The Godfather of Shock Rock had some special guests from Guelph, Ont. when he hit the stage in Toronto, Ont. Heavy metal fans flocked to Budweiser Stage Monday night to watch Judas Priest and Alice Cooper deliver an incredible night of rock. As energy enveloped the concert hall, there was an unexpected group from Guelph, Ont. eagerly waiting in the wings for their time in the spotlight. The students from Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute’s (GCVI) chamber choir hadn’t even been born when Cooper’s hit ‘School’s Out’ was released in 1972, but they were ready for a real lesson in rock and roll from the music legend. “I watched The Muppet Show. I was three-years-old and I remember seeing him,” Jane Wood, Grade 12 student, explained. “He’s so huge and even just walking into this dressing room and seeing him sitting there, it just felt like a fever dream.” Clad in white shirts, black pants, and Cooper’s characteristically dark eye makeup, the high school students provided backing vocals for a mash up of ‘School’s Out’ and ‘Another Brick In the Wall Pt. 2.’ Cooper’s team gave the students makeup kits for the occasion. For Wood, there was an even bigger surprise in store when Cooper invited her to his dressing room and helped get her performance ready and put on her stage face. “[A member of Cooper’s team] knew I was a fan already. I was like, if that happens, I will burst into tears and I will cry,” Wood said. For fellow student, Quinn Louge Barei, it was a moment he won’t forget. “To have that opportunity, it’s not something any of us in the choir took lightly at all,” Louge Barei said. “We know that we’re incredibly lucky and we appreciate it so much.” Monday’s performance was the result of dedication, determination and a good deal of collaboration. “[Cooper’s team] was so supportive of our kids from the get-go,” Lane Osbourne, GCVI’s choir director, said. “We were sending them rehearsal videos. They would give us feedback on things. The kids were learning how to adapt, sometimes at the last minute in terms of what’s actually needed to put on a show of this magnitude.” A history of rock This isn’t the first time GVCI students have been invited to share the stage with huge artists. Earlier this year they sang with Grammy and Oscar winner Melissa Etheride in Niagara Falls. Before that, in June 2024, they performed with Foreigner while the band was in Toronto. Through it all, Osbourne’s focus has always been on music and lifelong learning. “The arts truly teach kids to be empathetic,” she said. “They gain skills, their brains are being exercised in different ways to connect with different kids. Nothing matters more to me fundamentally than making kids good kids.”
