In The News Archive

Sidney Concert Band:  "Broadway Meets the Movies"

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They are serious about regular practice, they are serious about creating great music and they are serious about ... having fun!

Ranging in age from 18 to 85, the members of Sidney Concert Band all share the same love of music. Under Music Director Bruce Ham, the band has collaborated with local middle and high schools to provide scholarships to students and opportunities to perform and learn, as well as supporting local community events like the Santa and Canada Day Parades. The upcoming concert features vocalists Stephanie Benbow, Nicola Hestnes and Jim Kingham as well as the Allegro Dancers and Killer Wails Quartet.

WE'RE IN THE NEWS! - Nov. 4, 2018
PENINSULA NEWS REVIEW
Sidney Concert Band Salutes Veterans on Nov. 4, 2018

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Norm Anderson will be honoured at Sunday’s Sidney Concert Band performance at the Mary Winspear Centre Sunday Nov. 4.  - Provided by Yvonne Kupsch

Mary Winspear Centre concert honours 96-year old veteran.

The Sidney Concert Band is pleased to continue its annual tradition of honouring Canadian veterans with a concert at 2:30 pm on Sunday, November 4 at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney. The “Salute to Our Veterans” concert will include the playing of the Last Post and a traditional wreath-laying service, with members of the local Kittyhawk Air Cadets forming the Colour Party. A variety of band music will be presented, along with musical selections performed by members of the Saanich Peninsula Pipe Band, the Parkland Secondary School Choir and the Killer Wails Quartet. Conductor Bruce Ham will once again take up the SCB baton.

This year, the band pays special tribute to the sacrifices made by medical personnel and by veterans of the Korean War. One such guest in attendance will be local Peninsula resident, retired Lieutenant Commander Norm Anderson.

Born on November 7, 1922 in the District of Clayoquot, BC, Norm spent his formative years in Victoria. As a youngster, Norm was head chorister of the Boys Choir at Christ Church Cathedral, a member of the Boy Scouts and later the Rainbow Sea Cadet Corps, where he attained some distinction as a marksman, even competing at the national level in 1938. In September 1939, war was declared against Germany and in October, Norm left to go to sea as a “Mess-boy”. He was just shy of 17.

Norm officially joined the Royal Canadian Navy in January, 1940. His time with the Navy was vast and impressive and impossible to fully chronicle here. Serving on several Destroyers, Norm took part in D-Day operations, Channel sweeps against German warships, as well as convoy escort duties including the rescue of 500 survivors from two sinking troop transports.

Anderson’s part in the Korean War began in August 1952, when he was drafted to the Canadian naval destroyer, HMCS Athabaskan as the Gunnery Instructor. He sailed for the Korean Theatre in October 1952. While there, Anderson was employed on interdiction duties which included shore bombardment of North Korean troops, trains and supply stations, as well as escorting US aircraft carriers.

In a reprieve from the grief of war, Norm recalls a light-hearted custom that occurred during his time in Korea. When a pilot from an aircraft carrier was rescued by another ship, that carrier rewarded the rescuer with enough ice cream to feed the entire ship’s company. On one occasion, a US airman did not land on his carrier properly; his plane hit hard, went over the side and he went with it. The crew of the Athabaskan came to the airman’s assistance and returned him safely to the carrier. The pilot weighed about 180 pounds, which is important to the story because as Norm tells it, in exchange for rescuing the US airman, the Commanding Officer of the Athabaskan is said to have demanded a “ransom” of 180 pounds of ice cream for his crew!

All are welcome to this entertaining and important musical tribute dedicated to all our veterans. Veterans are encouraged to attend in uniform. Tickets are available online or by contacting the Mary Winspear Box Office at (250) 656-0275.

- Submitted by Yvonne Kupsch

 

WE'RE IN THE NEWS! - June 27, 2018

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We're In The News! - June 13, 2018

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View Above Article (PDF)

Families who play together, stay together…

Two BC community bands come together to strengthen their musical and family ties.

Bob and Therese Eley

A steadfast member of the Kamloops Community Band for nearly a decade, Bob  Eley is also considered an honorary member of the Sidney Concert Band. “I’ve made many friends in the SCB and I’m proud to be able to play with them on occasion, alongside my daughter Therese. I’m also looking forward to introducing them to my friends in the Kamloops Community Band where I’ve played since moving there in 2009.” The two bands will perform at the Beacon Bandshell starting at 1pm Sunday, June 24.

Therese Eley has fond memories of her father Bob playing with community bands over the years. “As a little girl, I remember dad going off to play in the Revelstoke Community Band every Wednesday night. I was excited when I was finally old enough to pick an instrument to play in our elementary school band so I could go with him. I remember how appalled he was when (of all instruments!) I chose the oboe over a brass instrument, but he still supported me.” They eventually did play together in the Revelstoke Band.

Now a resident of Brentwood Bay, Therese recently joined the Sidney Concert Band, once again because of her dad. As Bob recalls, “I just started bringing my tuba to SCB rehearsals whenever we came to visit Therese. Therese was at my first performance with the band in 2016 and afterwards, she remarked that she was thinking of picking up her oboe again. On her next birthday, her partner Chris got her instrument out of storage and between the two of us, we had her oboe refurbished and surprised her with it as a gift. That’s when she started coming out to the SCB.”

Therese remembers the moment well. “It was very nostalgic for me to walk into my first Sidney Concert Band rehearsal with my dad, 20+ years after playing together in the Revelstoke Band. I get such a warm feeling turning back to see him behind me. Our instruments of choice could not be more different (he plays the tuba) but music has always brought us together. Now I sometimes bring my own kids to our rehearsals and concerts. I hope that music will be a family legacy I can pass along. I look forward to the day we can all play together.”

David Rogers and his nephews Michael and Andrew Rogers

David Rogers and his nephews Michael and Andrew Rogers, are also fairly new to the Sidney Concert Band, but music has always been a staple in their family. “The Rogers musical dynasty began in the minds of my parents - Michael and Andrew’s grandparents,” David explains. “In particular, my mother Ruth made sure that her two small boys kept up their piano practicing. Later, we were encouraged to try the school band. We warmed to it quickly, playing in both the school band and the Trail Maple Leaf Band throughout high school.”

In the intervening years, David had to put his clarinet aside, but in 2017 the call went out: all former members of the Maple Leaf Band were summoned back to Trail, to put on a gala 100th anniversary concert. As David recalls “by then I was retired and had the time to practice, so out came the old clarinet. That concert contained five Rogers, the largest musical dynasty present. Upon returning to Victoria I joined the Sidney Concert Band.”

Michael Rogers discovered the mellow tones of the euphonium after high school while playing with the Trail Maple Leaf Band and was encouraged to pick up his horn again in July 2017 for the band’s centenary concert. There he says he met a wise-cracking trombonist named Bruce Ham, who was also a conductor in Sidney. “I liked the cut of his jib, and not wanting to put the euphonium down again, I joined the Sidney Concert Band a month later.”

As a youngster, Michael’s brother Andrew was more drawn to the saxophone. “Like every child of the ‘90s, I was inspired to play the saxophone from The Simpsons TV show.” It was the reunion of the Maple Leaf Band that rekindled his affection for the instrument. “Out came the alto, which was given an overhaul. It was like a love reunited.” Still, if it wasn’t for the insistence of SCB conductor Bruce Ham “and some family peer pressure,” Andrew may never have joined the Sidney Concert Band and his sax could have ended up “back in storage."

Cliff Noakes and Ryan Noakes

Cliff Noakes, Kamloops Community Band conductor and his nephew Ryan Noakes, a trumpet player in the band.

Trumpeter Ryan Noakes plays with the Kamloops Community Band, which, as it turns out, is conducted by his uncle, Cliff Noakes. Musical ties also run deep in the Noakes clan. “Ryan and I have quite a family history as far as music goes,” says Cliff. “Grandfather Noakes was a well-known musician in the Kamloops area, along with his parents and brother - Ryan’s great-uncle. The Noakes Family Orchestra played many a country dance in the Kamloops-Shuswap area in the 1920s. At one time, my grandfather also organized a drum-and-fife band in Kamloops. Ryan's parents and his sister as well as my two kids were all high school band students and singers.”

Ryan’s musical memories are rooted in the family. “I grew up thinking life was a musical, with my parents constantly playing records or the radio and singing along, or my father playing his clarinet and my mother her guitar. I took up the trumpet at age 11 in the elementary school band - started by my father incidentally. Being in the same band as my uncle Cliff just seems completely normal. The Noakes family used to gather at Cliff's house on Christmas Eve for a Christmas carol jam session. We’d group around the piano and sing, or play our instruments. It's always nice to be with family members, especially with a mutual interest in music tying us together.”

Trumpeter Ryan Noakes plays with the Kamloops Community Band, which, as it turns out, is conducted by his uncle, Cliff Noakes. Musical ties also run deep in the Noakes clan. “Ryan and I have quite a family history as far as music goes,” says Cliff. “Grandfather Noakes was a well-known musician in the Kamloops area, along with his parents and brother - Ryan’s great-uncle. The Noakes Family Orchestra played many a country dance in the Kamloops-Shuswap area in the 1920s. At one time, my grandfather also organized a drum-and-fife band in Kamloops. Ryan's parents and his sister as well as my two kids were all high school band students and singers.”

Ryan’s musical memories are rooted in the family. “I grew up thinking life was a musical, with my parents constantly playing records or the radio and singing along, or my father playing his clarinet and my mother her guitar. I took up the trumpet at age 11 in the elementary school band - started by my father incidentally. Being in the same band as my uncle Cliff just seems completely normal. The Noakes family used to gather at Cliff's house on Christmas Eve for a Christmas carol jam session. We’d group around the piano and sing, or play our instruments. It's always nice to be with family members, especially with a mutual interest in music tying us together.”

Upcoming Events

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Band Practices

When: 
 - Monday nights.
 - Set up at 6:30pm
 - Downbeat at 7pm

Where: 
 - Peace Lutheran Church
 - 2295 Weiler Ave, Sidney

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Please contact Bruce Ham for more information.

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