The Reading Central Salvation Army Band visited Peterborough during Holy Week, as part of their tour of southern Ontario. The band had just traveled from Ottawa, where they had had the distinction of giving a short concert on the steps of the Parliament Buildings.
They received a warm welcome from the full house at Peterborough Temple, as they took the stage to present ‘Rosehill March’, which set the tone for some fine playing throughout the evening. This was followed by the first movement from Steadman-Allen’s descriptive work ‘At the Edge of Time’, which features the hymn ‘The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now’, very appropriate for Easter. The mood was changed as ‘Nimrod’ from Elgar’s ‘Enigma’ Variations was sensitively played, accompanied by PowerPoint scenes from the English countryside.
The band is blessed with excellent soloists, and Bandmaster Paul Mortlock introduced Hadyn Brown, who displayed excellent tone and technique in the tenor horn solo, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. The band then whistled through Dean Goffin’s transcription of the finale from Rossini’s ‘William Tell’ overture. This was enjoyed immensely by the appreciative audience.
The local Peterborough Temple Bandmaster Ron Reid was then invited up on stage to conduct the band in the old classic ‘Montrèal Citadel’ march. To conclude the first half, Bandmaster Mortlock chose to play Bill Himes’ lovely piece, ‘Procession to Covenant’.
Items in the second half included the Adagio from Rodrigo’s ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’, beautifully played by the band’s flugel soloist, Marcus Brown; the trombone feature, ‘I Will Follow Him’; and Evelyn Glennie’s ‘A Little Prayer’ (arr. Bob Childs).
Following words of scripture read by the Band’s Executive Officer, Lt. Col. Cliff Harcum, the band gave a sensitive rendition of Morley Calvert’s ‘My All is on the Altar’.
For their final work for the evening, Jim Curnow’s ‘Jubilation’ was the choice. The composer here skillfully utilizes several spirituals, and this exciting performance elicited a standing ovation, prompting what better encore item for a Canadian crowd than James Merritt’s great march, ‘The Canadian’.
After an overnight stop, the band participated in the annual Good Friday service, before traveling on to Toronto.

Submitted by Stan Ewing

Reading Central Band website link: ReadingCentralBand.org.uk