SKSS Music Director Michelle McRae wins National MusicFest Canada Award

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The Kamloops-Thompson School District is proud to celebrate local teacher and Music Director Michelle McRae who just received a National Outstanding Jazz Director Award from MusicFest Canada. At the MusicFest Nationals awards ceremony on Saturday May 17, 2025, Michelle McRae was awarded the MusicFest Canada Tommy Banks/NAC Orchestra Outstanding Jazz Director Award.

This prestigious national award is awarded annually to a secondary school jazz director in Canada. The award was established to honour the memory of the Honourable Tommy Banks, a pianist, conductor, arranger, composer, TV personality, actor, producer, and politician who had an unparalleled, multi-faceted career spanning more than 60 years in virtually every aspect of the entertainment and music industry in Canada. In Mr. Banks’ honour, MusicFest Canada and the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra provide each outstanding jazz director award winner with a commemorative plaque and $500 cash award.

In a video she sent to accept the award at Saturday’s ceremony in Toronto, Michelle McRae shared, “Greetings from Kamloops. My name is Michelle McRae and I live, work, and play on the unceded territory of the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc people. I teach at South Kamloops Secondary School and last year I had the privilege of bringing two jazz ensembles to MusicFest Canada Nationals. I feel very honoured to have won the Tommy Banks/NAC Orchestra Jazz Director Award. I would like to thank the sponsor, the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Thank you all again and I want to say that I appreciate everything all of you do to help enrich the lives of our students.”

Michelle McRae is the Music Director at South Kamloops Secondary School (SKSS). Her program and students are no stranger to MusicFest Canada. Last year, the SKSS Jazz Band and Senior Jazz Combo, led by Michelle, earned Gold Awards at Music Fest Nationals and SKSS students Keenan Brulotte and Xavier Wallace both earned Top Player Awards. All three SKSS Jazz Band groups, Senior Concert Band, High Performance Jazz Band, and Senior Combo, have been invited back to Music Fest Nationals next year. Receiving an invite to MusicFest Canada Nationals is a recognition that the SKSS music department is developing outstanding players and musicians that are good enough to perform at the national level.

“We are incredibly proud of Michelle McRae, whose passion, leadership, and commitment to music education have not only inspired her students but earned her national recognition,” shared SKSS Principal Chris Preymak. “Her MusicFest Canada award is a testament to the excellence she brings to South Kamloops Secondary and the lives she continues to transform through music.”

Some of Michelle’s biggest supporters include the students she has taught and inspired over the years. When asked why Ms. McRae deserves this award, some of her students shared how she has created an inclusive and welcoming environment that encourages hard work and dedication and helps students of all ages and backgrounds develop a love of music.

One of her students who attended MusicFest Nationals last year, Grade 11 student JG Fulcher, shared, “Ms. McRae has really helped make this an inclusive community, a place where it doesn't matter who you are, what other sports or departments you hang out with, everybody is friends, it doesn't matter your grade… She's done so much so that music can be in so many people’s lives. She puts so much work into making sure that the band program can be what it is and for kids to feel like they belong here.”

Izumi Heylang, a Grade 11 student who also attended MusicFest Nationals with SKSS last year, shared, “In Grade 8, when I was in Jazz Band, we were looking at the plaques on the wall of all the nationals wins that our schools has had over the years and I remember her saying her goal was to take a group to nationals at some point. The very next year we got an invite and the year after we went and now we’re getting another invite. It's so cool to see her and us meet those goals together.”

From learning music and the joy of playing an instrument to taking SKSS to regional, provincial, and national competitions, Michelle McRae has made a profound impact on the lives of her students. Leo Moore, a Grade 12 student who joined the SKSS Music Program in Grade 8 and also attended MusicFest Nationals last year, shared, “Ms. McRae has been the most fantastic teacher… She deserves [this award] more than anybody I know and it’s really cool to see her getting some recognition because she deserves it so much. When you hear her talk about music you can’t help but want to be part of it, she talks about it so passionately. It's very infectious how much she loves doing this. If I had a choice, I think every single person who plays an instrument should get a chance to work with her at some point. She changed my life… At our concerts you feel like you’ve done something right and that's I think super important at this age, to have that feeling, to be able to put the work in and see what happens when you do.”