The Music for Mental Health concert on May 26. (Submitted/Kaitlin Harman)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Music for mental health

‘Very freeing’: Music for Mental Health concert aims to heal community

May 28, 2025 | 3:00 PM

Ben Giesbrecht didn’t know teaching music would also mean facing the struggle of student suicide and mental health crises.

“We’ve had a number of issues in our community over the last while – even before the pandemic,” said the Carpenter High School band teacher, who also works in Loon Lake.

Over a period of four years starting in 2016, Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation lost seven young people to suicide. The students ranged in age from 10 to 17.

“It is a reality our youth are facing and if we don’t confront it, it’s never going to change,” Giesbrecht said.

Bringing the topic of emotions to the forefront, last Monday, young musicians took to the stage to perform a special project dubbed Music for Mental Health.

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The program was the last in what was supposed to be a three-concert series, which began May 1 with the Meadow Lake New Horizons Band. A middle school concert was supposed to play the second concert, but it was cancelled.

The concert series is a component of new mental health programming at the school. The concert features pieces from American composers Randall Standridge and Frank Ticheli, who write music on the themes at hand.

According to 15-year-old Kolby Heimbecker, who plays clarinet, mental health is a topic deserving of more discussion.

“I feel like it’s great as we as youth are able to promote positive mental health to adults and youth,” he said.

Eighteen-year-old tenor saxophone player Liam Kolbeck agreed.

“Music is a great way to express pain and heal,” he said. “I see that through many different cultures in Indigenous Drum Healing Circles and in pop music – lots of songs about heartbreak, mental illness.”

The program was unique in that while the pieces chosen came from different composers, they still had connections and followed the same theme.

“Every level of band in town would be able to recognize themes throughout what they’re playing and what’s happening at all of these other concerts,” said Giesbrecht.

The goal of some of the works, the musician explained, was “to develop music that promotes talking about mental health in schools – both the good and the bad,” he said, of the four pieces played from Standridge’s UnBroken Project Monday.

Ticheli’s pieces, meanwhile, delved into emotions with one of the pieces titled Joy.

The mixed medium performance included one of the school’s mental health professionals who spoke to the audience. A local author read a poem titled Stay which addressed the subject of suicide.

The day following the evening’s performance, in an unrelated situation, Chief John Keenatch High School in Big River First Nation announced a beloved student passed away and out of respect for the family and community would close its doors until June 2.

This loss, though unrelated, highlighted the need for support.

“From my perspective as a teacher, I think the discussion and openness about mental health is huge,” Giesbrecht said.

“From a community outreach perspective, this is a chance for our mental health team at the school to really advertise what they are actually doing in the building, since that’s a new initiative this year.”

Kolbeck said the music he most enjoyed in the repertoire was Ticheli’s Joy.

“It’s a really fun piece, it’s triumphant, it’s kind of a march style,” he said.

Heimbecker’s favourite was Brian Balmages’ Rippling Watercolors.

“That song is about a, if I’m correct, a parent watching their child play with watercolours for the first time and painting,” he said.

“It just delves into the emotions of parenthood and how it can be stressful but also really uplifting at times.”

Watching his students grow in their musicianship and seeing the positive effect it has on them is one of the reasons they have worked so hard to advocate for band programs in schools.

“It has been good for students’ mental health to have a little bit of a break during their schedule,” Giesbrecht said. “To have something as part of their academic schedule that gives them a chance to release and to process things in a very different way and this is really just bringing that into focus.”

Kolbeck said that is one of the reasons he loves music.

“It’s a great way for me personally to get away from the stress of school and of work and of life in general,” he said.

For Heimbecker, who also sings, there is an added joy.

“Whenever I do that, it feels very freeing and it’s just a huge weight off my shoulders. Whenever I’m able to express myself in ways that is other than talking,” said the clarinet player.

“Talking can sometimes be hard.”

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Anyone in crisis and need of help can reach out to Suicide Crisis Helpline by calling 9-8-8 or by texting Kids Help Phone: 686868 or calling 1-800-668-6868.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky juleslovett.bsky.social