Local teachers create Christmas album

• RELEASE PARTY
• Monday, Nov. 30, from 5 to 8 p.m.
• The Sting Sports Bar, 1121 5th St. S.

Steve Olson was content as a mild-mannered high school orchestra teacher until Joel Corda came along.

The two men had been colleagues at C.M. Russell High School for a couple of years when Olson agreed to play on one of Corda’s self-released albums. Unfortunately for Olson, the collaboration got Corda thinking about bigger projects.

“I roped him into this,” said Corda. “I told him about a year ago that he needed to arrange his own songs and we needed to do a Christmas album.”

“I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, wink-wink, that’d be great,’” said Olson, laughing. But “(Joel) just kept pushing and pushing, and one thing led to another and here we are.”

On Nov. 30, the two friends release “Merry Christmas from Great Falls, Montana,” an album featuring one original composition and 13 classic holiday songs sung by Corda and re-arranged by Olson for up to 47 instruments played by local musicians.

“The orchestra is all ages from high school to adult,” said Olson. “This is my fourth year at CMR, so this is the first year I’ve had a complete generation of kids, so I wanted to include them on the album if they were able to play.”

From musicians and venues to recording and selling, Olson and Corda wanted this album to be a product of Great Falls.

Local studio owner Matt Johnson recorded the instrumental portions of the album live onstage at CMR High School, and Corda recorded the vocals later at Johnson’s 4th Avenue Studios in Great Falls. It was Johnson’s first time recording a full orchestra.

“It’s been kind of a nice project of firsts for everybody,” said Olson. “When we started I had been so terrified to start working on this album. I did not consider myself a writer of any original things.”

So he took a page out of his students’ books and procrastinated. With the album set to start recording in August, Olson was cutting it pretty tight.

“It was July 13, and I sat down to write the first piece,” he said. “I knocked out that first piece that same day and six days later the album was done.”

Olson and Corda plan a release party at The Sting Nov. 30 from 5 to 8 p.m. where the public can get a first listen to the music, mingle with members of the orchestra and get CDs signed.

“Merry Christmas from Great Falls, Montana” sells for $15, and following the release party, copies will be available at Pizazz and Schulte’s 38th Street Store and Coffee House — two Great Falls businesses that support local arts and events.

“There’s something about those Christmas songs every year that I just connect to and will always resonate with me,” said Corda. “Some of the richest history I have is through that Christmas music, and I don’t think I’m alone.”

Olson’s partnership with Corda has since led to other projects, including a feature-length movie written, directed and acted by Corda and scored by Olson. Corda says he hopes to release the film in April of 2016.

“We’ve been nonstop with this, just being creative and trying to put some art in the world,” said Corda. “It’s a testament to the amazing talent and people that we have in this community.”

IF YOU GO

What: “Merry Christmas from Great Falls, Montana” Release Party

When: Monday, Nov. 30, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Where: The Sting Sports Bar, 1121 5th St. S.