On Saturday May 16th the Dutch annual Music Congress was held at the Orpheus Theatre in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, in the very same town in which eight people were killed just two weeks ago on Queens Day, April 30th. Besides a massed choir (made up from songsters from the central and northern divisions), the Amsterdam Staff Band and Amsterdam Staff Songsters were also on duty that night, as was vocal guest Vasa Gospel, from the Salvation Army Vasa Corps in Sweden. The brass soloist this year was none other than trombone soloist Andrew Poirier, the current bandmaster of Southmount Citadel in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. Until last year Andrew had been a member of the North York Temple Band in Toronto, and also a featured soloist with The Canadian Staff Band. He is currently the co-principal trombone for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and has made a name for himself as a soloist. Quite an achievement already for his young age, I would say.
At a special worship meeting Saturday morning Andrew demonstrated the immense control he has over his instrument by playing Norman Bearcroft's 'The Word of Grace', a solo rarely heard these days. While listening to Andrew (fortunately there were a lot of rests in my accompaniment) I was reminded of the playing of Robert Merritt with the CSB on the Sound of Britain LP, many years ago. Although there are some decades in between them, both provided absolutely impressive performances. It looked very easy watching Andrew play it, but if you know the soloist part, you’ll know why this is a rarely heard solo!
During the evening concert Andrew played to a packed house and an eagerly awaiting and expectant audience. Throughout the evening Andrew was accompanied by the Amsterdam Staff Band, who were all courageously trying to keep up to his calibre of playing. Andrew began the evening with the very difficult trombone solo 'Bolivar', a true showstopper. He immediately followed with the euphonium solo 'Harbour Light' (played on trombone, of course!), where he proved conclusively that one doesn't need valves in order to play rapidly! Absolutely stunning! Later in the concert he again demonstrated his prowess with a flawless rendition of Leslie Condon's 'Song of Exuberance'. His final solo for the evening was Peter Graham's 'The Name', based on Erik Leidzén's 'None Other Name', where he once again astonished his Dutch and Swedish listeners with his phrasing, technical maturity and overall musical performance.
On Sunday morning Andrew serenaded at Waterway Central Corps (a corps that is the result of merging Schiedam and Vlaardingen Corps, located near Rotterdam), where he was accompanied by the Vlaardingen SA Band (who have kept their old name). In the meeting he presented Don Morrison's 'Consecration' and Peter Graham's 'I Walked today where Jesus walked'.
All in all this was certainly a weekend to remember for days to come. Andrew Poirier has definitely left the Dutch people in awe over his unbelievable playing!
Steef Klepke Jr.