“No Place I'd Rather Be”: Sharing our School Community Through Song

Whether it’s capturing our school community through photography or recreating Homer’s “The Odyssey” on film, the LFC’s Artist-in-Residence program remains a cornerstone of its arts education—welcoming a new creator every other year to share their discipline with the school. Visiting from France, Senegal, Germany, and beyond, each artist brings a unique opportunity for students to immerse themselves in the arts and spark their creativity.

This year, the spotlight was on music, with the goal of creating an anthem that encompasses an LFC education and unites students from pre-K to Grade 12. Who better to lead them on this journey than Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Justin Roberts!

“Our music department's dream and ambition was to create, with the students and the help of an artist, a song that tells the story of our school, unites children of all ages and bridges [the gap between] generations,” said Project Coordinator Laurence Lignel.  “Justin Roberts was chosen to make this dream a reality.”

Starting with an outdoor performance for our primary school students, Roberts began working with Grades 1–9 to fine-tune their songwriting skills, helping each class create a unique set of lyrics centered around their time at school. Spotlighting everything from Flames slogans to new friendships, these workshops allowed our young musicians to highlight their favorite parts of the LFC experience.

“In some ways, this project seemed almost impossible. How would we write a song with hundreds of kids from 1st graders to 9th grade and make it sound coherent?” said Roberts. “But somehow the idea of first walking through the doors of the LFC and gradually ascending the stairs became the perfect story to tell.”

Their song officially came to life during the recording session in March, where members of the LFC community came together to share their diverse musical talents. Led by Justin Roberts, his producer, and our music department, students and staff brought ukuleles, violas, flutes, recorders, bass, and vocals to finalize our new school anthem: “No Place I’d Rather Be…”

With the addition of choreography by our seventh-grade students, the recording turned into a powerful celebration of the LFC, uniting students across all grade levels and exceeding the goals of this year’s program. 

“Music has that incredible power to summon memories from the past,” said music teacher Julie De Grandpré. “That's what I wanted for the students: a song to remind them of their time here at Lycée; a song to celebrate and connect with one another; a song of their own that would now feel like home.”