Welcome to Bur Oak Music

The Bur Oak Music program is excited to welcome back to the program, Mr. Colin Clarke.  Mr. Clarke will be with us at Bur Oak January 20-21, 2027.

Colin Clarke is the Artistic Director of the Oscar Peterson Program, and the Oscar Peterson School of Music at the The Royal Conservatory. Colin Clarke remains active as a guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and composer/arranger. His conducting credits include collaboration with world-renowned artists and ensembles including the New Symphony Orchestra of Sofia, Bulgaria, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets – the official fanfare ensemble for the President of the United States. 

Colin is best known for his work with the multi-award-winning Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra (TYWO), a group he founded as a high school student. For three decades this ensemble has earned a reputation nationwide as one of the leading performance ensembles of its kind in Canada and made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2006. 

Colin is Member of the Order of Canada, and maintains a commitment to working with young people and the community through music education.  He has conducted numerous bands, orchestras and choirs throughout Canada and the U.S. and was awarded the Ontario Band Association’s Lifetime Membership Award for his contribution to music education in Ontario.

Grade 8 Students and Families.  Please join us at Bur Oak Secondary School for our Open House on Monday, November 16th.  The evening officially begins at 6:00 p.m., but the choir will be performing in the atrium between 5:45-6:00 p.m.  If you're interested in the choral program at Bur Oak, you'll definitely want to check that out.

The Grade 12 Senior Wind Ensemble performs onstage in the cafeteria between 6:00-6:15 p.m. followed by the presentation by guidance and admin at 6:15 p.m.  There will be a repeat of the information at 7:15 p.m., so if you arrive and unable to find room, be sure to join us for the second presentation.

All 3 music rooms will be active and busy with Open Rehearsals.  Our keyboard lab, Room 1057, will be open between 6-8pm.  The Band open rehearsal is in Room 1050 between 6:45-8pm.  The Choir open rehearsal is in Room 1051 between 6:45-8pm.  Please come on down and listen in and see what Bur Oak Music is all about.

It is our pleasure to invite you to our upcoming winter concert, Winterlude 2026 at the Flato Markham Theatre.  Our concert will feature all our core performing ensembles along with selected solos and small ensembles from the Bur Oak Music program.  The concert is on Wednesday, December 2nd beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Permission forms are due to the music office by Thursday, November 19th.  Tickets will be distrubted beginning Tuesday, November 24th.