Whitby Brass Archive

Whitby Brass Band News Archive

Articles appear here once they are replaced on the main page. Eventually we will have multiple archive pages.

Summer Concert Tour Boston and New York 2007

This summer, the Whitby Brass Band travelled to Boston and New York City on a 5 day concert tour. The trip was a great success despite a few adventures with broken down buses and hot temperatures.

The band played 3 concerts, 2 in Boston; at the USS Constitution Docks, and at the Mayflower 2 Dock in Plimouth, and 1 in New York in Central Park. I think the Central Park concert was the bands favourite venue, as the audience was quite large and very appreciative of the music that we played for them. The Naumberg Bandshell also provided excellent acoustics!

Our host for the Mayflower concert was very helpful and allowed us to visit the Plimouth Plantation living museum after our concert. It was very interesting to see early American history presented in this setting.

Thanks to all concert hosts for allowing the band to play at your facilities!

	Our bus broke down on the way to Boston, so we had to move everything over to another bus on the highway. Thanks to a kind bus driver who stopped to check if we were ok, we were only delayed about 1 hour!
	Our playing venue at the USS Constitution. It was very hot. Luckily, most of us were in shade by the end of the concert.
	The USS constitution from a distance.
	The Boston Duck Tour was a great way to see the city in a short time.
	The Mayflower 2 at the Plimouth Plantation (Liberty Peer).
	Our playing venue at the Mayflower Dock. It was hot again, but this time, no shade! Water, water....
	New York City. Times Square at night.
	The empire state building. Just down the street from our hotel in NYC.
	The Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. What great acoustics!

2007 Solo Concert (March 30th)

This Year's Solo concert and friendly competition featured a wide variety of musical styles. Many of the pieces had not been played by the band in recent times, and several pieces were new for us.

The small theatre setting was perfect for the delicate solo playing that we often see for this event, and the near capacity audience enjoyed it very much.
Congratulations to all 8 members who played solos, and especially to those who chose to compete in the solo competition.

Congratulations to this year's winner, Mhairi Holmer, with her "Brassed Off" style rendition of "Concerto De Aranjuez" on Flugel horn.

Once again, we asked ticket holders for the free concert to bring donations to the local Food band, and everyone's generous contributions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks to the Courthouse Theatre group for supplying the lighting for the event!

Our annual awards for Musicianship and Bandsmanship were also presented at the concert. Congratulations once again to Mhairi Holmer, recipient of the Musicianship award. Phil Crossley was presented with the Bandsmanship award.

Several Lifetime members were added to the roster this evening as well. Lifetime membership is given to those members who serve with the band for at least 25 years.

FESTIVAL OF BRASS 2007

Thanks to the Hannaford Street Silver Band for putting on the Festival of Brass once again this year. As usual, it was a great weekend of music and Brass Bands!

Whitby Brass Featured on BrassCast.com

This December the Whitby Brass Band will once again be featured on BrassCast.com. BrassCast.com runs a weekly Podcast of Brass Band music from around the world. Thanks to Peter Ryan at BrassCast for inviting the band to participate again this year. You can listen to the Podcast on your computer or a portable audio device, such as an i-pod. Visit the BrassCast website by clicking Here.

www.BrassCast.com

September 2006

Another summer has come and gone. The band made good use of the indoor rain location at the Centennial Building this year, moving indoors for 2 of our 4 concerts. Thanks to all those who followed us inside to keep the music playing.
This fall is shaping up to be another busy time, as the Christmas Parade season starts to fill in. Last year, the band did 9 Christmas Parades, and it looks like similar number will be on the schedule for this year!

Our upcoming concert for the Canadian Band Association on October 29th promises to be an interesting affair. The Whitby band is teaming up with the Oshawa Civic band to perform a joint one hour concert. This will be followed by a concert by a composite concert band, made up of CBA members. This is a rare chance to compare the sound of a Brass Band with that of a Concert band (with woodwinds, etc) on the same concert. Please come out to support banding in Canada.

Slow Melody Contest Concert 2005

This Year's slow melody contest and audience appreciation concert featured our biggest contest yet.
We had 4 entrants in the 18 and under class, and 9 entries in the over 18 class, for a total of 13 soloists. The musical selections were varied as usual and included classical pieces like "Romanze" by Mozart, and "Flower Song" by Bizet, to the popular such as "He Ain't Heavy", and "Yesterday".
As always, the soloists did a great job, making it a difficult job for the judges to pick the winners.

Here are the results:

Over 18
First Place	Andrew Harris playing "Unchained Melody" on Euphonium
Second Place	Heather McKeown playing "Georgia on My Mind" on Cornet
18 and Under
First Place	Brendan Hill playing "The Acrobat" on Tenor Trombone
Second Place	Samantha Aukstakalnis playing "Romanze" on F Horn

2004 Christmas Concert a Wonderful Holiday Celebration

This past December 10th, the band held their annual Christmas concert.
Hebron Christian Reform Church, where the event was held, was brimming with over 500 people in the audience.
The evening began with the Junior Band, who provided some wonderful music to entertain the audience as they arrived and found their seats.

The O'neill Senior Chamber Choir was better than ever as they entertained us with 2 sets of wonderful vocal music accompanied by piano. The choir's selections included:
Gaudete, I wonder as I wander, Wassail, Carol of the Bells, Angels Carol, and Sleigh ride.

The band played a wide variety of music including: Christmas Joy March, Nuts and Wine, Jesous Ahatonia, Yuletidings, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and Coventry Carol. To the delight and great Enthusiasm of the audience, the Band finished the evening with 3 favourites: Schneewalzer, Jingle Bells, and the Hallelujah Chorus.

The annual awards for Bandsmanship, Musicianship and the Junior band award where also announced at the concert. Congratulations to the well deserved recipients!

Ian Redfearn receives the President's Award for Bandsmanship

Quintessence receives the Bandmaster's award for Musicianship. Left to Right: Winston Hind, Michael Harris, Sam Austikalnis, Roland Hill (behind), Brendan Hill, Erik Koopmans

Lynne Radford and Pat Thacker receive the Junior band award from our Junior Band Manager Brian Cotter.

Band Trip to Ottawa May 2004

This past May long weekend the Whitby Brass Band set out to Ottawa. It had been several years since the last weekend band trip, and the band was looking forward to the adventure and comradery a trip always brings. We set out on Saturday morning at 7:30am for the Capital city. Everyone was on time, so the members must have really been excited.
The purpose of our trip was to visit and play music with a fellow brass band in the Ottawa area called "Maple Leaf Brass". The May long weekend in Ottawa marks the end of the Tulip Festival, a month long event for the City of Ottawa.

The band arrived in Ottawa Shortly after noon on Saturday, and had to get ready for a concert at 4:30pm. The weather forecast for most of Ontario for the weekend was rain, rain, and more rain, but Ottawa turned out to be dry and mostly sunny for the two days we spent there.

The band enjoyed the concerts, especially the Sunday morning concert by the canal. The setting was very nice and the crowds were large, and very appreciative.
The "Maple Leaf Brass" band hosted a garden party, and barbeque after the Sunday concert and a great time was had by all. "Quintessence" provided some music for the afternoon to great applause.

The Whitby Brass Band presented Maple Leaf with an engraved band portrait as a token of thanks for the hospitality and help in organizing our trip.
The rain started to fall on Sunday evening (after all our outdoor events had finished), and the band headed for home on Monday morning.

     The kids had fun too!

     The party on Sunday was excellent. We had a
             good time with our new friends!

The Band Arrives in Ottawa

Maple Leaf Brass Performs on Saturday

Whitby Brass performs on Saturday

Quintessence performs at the party

From February 2004
2004 Slow Melody Contest Results

Our annual slow melody contest was held on February 27th this year. The concert was held at the renovated Centennial Building Theatre. The enlarged stage was certainly welcome and easily accommodated the whole band.

We had many of our young musicians join the contest this year, so the contest was split into 2 categories: Under and Over 19.

As usual, all contestants put on excellent performances. The young players certainly showed that the band can expect great things in the future. Congratulations to all winners!

The results from this year's contest are as follows:

Over 19 Category	Winner	Solo and Instrument
1st Place	Phil Crossley	"Misty" on Eb horn
2nd Place	Gerry Murphy	"Londonderry Aire" on Eb Bass
Under 19 Category	Winner	Solo and Instrument
1st Place	Brendan Hill	"Leaning on a Lampost" on Trombone
2nd place	Winston Hind	"Andante and Allegro" on Bb Bass

From Sept 2003
140th Concert and Dinner Enjoyed by Everyone

Our big celebration was held on September 20th 2003 and was enjoyed by all who attended. It was so nice to see past members of the band, and our many supporters as well. The venue for the afternoon concert was the Salvation Army Citadel on McQuay Blvd. in Whitby. An intimate setting, just the right size for our band. The concert began with the "Maple Leaf Forever and Oh Canada". Followed by the March "The Cossack", and then the very challenging "Universal Judgment" arranged by our own Dave Marlatt.

Our special guest Alain Trudel performed two solos in the first half, the whimsical "Leaning on a Lamp-Post", and the darkly mysterious "Serenade for Trombone". As always Alain performed beautifully, and the audience reacted with great enthusiasm.

The first half concluded with our very own "Whitby 140" march, composed by Gerry Murphy - our multi-talented Eb Bass player - for this special occasion. During the march, pictures and clippings of the band were projected to a screen above the stage. This gave the audience a chance to see the bands history, while hearing us play.

"Festive Prelude" and "Rule Britannia" (celebrating our British brass heritage) started the second half.

Alain joined us in the second half for "Blue Bells" and "Londonderry Air". "Blue Bells" is a raucous adventure filled with virtuoso playing by Alain. At it's conclusion the audience leaped to its feet in recognition of Alain's performance. The band was glad they managed to keep up.
"LondonDerry Air" displayed Alain's sensitivity and expression once again, and as always, the band was amazed and inspried!
Alain concluded with an a cappella performance of "Flight of the Bumble Bee", playing key parts from the entire orchestral score on one instrument, and in record time!

From there the concert rolled along nicely to its conclusion. The band finished with Goff Richards' awesome arrangement of the hymn tune "Crimond" (a band favourite) and concluded with "Blaze Away", a traditional march.

Needless to say, the band played up to the day, and can be very proud of their performance!

Following shortly after the concert was a banquet at the Legion Hall. The band was proud to have the Mayor and his Wife as our guests. Everyone enjoyed the meal and the speeches were kept to a reasonable length after dinner. The band had an opportunity to view the pictures shown earlier at the concert, and everyone enjoyed seeing themselves and their fellow bandsmen in both formal and informal (i.e. swimming trunks) pictures!

Sunday morning, the band held an open house in its new rehearsal room at the Centennial Building. The Junior Band played an informal concert, and many band alumni were on hand to inspect the new facility, and hear the band play.

The Junior Band did a great job, playing arrangements of "Harry Potter", "The Sound of Music", and "Slaidburn" march, among others.

The weekend was definitely a success. The hard work from our 140th committee is greatly appreciated, as well as the many volunteers who did their part to make the weekend a success.

Now they can start the planning for our 150th Anniversary!

From March 2003
2003 Slow Melody Concert was a great success

The concert held on March 27th was an evening of fun competition between members. Playing to an audience of about 250, the band's bravest put on their solo caps and played their hearts out. The music featured selections from all types of music including classic solos like "Trumpeter's Lullaby"and "Solitaire", to the not so slow melody of "Just a Gigolo".
The Whitby Brass Junior band also played a big part in the evening, performing 3 of their own selections, and playing with the senior band for the final two pieces of the evening; "Coming Home", and the march "Under the Double Eagle".

The band would like to thank all the soloists for their wonderful performances, and offer congratulations to the top three winners as chosen by members of the audience:

First place	Reg Peck - playing "Demelza" on Eb Soprano cornet
Second place	Gerry Murphy - playing "Just a Gigolo" on a shrunken Bass
Third place	Phil Crossley - playing "The Lark in the Clear Air" on Eb Horn

Pictures from the concert
Below are some pictures taken at the concert. click on a picture to view it full size.