Pixar s Soul premiere to feature Oakland middle school band
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Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx) is the protagonist in Soul. TNS
Pixar s latest film Soul premieres on Christmas, and to celebrate they ve enlisted an all-star cast for a virtual red carpet premiere on Dec. 26, with some very special musical guests: the Edna Brewer Middle School jazz band.
In Soul, the main character Joe is a middle school band director chasing grander musical dreams. While researching the film, Pixar visited several Bay Area businesses, ranging from barbershops to tailors. For musical inspiration, they spent time at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland to make sure the teaching scenes rang true. Now the band is getting their moment to shine, with a performance of Things Ain t What They Used to Be.
We have to prioritize human life, said Mark Airgood, a special education teacher at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland and a site representative for the Oakland Education Association, the teachers union.
School district leaders submitted a plan to the Alameda County Office of Education Nov. 20 to allow the district to reopen at some point. The plan was made public Dec. 1.
District spokesman John Sasaki said the date for reopening is more of a hypothetical date because one had to be given to submit a reopening plan. The pandemic looked less severe several weeks ago than it does now, he said.