The Melbourne and Canadian Staff Bands have developed a close relationship over the years, thanks to mutual visits to their respective countries, so it was perhaps fitting that the two bandsshould team up for a concert Sept. 30th, at the end of the MSB’s 17 day tour of the northeastern U.S. and southern Ontario. Scarborough Citadel was the venue and the packed Hall gave the home band, and particularly the visitors, a warm Canadian welcome as they took the stage to present a massed band arrangement of the ‘Allegro Deciso’ from Handel’s ‘Water Music’. This was followed by the MSB with a new opener from the pen of Martin Cordner titled ‘Let everything praise!’. It was immediately evident that the band was in fine form, and this only served to whet the musical appetite for the appreciative audience.
Major Len Ballantine brought greetings to the band, and then the Canadian Staff Band presented an arrangement by Jim Curnow of Tschaikovsky’s exhilarating ‘Dance of the Jesters’. More notes played in 2 1/2 minutes than most bands play in a month!
The first soloist of the evening was introduced by the band’s Executive Officer, Major Robert Paterson, and principal cornet Neil Roper then gave a confident rendition of Kevin Norbury’s
‘Flourish for the New Born Babe’. This was followed by another of the band’s outstanding soloists, Jamie Smith, who stepped forward to play Steve Bulla’s euphonium solo, ‘Praise to the Lord’.
Roger Trigg was a member of the MSB before recently moving to Ireland. He continues to
contribute to the band’s repertoire, and they featured his arrangement of the Christian contemporary song, ‘Worthy is the Lamb’.
The CSB followed up with two Spirituals. First up was a world première performance of a new swing number from the pen of Len Ballantine titled ‘Wade in the Water. This will become a popular favourite in the band’s repertoire for sure. We then were treated to a bright shuffle style arrangement called ‘All Aboard’, which is based on ‘This Train is Bound for Glory’. This comes from a new composer from the Jim Curnow music stable, Nathan Farrell. As suggested from the title, he cleverly uses fragments of railway songs, such as ‘I’ve been working on the railroad’, and ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’ etc. to complement the piece. Good fun for players and listeners alike.
To complete the CSB’s contribution to the evening, B/M Brian Burditt had chosen Ken Downie’s tribute to Wilf Heaton titled ‘Praise Tribute’. No concert involving a band from down under would be complete without a rendition of ‘Waltzing Matilda’, and we weren’t disappointed, as Rachel Peterson, the band’s vocal soloist, gave a schmoozy big band rendition of the famous song, along with Richard Squibb at the piano. Needless to say, this was enthusiastically received by the audience.
To finish the first half, B/M Ken Waterworth steered the band through a confident reading of an exciting new piece from Martin Cordner titled ‘Lord of Sea and Sky’. This descriptive work
is based on verses from Ezekiel and Isaiah, and uses as it’s theme, Daniel Schutte’s modern hymn, ‘I the Lord of Sea and Sky’. This was brilliantly played by the band, and showed off the strength in depth of the players within the group.
During the intermission, the stage was completely cleared for the MSB to present their innovative segment, ‘Brass on the Edge’. This comprised several numbers along the same lines as the stage show, ‘Blast’, and featured the band attired in colourful Tee Shirts. All the music was memorized, and PowerPoint was effectively used. Items included Bill Himes bolero treatment of the song ‘I have decided to follow Jesus’; cornet soloist Troy Whittaker with ‘This is my Story’ (arr. Lundkvist); Ray Steadman’Allen’s lovely arrangement of Rutter’s ‘A Gaelic Blessing’; and to cap it off, a hilarious rendition of the finale from ‘William Tell’. Usually when amateur groups try this sort of thing, it comes off as a bit ‘cheesy’, but I have to say that this certainly was not the case in this instance. The whole segment was skillfully performed, and was obviously professionally choreographed.
Following a standing ovation, the CSB joined the MSB on stage, and the massed bands played Erik Leidzen’s cracking march, ‘Manhattan’, again memorized. A great finish to a wonderful evening of music making. The MSB certainly did themselves and Australia proud!
Earlier in the day, a Music Councils was led by Len Ballantine, supported by the band. Several speakers were featured, talking about new and innovative ways they are using music in their respective Corps ministry. Songster Leader Marilyn Allington spoke about a music program called ‘Keychange’ that she uses within the prison system in the Peterborough area. Canadian
Staff Bandsman Scott Gross spoke about a Conservatory that the Winterberry Heights Corps is running. Conducted in late afternoon, and mostly supported by school age youth, the Corps is seeing a lot of interest from the parents of the students, even though the Conservatory is run on a business and secular level.
Captain Carolyn Simpson spoke about a program that she runs at her Corps for tots and mothers called ‘Baby Song’. Again a new way of attracting people to church who would not normally know much about the Army otherwise.
The MSB provided music throughout the day, and featured a particularly lovely arrangement by
Roger Trigg titled ‘The Father’s Love’, based on the Stuart Townsend song, ‘How deep the Father’s love for us’.
- submitted by Stan Ewing
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