ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — When Tomi Lindblom contacted the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD) to get permission to play its recently released virtual choir rendition of "O Canada" on Finnish television, he did not expect to find a school board employee who could do an on-air interview without needing a translator.
But as luck would have it, one of the producers of the popular online video, Holy Heart of Mary High School music teacher Robert Colbourne, knew just the person for him to talk with — fellow HHMHS teacher Katri Beresford.
Lindblom is the host and producer of "KoronaStudio," a one-hour news and current affairs TV program that usually features a segment at the end devoted to an inspirational music video created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many videos of this sort are popping up as people become more used to physical distancing and using technology to collaborate on music.
"It gives people some hope and positive energy — that this COVID-19 is not only about how many people are dead," Lindblom explained.
Familiar song
A random search led him to the NLESD's video and he was immediately impressed with it — he was already familiar with the Canadian national anthem through watching hockey.
"Of course — we've heard it too many times after ice hockey when you have (defeated) us," Lindblom said with a laugh.
He did not anticipate it would be so easy to also find someone from the NLESD who could do a live interview for the show in the Finnish language.
"It was a marvellous combination of having somebody living abroad and telling that in the Finnish language and teaching in that same school," he said.
The video involves more than 100 school communities and a few Newfoundland and Labrador celebrities, plus a cameo at the end from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Colbourne and NLESD fine arts program specialist Jennifer Stanley produced the project together after Colborne made a similar video for the school's Holy Heart Fellas Choir. The school's principal, Sheldon Barry, suggested the same method could be applied to a song involving the whole province. Stanley came on board to co-ordinate getting other schools in on the project.
Interview help
Beresford, who teaches English as a second language at the St. John's high school, was not involved in the video, but she has helped Colbourne when his choir worked on songs in the Finnish language. Knowing her background and the fact Lindblom liked talking with people from Finland living elsewhere to get a sense of how the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting their lives, Colbourne thought Beresford would be great for the program. The interview aired Wednesday, April 15 (it starts at 34:10 and can be viewed online here).
"Robert just mentioned that he works with someone who is originally from Finland, and of course it was fitting that they would like to talk to me, because I could talk about Holy Heart and explain where we are located and then discuss the situation," Beresford said.
Similar to what's happening in Newfoundland and Labrador, people in Finland practice physical distancing and do not meet for large gatherings. They can leave their homes to work, go for walks and run errands. As of Wednesday, there were reportedly 141 deaths in the country of 5.5 million people.
"It's bubbling under, but the Finns are normally strict," Lindblom said. "If the government is telling us, 'Please don't do that,' we obey. We are not people who show their middle finger to the government."
Building unity
He added the pandemic has in some ways brought people closer together, as they're all dealing with the same situation.
"Everybody knows what's going on," he said. "Even if the disease itself is a bad thing, but if you have to find good things in the bad thing, the best thing is that it combines people and it makes people more human. It makes the world smaller. That's kind of the miracle behind all these videos, and that's why I want to show them."
The NLESD virtual choir video has received tens of thousands of views and praise from all over the world, as evidenced in the comments section of YouTube. Stanley said she has received messages from Canadian government representatives in Russia and Jordan complimenting all involved on the project.
"I think a lot of people connected with it right away in just showing our unity as being one," said Colbourne. "That was really the whole purpose of this. Really, we could have chosen any song to do this with, because the whole point wasn't to have the video shown all over the world. ... The intention was to bring people together and make connections, because at this time, that's what our school district is really focusing on. The students are no longer in classes, so they're trying to keep the connections strong. This was a way for us to build that community."
@CBNAndrew