Four Students. Four Journeys.
Written by Jesse Tollestrup
How you chart your Backbeat Journey is completely up to.
Meet Theo, Basti, Santi and Ella. Four great humans. Each with their own journey. The cool thing is that all of these journeys are still in motion and only time will tell where each one will lead.
MEET THEO
A triple three: Piano. Guitar. Voice.
Theo now spends every morning shredding along to his favourite grunge, rock, and alternative songs—but it wasn’t always this way. When Theo first started music lessons he did one year of Royal Conservatory classical piano. “It was not fun,” says his mom Jaymie, “it was a slog.” Then, Jaymie discovered Backbeat through a family friend. “I was like, ‘This is amazing!’ Kids should be playing music that they want to listen to. I’m just so grateful that I had that connection.”
For his first year at Backbeat, Theo took piano lessons. “I liked it. I was just happy that I got to play my own songs that I got to select.” Theo’s favourite song to play on piano is “Jump” by Van Halen - he still practices it every single day. One of his favourite piano memories is playing it for a concert at school. “I barely even messed up, and I remember playing the solo from “Jump” on piano and it was so fun.” Theo’s excited to find more piano songs that scratch that same itch for cool, syncopated piano riffs.
The next summer Theo went to Jr. Rock Camp and discovered a love for guitar. “I like how guitar is a lot louder than piano and how you can actually hear it in most songs that I like. I also like how the guitar strings feel on my fingers…just touching the strings makes me feel nice.” Theo is also stoked on all the different sounds he can create through distortion pedals. A few months after Jr. Rock Camp, Theo got his first guitar and started private guitar and voice lessons alongside piano. A triple threat!
After a year of building his chops on new instruments, Theo sang “Sliver” by Nirvana with his band at Rock Camp. “It’s been really neat to watch him grow,” says Jaymie. “Theo’s pretty introverted and so watching him get up on stage and shine…he pushed himself so hard to do that and he was so proud and we were in the audience just glowing.”
Theo never stops searching for ways to grow. In the fall of 2025 he joined a Backbeat Rock Band as a guitarist. For the December Rock Show he played rhythm guitar, but by the March Rock Show he was ready to take on a solo. “I’m just really excited to see the different ways that he keeps challenging himself and pushing himself to do those extra things,” says Jaymie.
If Theo could give any advice to other kids just starting their musical journeys, it would be to practice a lot. “If I didn’t practice every single day, I wouldn’t be up to the level I’m at.” What keeps Theo motivated to practice? “I just like playing music!”
"He just gets up in the morning and the first thing he does is practice…it’s just part of his routine. You can tell he really loves it.”
- JAYMIE (Theo's mom)
MEET SANTI & BASTI
Two brothers. One love: Piano
The Wolfaardt brothers have been at Backbeat since 2022, when Santi starred in the Little Beats band Chimichanga Railway Cars at age three. After developing his signature move, Santi joined his brother Basti in Bigger Beats Ukulele. They soon discovered that the ukulele was… well, not their favourite instrument. In Basti’s own words, “we quit early because we were being very immature.” However, the two kept exploring and tried out Intro to Piano in 2024. That’s where the magic began. Both brothers had a ton of fun, especially jamming the blues for their final performance.
When asked if he could play any instrument in the world, Basti says “Well, I’d choose piano, honestly. I love piano.” But is Basti sure? Isn’t he even a little bit excited to learn a different instrument? “Definitely not. I only like piano. Mostly because it’s the most learnable and you can learn all sorts of varieties of music - classical, rock, a bunch of other things.” While piano may be the only instrument Basti wants to play, he does appreciate the musical stylings of recorders, ocarinas, and stylophones.
“I like all genres except for pop.”
- BASTI
“I’m a metalhead but I also like Gorillaz.”
- SANTI
In the summer of 2025 both brothers went to Jr. Rock Camp where they were able to try out all the different rock band instruments. For the final show, Santi laid down some sweet bass lines and Basti rocked it on - you guessed it, piano. In the future Santi is interested in trying out guitar…maybe next summer at Rock Camp! However, Santi’s favourite instrument is still piano, just like his brother. “This is making their grandfather incredibly happy to see the keyboard in his house get some love again,” says Santi and Basti’s mom Mia.
Since December, both brothers have been taking private piano lessons. Santi gets a kick out of seeing his own skills improve, and Basti loves getting to learn new songs. Both brothers like to learn video game music, so that’s exactly what they do.
Currently Basti is working on “Once Upon a Time” and Santi is working on “Megalovania”, both from the video game Undertale. “We like playing a lot of video games, period,” says Basti. “It's nice to see them develop their own tastes in music,” says Mia, “it makes my Spotify Wrapped very weird every year end, though.” If Santi could learn any song it would be “Rush E”, originally by Syzmon Laks. As for Basti? “Easy. 'Hopes and Dreams' by Toby Fox.”
“It's great that they're learning piano by playing songs of their own choosing, so huge thanks to their teacher Jack for making that happen."
- MIA (Santi and Basti's mom)
MEET ELLA.
Building confidence, building community.
Ella began her Backbeat journey when she was in Grade 9. She already knew how to play guitar and was pumped to play with other musicians, so she joined a Backbeat Rock Band called Endless Alley. “It was so much fun. I have a distinct memory of, after my first band rehearsal with all of them, being like ‘What a magical experience to be able to jam.’” Ella mainly played rhythm guitar and sang, along with a bit of piano every now and then. “It gave me a sort of confidence that I don’t think I was able to get anywhere else…being able to hear a song on the radio and be like ‘oh my band played this’…all of those small things I think impact how you see yourself as a professional.”
Years later as an adult, Ella went to support their younger sibling at Backbeat’s Strawberry Fields Rock Show. It was then that she ran into Backbeat co-owner Dan Sabo, who asked if Ella had ever considered teaching. Shortly afterwards Ella submitted their resume, and the rest is history.
“My favourite part of music, full stop, is playing with other people.”
- ELLA
Ella compares both being in a Rock Band and being a teacher at Backbeat to playing a team sport. “I’m not just showing up for myself, I’m showing up for others. I want to improve my craft for my students.” Along with being on a team comes a sense of community. “When I was a student I felt connected to people my age who were like-minded and wanted to make music…I lost that from leaving Backbeat.” Now that Ella has returned they’re finding that sense of community again just by “knowing so many incredible musicians and getting to play with them, getting to make music with them.”
“It’s so awesome to look at the kids and see them jamming with each other and think - they don’t even know this, but I feel that exact same feeling when I jam with all my coworkers and all my buds.”
- ELLA
