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Red Deer College student wins national music bursary

Aug 3, 2017 | 4:15 PM

A young Innisfail man’s love for music has earned him a bursary which will aid him in pursuing his career.

Colin Langstraat, 22, found out in May that he’d been nominated by staff at Red Deer College for the Fred Sherratt Award, which has been handed out annually since 2008 by MusiCounts to exceptional students who exhibit achievement, talent and leadership. MusiCounts is the music education charity associated with the JUNO Awards.

Not only is he receiving $2500, Langstraat was also flown to Toronto last month to tour a number of significant music facilities in the area and meet several big behind the scenes names from the Canadian entertainment industry.

“I was blown away,” Langstraat says of the trip and being nominated by his instructors. “I’ve always strived to do the best I can, especially in school and stuff, but to be nominated by the staff of Red Deer College was absolutely amazing. When I finally went on the trip and got to meet all these people, I was just like wow, this is really something special.”

Having earned his music diploma from RDC, the ‘percussionist by trade’ is taking his talents to Edmonton in September where he’ll study at MacEwan University.

Langstraat says in the meantime, he’s been showcasing his talent and knowledge by not only playing as many gigs as possible, but also by meeting with younger students.

“At RDC, I participated in pretty much all of their ensembles. Outside of that, I’m in a jazz combo, I play in a few of the local big bands like jazz explosion, a few rock bands and a metal group — pretty much whoever will take me,” he says.

“When I was at RDC, we took a music business program and we opted to do a project to go across Alberta to all these different elementary schools and high schools, talk about our music experiences, what we’ve learned and what we aspire to do, and really just bring the knowledge of music to a newer generation.”

Langstraat, who would like to work at the new National Music Centre in Calgary, says it’s ultimately about growing awareness of the local music and arts scene.

I’m going to keep performing and do what I can either career-wise or whatever is possible to help grow local music scenes wherever I am,” he says, “even if that’s in promoting or management.”