Tri-elle, a three-piece band featuring École du Sommet students Danica Chrapko, Chloe Corbiere and Elise Lamoureux, will be traveling to Gatineau, Que., in July to compete at the Jeux Francophones Pan-Canadien after taking home top honours at La Chicane in Nordegg on April 30.
La Chicane is an Alberta-wide francophone music competition, and Tri-elle’s grand prize-winning performance earned the group an all-expenses paid trip to the Jeux Francophones Pan-Canadien, a wealth of musical experience, and as Corbiere pointed out, three big smiles as well.
“I say the biggest prize was the prize of happiness,” said Corbiere.
Bands from École du Sommet have traveled to La Chicane in the past, even for multiple years in a row, however Tri-elle is the first to take home the grand prize, and it came in the band’s first appearance at the event, as Chrapko and Lamoureux are Grade 10 students, while Corbiere is in Grade 9.
“We weren’t exactly going there to win, we were going more for experience. So going into Sunday night when they give the awards we were kind of just expecting maybe a musicien distangué or third place,” said Lamoureux, adding Tri-elle will definitely be returning to La Chicane next year. “The feeling that you get when they call your name and you get up and everyone’s just screaming and clapping, we were just like ‘Oh my God that’s us!’”
Chrapko added she was also taken back by the announcement that they had won first place, and considers the achievement a great honour and compliment to the trio’s dedication to music.
“We kind of just looked awkwardly at each other, it took us about 30 seconds to get up there,” Chrapko said of hearing Tri-elle’s name called for first place. “People don’t realize how big it is to win this, it’s pretty much saying you’re the best francophone band in Alberta.”
Tri-elle performed two original songs at La Chicane, Paralysée and Parasite, with lyrics written by Lamoureux and Chrapko, respectively.
“I wrote mine based on my love experiences. I just went home and wrote it when I was thinking about stuff,” Lamoureux said of Paralysée. “The judges said they really liked it because it was like a story and they were so interested as I was singing. That was pretty cool.”
Chrapko said her song Parasite existed somewhat in opposition to Paralysée, as it was written with a more somber tone.
“It’s a real down song, I wrote it when I was sad. It’s about fear and how fear can consume you,” said Chrapko. “Part of it was self-confidence, and how fear attacks you like a parasite.”
Tri-elle made a point of thanking Scott MacDougall, an École du Sommet parent, for lending his musical expertise to the group to aid them in preparing for La Chicane.
“We practiced with him once a week, and he made our practices more fun and entertaining,” said Corbiere. “He helped us with our beats and our movement on stage.”
Chrapko added that MacDougall’s casual approach to instruction allowed the group to embrace a number of challenges and better themselves as musicians.
“He just made it so much fun,” said Chrapko. “I was really scared to learn the djembe (drum), I was thinking I would never be able to get the rhythms down and he just made it so easy for me and so enjoyable. It wasn’t a pain-staking experience.”
Chrapko added that the band’s coach and professional francophone musician, Raphael Freynet, traveled to Nordegg to watch Tri-elle compete, and that his reaction made the victory all the more special
“He looked like a proud dad. We were taking the picture with the trophy, and we were all shaking,” she said. “He looked so proud, it just felt so awesome.”
Tri-elle will be taking part in a number of performances across Alberta leading up to Jeux Francophones Pan-Canadien in July, starting with a local performance at Galala in May
May 24 – Galala, St. Paul French Cultural Centre
May 30-31 – Francophone Games, Grande Prairie
July 3-6 – Fete Franco, Nordegg
July 19 – Jeux Francophones Pan-Canadien, Gatineau, Que.
