Volume 2, Issue 3
July 2012

Notices

An important ABA fundraiser happens during the summer.
The ABA Casino event takes place August 6 & 7, 2012 at Casino Edmonton. If you live in the Edmonton area and are able to volunteer your time for a shift or two on either of those days/evenings, please contact Neil Corlett.

Zones
The Alberta Band Association would like to know what is going on in the band communities of our province. Through Zone Reports, members will be able to let us know what events and accomplishments are happening in their areas.

If you are interested in being a zone rep please contact the ABA.

Zone Reports

• East Central
• Southwest

If there is an ABA member that you know of that deserves recognition, email us and we will feature that person in an upcoming Musicom.

If you have events happening in your area, let us know and we will make mention of the music activities that you have happening.

In this issue:

• MusiCamp Alberta 2012 | July 22–August 11, 2012
• Don Robb receives David Peterkin Award
• Concert in honour of PJ Bailey
• News from the Canadian Band Association
• Alberta Junior Honour Band North
• Alberta Junior Honour Band South
• Limited Instrumentation Festival Repertoire List
• Zone Reports: East Central | Southwest

The programs include the David J. Peterkin Symphonic Band (July 22 – August 4, 2012) under the direction of Dr. Gillian MacKay [U of T].

There is also an Intermediate Band (July 22 – 28, 2012) which is recommended for students in Grades 8, 9 or 10 with at least two years’ experience on their instrument.

Included are full band rehearsals, small ensembles, private lessons, musicianship classes and nightly faculty concerts. The camp also runs a senior and junior musical theatre camp as well as a piano workshop.

Don Robb
receives David Peterkin Award from Phi Beta Mu

Don Robb [l] receives David Peterkin Award from ABA President Ken Rogers

March 2012 The Alberta chapter of the honourary band director fraternity Phi Beta Mu, proudly presents Don Robb with the David Peterkin Award. This award recognizes outstanding individuals who have consistently illustrated dedication to the pursuit of excellence in band music in the Province of Alberta.

Don Robb retired from Catholic Central High School in 2010 after 33 years of directing bands and continues to keep busy as a conductor, performer, adjudicator and advocate of music in Southern Alberta. During his teaching career, Don also served as conductor of the Lethbridge Community Gold Band for 10 years, as director of the U of L Jazz Ensemble for 11 years, served 6 terms on the board of the Alberta Band Association, including 2 years as president, and was heavily involved in his school’s musical theatre productions.

Don Robb is currently on faculty at the University of Lethbridge where he leads the Jazz Ensemble and teaches Jazz History and Popular Music History. He maintains a busy schedule as a trumpet player with the Bridge Brass Quintet, the Lethbridge Big Band, Hippodrome, the Lethbridge Symphony, and many musical theatre productions. Don also keeps busy in his “retirement” as a founding board member and president of the Lethbridge Jazz Society.

Thank you Don, for your tireless work in the school system, university, and our community. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!

Concert in honour of PJ Bailey

May 13, 2012 | Camrose, Alberta

The Bailey Theatre (named after Bob Bailey’s great Uncle) was sold out about a week and a half in advance of the concert — 400 seats. After the concert, further donations were received from audience members impressed with the show. The Bailey family continues to receive notes, cards, and many comments about the high caliber of the performances and the sheer entertainment value.

The Bailey family was very appreciative of the performers who all volunteered their time and expertise, including The River City Big Band under the direction of Larry Schrum; Joel Gray; Raymond  Baril and daughter Amanda, and PJ’s sisters Brittany and Halley, to name but a few. A very special moment was the premiere of a commissioned work in memory of PJ performed by the River City Big Band written and arranged by Allan Gilliland, titled In Our Hearts and featured Joel Gray on flugelhorn. It was written for the Camrose Composite High School Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Tom Spila, a teacher of PJ’s and close friend of the family. Allan also arranged a number of the selections for the River City Band performed along with PJ's sister, Brittany, on vocals.

The family experienced a wonderful surprise when the River City Big Band also premiered a piece composed and arranged by Kodi Hutchinson (of the Karl Schwonik Jazz Quartet), also in memory of PJ, called Bailey’s Bounce. This piece was written for the Charlie Killam Junior High Jazz Ensemble.

The community was extremely supportive of the benefit concert, with all the technicians and stage crew volunteering their time and several businesses providing support financially or in–kind. The money raised will allow the family to firmly establish the PJ Bailey Fund under the umbrella of the Battle River Community Foundation. The Fund will provide music and other arts (and mechanics) scholarships and other financial support to worthy individuals and organizations in the Camrose area in PJ’s memory for years to come.

News from the Canadian Band Association

2012 National Youth Band of Canada

CBA’s Distinguished Musician Certificates are available for download. Directors may award up to two certificates per band.

NATIONAL YOUTH BAND OF CANADA
Congratulations to all who were involved with the 2012 National Youth Band of Canada. Musicians aged 16 to 21 gathered in Manitoba from May 6–13, 2012 for a time of learning, performing, and lifelong memories. Colleen Richardson (guest conductor, Western University in London) led the 53-member ensemble and Chris Lee (principal tuba, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra) was guest soloist. Barbara Stetter coordinated the event with assistance from Jim Forde, Fraser Linklater and Wendy McCallum.

Special thanks to Yamaha Canada Music, Long and McQuade Music, St. John’s Music, University of Manitoba, Brandon University and the many others who provided support. The ensemble performed for more than 3,000 people at six school and public concerts in Brandon, Gretna and Winnipeg.

Special congratulations go to clarinetist Joshua Iverson from Wainwright and trombonist Jack Erdmann from Edmonton, the two participants from Alberta.

The CBA’s website publishes recent concert programs from bands across Canada. It would be great to have a program from every level and from every province [including jazz bands].

Please forward your most recent concert program for inclusion on the CBA website. Sharing the repertoire that each of us performs is one of the important functions of a national association.

CANADIAN BAND MUSEUM
Archivist, historian and writer Chris Best is developing a virtual Canadian Band Museum. He is gathering members, welcomes donations and encourages everyone to visit www.cbma.biz for more information.

He writes, “Have a look at this Facebook link. You do not have to be a Facebook member. If you want to join my Facebook page by sending me a friend request, you will start getting updates from the museum page. Send to: Christopher Best/Canadian Band & Musical Memorabilia Museum. If everyone who clicks the LIKE button donates an item to the museum, we should soon see a virtual museum appearing before our eyes.”

Alberta Junior Honour Band North

The Northern Junior High Honour Band is a great program that is inspirational to many junior high students every year. Junior high band directors can send up to 5 students from each school that are ready to play at a grade 2.5 – 3 band level (which is a high standard for junior high band). This year, 26 directors sent their best from across northern Alberta. They rehearsed for two and a half days in Edmonton with director Bill Wahl. The 76 students then performed a concert in conjunction with the Cosmopolitan Music Society at Beulah Alliance Church. As a director, I have always enjoyed sending my students to this. They have always come back with new musical insight and zeal. They also connect with other musicians. Students who were familiar with Bill Wahl from the Provincial Festival of Bands were very excited to be working with him this year.

The honour band operates in conjunction with the Edmonton Teachers’ Convention. Band teachers can attend the rehearsals and observe the director work with the students as a PD session.

Information packages on the Northern Alberta Junior Honour Band can be found on the Members Only Downloads page of the ABA website and will be also available at Music Conference Alberta.
–Mark Leitz | ABA Board member

Alberta Junior Honour Band South

The Southern Alberta Junior Honour Band was held in Calgary during Teachers’ Convention in February. Eighty-three students representing 25 different schools from 8 cities and towns in Southern Alberta came to play. They worked for three days under the baton of the fabulous Rita Burns. Their concert was held at Mount Royal University, where they played Donkey Riding (Coakley), The Voyageurs (La Plante), Soaring! (Morales), Salvation is Created (Brown) and Tales of a Medieval Warrior (Weller). The Band of the Outriders with the Calgary Stampede was their guest band.

Limited Instrumentation Festival Repertoire List

Not all band programs have access to the kind of instrumentation that some of the festival list requires. To assist those programs with smaller and/or a more limited instrumentation, a festival list was created to give band directors more choice that would better suit their situation.

View the ABA Members Only References page to download list. This list was researched and compiled by Tricia Howe and Don Closson.