Written by: Zoé Ermatinger, Photos by Vida Matus

Coffee House at FHCI is a place for music lovers to gather and enjoy live music performed by talented students as well as free snacks and drinks. 

This year’s second Coffee House was animated by Ari and Zelal. They did an amazing job at getting the audience involved and shining a positive light upon the musicians. This pair has great interactions with the audience and artists and a special shoutout to Zelal who animated this event in front of the majority of the student body as a grade nine student. We all admire your school spirit! 

I was lucky enough to talk to a few performers and ask them about their numbers. Ari, who performed My Life by Billy Joel, one of his favourite Billy Joel songs, accompanied by his amazing guitar skills. Ari is a big part of the planning committee for the event, “I really like seeing all the great talent that the school gets to perform in front of the student community,” he says. Alexa Botones, who had the whole room entranced by her performance of Traitor by Olivia Rodrigo, says that she’s been playing the guitar since the fourth grade. “I think the Coffee House brings people together through sharing music and connecting outside of school,” she says. 

I think that Coffee House is a great example as to how a community of students and teachers can gather to appreciate each other’s musical gifts. It also does a great job at making a place for the arts at school in a way that is fun and enjoyable. We also must acknowledge Ms. Simas’ and the Music Directorate’s hard work to organise this event and work so hard to make it happen. This tradition is definitely one that should be carried on throughout the next few years and I’m looking forward to attending them in the future.