Early in 1999 we were advised of the possibility of getting a grant from the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, a community initiative supported by funding from the Columbia Basin Trust. The band president, Diane Blow and I had a coffee and decided that it would be pretty cool to have a band workshop. We decided that having musicians of all ages from all over the Kootenays would make it a memorable event. So, we applied for some money...
We were pleasantly surprised (or should that be shocked?) when we received all the money we applied for! So, now, we had to put the darned thing on. Actually, it wasn't all that much work....
And for those of you who had to put up with my temper, just remember that I really am in training to be a cranky old man. Thanks for helping me along!
| Don Clark - Don is a professional trumpeter who, fortunately for us, lives near Creston in Boswell. Don sits in with our band when he can and was more than pleased to act as head clinician. Thanks lots Don! |
| Greg Constable - Greg teaches high school in Invermere. He is a native to Creston and helped us with a trombone clinic, as well as conducting several pieces. |
| John Ashbridge - John teaches high school in Elkford. He did the low-brass clinic and conducted. Oh, and he brought his big tuba in his little car--I have no idea how it all fits. |
| Laura Johnson - Laura is another Crestonian. She recently graduated from the University of Lethbridge with a BMusic. Laura handled the clarinets and conducted us in an original arrangement. |
| Paul Bouthillier - Paul is attending the University of Lethbridge and joined us as the percussion clinician. We even had a drum ensemble--something new for a lot of us. |
| Rhonda Leduc - Rhonda is a past member of the Creston Community Band who recently moved to Victoria, BC to attend the University of Victoria where she is studying saxophone. She happened to be in Creston during the clinic, so she was recruited as our saxophone specialist. |
| Roy Carson - Roy is the music teacher at Prince Charles Secondary School right here in Creston. Roy kindly arranged for the use of the school facilities and helped us in the workshop with a flute clinic and as a conductor. |
Without a doubt, all the clinicians did an excellent job! Thanks to every one!
With our grant we were able to give a small honorarium to the clinicians from out of town to assist them with there travel costs. In the future we may consider using the honorarium monies to bring in one "big name" clinician. Any comments on this item would be appreciated.
A number of folks were pretty concerned about what we'd use for music--they were immediately assigned to the music committee. Our band has an extensive library, but most of it would not be suitable for a large group since it was arranged by Emil Frommert for our much smaller numbers. We contacted the British Columbia Band Association who have a large library which they will lend out to members. Our committee then selected a number of selections from the list Cindy Wenzek from the BCBA supplied. After submitting the list, we received the following selections:
In addition, several of the clinicians brought their own arrangments. In the end we had an excellent variety for music which was playable in the short time we had for practice--but it was challenging as well.
With the kind assistance of Roy Carson and the staff of PCSS we were able to use the facilities at the local high school. This included the bandroom, several classrooms (for clinics) and the auditorium for the final concert.
The only expense we incurred for this was a small charge for the lighting technician. Without a doubt, the facility was wonderful and made a significant contribution to the success of the day.
We tried to make the day as pleasant as possible by providing lots of breaks. We had a donation of pop and coffee supplies from Wynndel Foods (a tip of the hat to Ron and Alice!). Several band members brought homemade goodies--all appreciated. Lunch was "catered" by the Creston Subway--this seemed to work well. We broke for an "on your own" dinner break in the late afternoon.
As you can tell, it was a busy day. I don't know about the other folks, but I was totally exhausted. Still, it was an awful lot of fun and I'd love to do it again.
We prepared evaluation forms and asked everyone to fill one out. From the 37 registrants, we had 13 returned. Not bad, but a better return would have been appreciated. I guess we did most things right--most of the comments were favorable. A lot of people said that they would gladly pay more that the $10.00 we charged the next time. There were a few suggestions about the selection of music: some wanted more classical, some more jazz, and a number wanted some more marches.
We had a total of 44 people participating in the workshop. This includes the 7 clinicians and 37 registered attendies. For a first try, excellent.
People came from the following communities: Kimberley, Cranbrook, Yahk, Creston, Boswell, Invermere, Nelson, Rossland, Trail and Salmo.
The article below was sent to the following area newspapers with a covering fax requesting that it be published.
It was published, that we know, in Cranbrook, Trail and Creston.
The first ever Creston Concert Band Workshop will be held on Saturday, June 26 in Creston, BC at Prince Charles Secondary School (223--18th Ave S.). All adult and senior high-school concert band musicians are invited to this exciting full day of fun and learning culminating in a free public concert. Many well known, accomplished musicians will be leading sectional workshops and conducting the assembled mass band.
Principle clinician is trumpeter Don Clark. A native of Creston, Mr. Clark has played in the CBC Orchestra and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Currently he performs with the New Orleans Connection, touring Europe and Canada. A Yamaha clinician, Mr. Clark's experience and enthusiasm will be appreciated by all who attend.
High school band instructors Roy Carson (Creston), John Ashbridge (Elkford) and Greg Constable (Invermere) promise to add excitement and a wealth of teaching experience to the full day sessions. All the instructors will be bringing favorite music to the workshop---each with its own style and flavor.
Rounding out the faculty are recent University of Lethbridge music graduates Laura Johnson and Paul Bouthillier. Laura, an accomplished clarinetist, played for two years in the BC Honour Band. Paul is the percussion Section Leader of the University of Lethbridge Wind Orchestra.
For more information please call Bob van der Poel at 250-866-5772 or Diane Blow at 250-428-2449; or visit our website http://www.crestonbc.com/arts/band-workshop.html
The workshop and concert are a cooperative project of the Creston Community Band and Prince Charles Secondary School Band. Project support has been provided by the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, a community initiative supported by funding from the Columbia Basin Trust.
Without the articles the whole thing would probably not have worked. I recommend we do the same next year.
Here's a summary of our income and expenses. Not a big ticket event.
| Income | Expenses | |
| Grant | 800.00 | |
| Registrations | 370.00 | |
| Donations | 70.30 | |
| Auditorium | 64.75 | |
| Honoraria | 800.00 | |
| Pop/Cups/Etc | 14.64 | |
| Lunch | 162.73 | |
| Photocopies | 22.78 | |
| Postage | 22.42 | |
| Photographs | 13.50 | |
| Phone/Fax | 7.90 | |
| Total | 1240.30 | 1108.72 |
| Profit | 131.58 |
Frank Goodsir, President of the Creston Arts Council was kind enough to drop by and take photos of the day, including the heavilly cropped ones above showing the clinicans. Here's a few more just to remind you that it was a great day!
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This page "band-ws99.html" was last modified on August 17, 2007