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Community Band Festival a huge success |
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August 4, 2014 |
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Some members of our community participated in
this band concert north of the border |
by Carmen Jones
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The Many Bays Community Band hosted its first
annual Community Band Festival in Riondel,
British Columbia on June 21 and 22, and it was a
phenomenal success! The mass bands included the
Creston, British Columbia Community Band, and
other British Columbia community bands from
Kimberly, Slocan, and Many Bays.
This band festival was an unusual one. At most
festivals, the bands perform for each other; at
ours, the musicians all played together. Over
70 musicians came to
 play
piccolo, flute, clarinet, saxophone (alto,
tenor, baritone), French Horn, trombone,
trumpet, euphonium, tuba, timpani, and all the
other percussion instruments. The chairpersons
had some sleepless moments wondering how and if
it would all work...
On the Saturday morning, all the musicians were
seated in the Riondel Community Center
auditorium, ready to play at 9:15 am. Their
"job" was to follow four different conductors,
know the music for the 12 compositions selected,
and blend with all the other musicians. That is
quite an expectation. The sound was incredible
and magnificent! Within minutes, the excitement
of what was to come electrified our musical
space. The weekend was a very emotional one for
those musicians who had never played in a
fully-orchestrated concert band before.
The festival ended with a free public concert to
showcase our hard work over the weekend. Our
audience filled the space left, and by their
applause and standing ovation, we all knew that
they were as moved by the music as we were. The
program was varied: from marches to popular
music to classical, as we ended with The 1812
Overture.
Before the weekend was over, the other bands
were talking about hosting this band festival
next year. We can't wait!
We had some social time during the weekend that
included a Friday night jam and meals with
lively conversation at Dutch Harbor Camp in a
perfect, beautiful Kootenay Lake setting.
This wonderful festival would not happen without
financial support by several local sponsors.
The Creston band is looking for musicians in all
sections. Everyone is welcome whether you have
played for many years or haven’t played for a
long time and want to get back into playing your
instrument. The band rehearses on Monday nights
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. PST, just 15 minutes north
of the Porthill border.
For information call Carmen on 610-1408. |
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