When a teacher asked trombone player Owen Jaques to pick up a bass trombone, he didn’t hesitate.
The recently turned 14-year-old relished the new instrument and added it to his repertoire for the three different school bands he performs with: orchestra, jazz band and concert band.
Music is a passion for one simple reason: “It’s fun,” he said. “I plan to play right through to Grade 12.”
When pushed to pin a favourite, the Oak Bay teen admits jazz is a little above the rest.
“In jazz band it starts getting some really cool chords … that little melody. It gets more complex,” he said.
Jaques earned an Oak Bay YES Award after being nominated by all three of his teachers at École Lansdowne middle school, where he recently finished Grade 8.
“It was the first time I’d won an award like this, so it was pretty cool,” he said.
Described as a humble, quiet young man Jaques earned a Project X award earlier this school year for Extreme Kindness, an award given to students who exemplify kindness on a day-to-day basis. This year, his volunteerism included selling Poinsettias and Purdy’s chocolates to help raise funds for the school band tours.
The Oak Bay News carrier (for about three years) holds a high academic standing with an A average in the French immersion stream at Lansdowne. He just wrapped a season with Carnarvon ‘A’ baseball and signed on to start rowing this month (July). He also participated in the school volleyball team from grades 6 to 8 at Lansdowne.
He’ll play on his first ‘gold’ soccer team come September, just as he enters the halls of Oak Bay High for the first time as a Grade 9 student. He made the U15/16 Bays United Gold team.
“I’m definitely excited about that,” he said. “It’s a higher skill level and I look forward to the challenge.”