By Dan White – Special to the Sydenham Current
Before I begin the body of this column; a huge thank you to the many people who have expressed sympathy or articulated an appreciation for the topic of my last column: The art of grieving. While composing it was heart-wrenching, knowing that it touched readers was heartwarming. From Joni, myself and our family, thank you.
This week I thought I would look at upcoming events that Joni and I are either attending or engaged in.
In a few weeks the Wallaceburg Concert Band will be performing at the high school gym. Dave has a number of special guests and surprises planned for the concert on April 26. Undoubtedly, he will focus on that gig in his next column. It promises to be an epic evening with over 60 local musicians on “stage” at WDSS. As always, admission is free.
Joni and I are helping out with the Lambton Concert Band for the next little bit as their regular tubaist is away for work and they invited both of us to join them. We performed with them for the first time in late March and have another concert April 16. That part is a tad crazy, and fun. We have two rehearsals to prepare 17 scores for performance. As I write this, tonight is our second read-through. It is fun because it is challenging. Joni and I are sight reading most of the charts. Sight reading is exactly what it sounds like—read the music for the first time while rehearsing. Obviously, the charts are not super hard, but it takes a great deal of concentration to play as well as necessary to avoid being a detriment to the band.
On June 22nd we will perform in their “Broadway” concert. That gig will have a more normal schedule of rehearsals and a more challenging, and recognizable (to musical fans) set. We will wrap up our time with them with a joint gig with some members of WCB joining LCB for the July 1 performance in Sarnia.
It is great to see the interconnectedness of the three local concert bands. There are members from LCB that have joined WCB, members of WCB that regularly fill in if LCB has a musician out for a session, members that play in both WCB and CCB. The collaboration, support and musical collegiality between the three ensembles is a model the world would be well served to adopt!
This brings me to our 3rd annual Wallaceburg Brass Quintet and Friends Spring chamber concert supported by Chatham-Kent Arts Council. On May 24th our brass quintet will be performing once more at Trinity United Church. If you want to experience a concert that is smaller, more intimate and has a wide variety of instrument configurations, this is the gig for you! In our first two years the performance was a steady diet of WBQ with a peppering of five or six other small ensembles, all members of the WCB.
This year, we have potentially 12 different ensembles. A few of the old favourites are back—The Back Row Boyz low brass trio, Gavin Warren and the clarinet choir and obviously the brass quintet. Exciting additions this year include vocalists and an interesting variety of instrument ensembles and musicians from throughout Chatham–Kent and Sarnia–Lambton.
After a handful of local musicians attended the Western Brass Day in January, Joni was inspired. She met horn players from Chatham at that event and listened to a world-renowned guest artist play horn. Through our connection with LCB she met some talented horn players to our north. She invited some 15 area French horn players to participate in a horn choir. Ten people had the time and interest to participate and so, Three Rivers Horn Choir was formed. This gifted group of musicians have been meeting in our garage and rehearsing, preparing for the chamber concert and other events. The sound of 10 horns playing is something you want to experience. It is a rich sound with notes as low as a tuba and as high as a trumpet. Again, this is a wonderful example of collaboration across the region.
Knox Presbyterian Church is hosting a Community Concert May 3rd at 7 p.m. This event “features local talent including Mercy and the Wallaceburg Brass Quintet.” There will be a freewill offering to support St. Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army. It has been a few years since Jane Lung and her team mounted this event and it is wonderful to see it back!
Also in May, Joni, myself, Gavin and Bill Hainer will be “getting the band back together” to assist a friend and former student, Dan Sonier. Dan teaches at St. Pat’s Secondary School in Sarnia and is working hard to revive a once amazing music program decimated by COVID back to its former glory. He has invited a group of experienced musicians to participate in his music night to fill out missing instruments and provide several role models for his hard-working students. It will be great fun.
I know this is a great deal about music; that seems to be much the world Joni and I are in right now. However, there is an exciting theatre project percolating in the background as I have been invited to direct a play with friends from Sarnia that I have not worked with for over a decade. Stay tuned!
I hope we see you at one of the many events listed here.
