Brass 125 A Celebration!
The Salvation Army began in Canada in 1882 when Captains Joe Ludgate and Jack Addy began the work in London Ontario. It was in this same year that the two also commenced the work in Hamilton. A year later The London Citadel Band and the Hamilton 1 band were formed. They became the two oldest serving bands in Canada. Salvation Army brass banding has grown over the years from those humble beginnings with both bands, now 125 years later, maintaining the highest of spiritual and musical standards. For more information on the history of these two fine bands visit their respective web-sites www.londoncitadelband.on.ca and www.meadowlandscorpsband.ca
The 125th Anniversary concert on May 24th 2008, in the Great Hall at the world renowned Hamilton Place Theatre, will be a kaleidoscope of music through the ages illuminating the development of S.A. music and banding in Canada. The evening will feature The Meadowlands Corps Band (formerly Hamilton 1, Hamilton Citadel, and Hamilton Temple) and The London Citadel Band. This will not be your “run of the mill” band concert as we follow the development of Canadian Salvation Army Brass Banding with light hearted drama, visual presentations and music from early compositions to the latest in brass arrangements.
Joining the bands at this special concert will be Mark Ridenour who is the Assistant Principal Trumpet of The Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mark is obviously a very fine player as well as a Salvationist. He and his family are active members of the Des Plains Corps in Illinois where Mark is the bandmaster and involved in the training of young brass players. A graduate from Asbury College with a Bachelors degree, Mark also holds a Masters degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He has appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, the Roosevelt Orchestra and other orchestras and brass bands across the United States and Canada and very much in demand as a soloist and clinician.
The evening will be more than brass only as Joe Caddy will be with us to provide flow and further insight into our brass banding heritage with his dramatic interludes. Joe is the director of the Bill Booth Theatre company in Chicago, and was a guest this past year at our own Territorial School of Music held at Jackson’s Point. For those of you who miss the days of “Gowans & Larson” and “Light Fingered Freddy”, Joe will give you the opportunity to become nostalgic as we celebrate so many era’s of our rich history together.
Col. Glenn Shepherd(ret.) will also join us for our weekend celebration. The Colonel has though the years had association with both bands and has been an active bandsman throughout his officership and his father was a former Bandmaster of London Citadel Band for many years. We are delighted the Colonel has accepted the invitation to be part of this special weekend’s celebration.
File Attachment: 125_Anniversary_Final.pdf (8105 KB)
Written by Ian McKenzie on March 27th, 2008 with no comments.
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