1979 hit ‘Hold On’ for Music Monday this year.
The choir was chosen by the Canadian Coalition for Music Education to record with the rock band at the world famous Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, where the likes of Drake, Prince, and David Bowie have all recorded.
"The number of people who have been through [Metalworks] I think really speaks to its fame and its credentials as a studio. I never thought I'd get anywhere close to actually being in the studio space let alone recording there," GCVI Music & MADE Urban Arts teacher Lane Osborne says.
Music Monday, which falls on May 5 this year, was created by the Canadian Coalition for Music Education to “celebrate the power of music and demonstrate how that power is rooted in school music programs.” It’s observed in schools across the country with special assemblies, group concerts, and other special events.
"I'm really excited. It's always so much fun when we get to do these big shows and big opportunities," Dave, a Grade 12 student and member of the choir, says.
"What I'm really interested in is the behind-the-scenes of the music and how they're making it and I heard we get to work with the soundboards and everything," Grade 10 student Erin adds.
The GCVI Chamber Choir recently performed with rock band Modest Mouse in Toronto and with Grammy award-winning choral composer Eric Whitacre at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
When ‘Hold On’ was released in 1979 it reached 33 on the Canadian music charts and landed at 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.
“I would look at people going [wild] at our concerts and think: ‘What are we offering them?’ If we’re going to be called Triumph, we need to give them some inspiration, something positive,” Triumph lead singer Rik Emmett told Louder Sound about the song in July 2024. “When I wrote ‘Hold On’ it was like: ‘Okay, maybe this is why I’m doing this. Maybe I can write songs that make people feel better about themselves.’”
The GCVI Chamber Choir records at Metalworks Studios on March 7 and performs live at the Metalworks Institute on Music Monday.
Featured image: Triumph performing live in Sweden. Courtesy Canadian Coalition for Music Education