Quebec singer, Marie Mai stunned students at Curé-Antoine-Labelle and Mont-de-La Salle high schools with a surprise appearance last Thursday. As part of the "In harmony with our schools'' program of the evenko foundation for emerging talent, Marie Mai came to encourage and inspire adolescent students of both schools which have recently benefited from the program.

It all started in the morning, while junior students of the Curé-Antoine-Labelle school orchestra were rehearsing in class. During their year-end practice, Marie Mai suddenly appeared before a visibly star-struck class. It was only after the artist shared her own experiences as a teen and insisted on the importance of perseverance in the often difficult period of adolescence that the students then lost their shyness and warmly interacted with her.

Marie Mai proceeded to Mont-de-La Salle high school’s old chapel where the school orchestra was performing a concert for their peers. After playing a few pieces including the orchestral version of the artist’s hit song "C’est moi", Marie Mai popped out from the backstage area to surprise the assembly of students who welcomed her with screams, tears and excitement. The singer then took the opportunity to highlight the incredible young talent of the students and to share an inspirational message about the importance of perseverance as a tool for success. 

The evenko foundation for emerging talent’s "In harmony with our schools" program aims to provide instruments and music equipment to schools in need and to create memorable events which allow interaction with artists who can inspire young people to learn, persevere and succeed. Since the beginning of the year, over $75,000 in instruments and equipment have been distributed to different schools.