Please come and join us for our annual POPS Concert featuring the Jazz and Senior ensembles.

The concert will be held at the Michael J Fox Theatre in Burnaby and the start time is 7:30.

Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door.

This is a very important reminder that the annual general meeting of the New Westminster & District Concert Band Society will be held next Monday, October 24th, 2011 at 8:00pm sharp.

New Westminster & District Concert Band Society

 Annual General Meeting Notice for October 24^th, 2011

AGENDA

 Minutes of October 2010 Annual General Meeting

President’s Report                Danny Olsen

Treasurer’s Report               Howard Engman (*re-appointed by the executive)

Band Directors’ Reports

• Stephanie Olsen
• Kevin White
• Jonathan Sykes ( Kelly Proznick)
• John White

Nominations & Election of Volunteer Executive

 Bylaw Amendments
*Important note: the proposed changes to our Society’s bylaws are quite extensive. A committee of Executive members has worked over the past year to create these suggested updates in an effort to reflect evolutionary changes in the Society’s structure, membership base and manner of operating.   Please take a moment to peruse the posted documents at a rehearsal prior to the AGM.  Members who wish to receive the documents via e-mail, please contact Danny Olsen.

New Business

It is important for every member to attend this meeting, or one parent/guardian of a student member.

For 2011 and subsequent years, the Canadian Government has implemented a new non-refundable tax credit based on eligible expenses paid for the cost of registration or membership of your child in a prescribed program of artistic, cultural, recreational or developmental activity.  Up to $500 in expenses may be eligible per year per child under the age of 16. 

For more information on the new children’s arts tax credit visit: http://www.actionplan.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=4114

It’s September and that means the start of another fantastic season of music with the New Westminster & District Concert Band.

A reminder of rehearsal schedules

Beginner Band

Mondays and Thursdays – 6pm tp 7pm

This group is for new people to music and instruments or for those wishing to take up a second instrument.
Intermediate Band

Director – Stephanie Olsen

“Congratulations to last year’s Beginner group who have graduated to the Intermediate section… Welcome Back!  And to those people, younger and also the older, who would like to learn a concert band ensemble instrument, welcome to our family of bands in the New Westminster and District Concert Band Society!”

Thursdays – 6pm to 8pm
Senior Band

Mondays – 6:30pm-8:30pm
Jazz Band

TBA

A heartfelt that you to all those who joined the New Westminster and District Concert Band Society groups at the Band shell in Queens Park yesterday for our annual Father’s Day Concert.

Great performances were on display from the Beginner, Intermediate, Jazz and Senior Ensembles.  Congratulations to all the musicians!

To be informed of future performances, please join our mailing list from the main page.

On Wednesday, March 2^nd the New Westminster and District Concert Band performed at the Vancouver Kiwanis Concert Band Festival for the seventh consecutive year.  The 2011 Festival was held in a new venue – Bethany Baptist Church in Queensborough – and the Band worked hard to adjust to new acoustics and a new seating arrangement dictated by available space.

The Band’s performance list included: “The Ayres of Agincourt”, by Richard Meyer; “Silence Overwhelmed”, a unique and challenging new work by Brian Balmages; and one of John Barnes Chance’s signature compositions, “Variations on a Korean Folk Song”.

Members of the Band are dedicated to continued musical growth and the achievement of performance excellence.  Given this common goal, the Kiwanis experience is invaluable.  Taped adjudication, provided by Wendy Grasdahl, has already proven very helpful as the Band uses the Festival adjudications and clinic as a catalyst for building on the ensemble’s strengths and focusing attention on those elements of performance that require ongoing development.  Wendy also provided a brief clinic following the clinic provided by Dr. Gerald King.  A former member of the New Westminster and District Band, Dr. King stated that he had not heard the Band perform for quite a number of years and that he “was looking forward to the clinic”.  His clinic was packed with practical hints as well as ideas and suggestions that will provide food for thought for many rehearsals to come.  All in all, the Kiwanis Festival, as it always does, provided an important opportunity for us to learn and progress together.

The Band was awarded a “Gold” standard by the adjudicators.

Fred Turner remembered in a nice article from the New Westminster News Leader

LOOKING BACK: Popular bandleader Fred Turner dies

Fred Turner, who was the director of the New Westminster and District Concert Band from 1941-1964, looks through an album of old photos as 87 past and present members of the band prepare to rehearse for a special 75th anniversary celebration concert in 2009. The reunion, at Richard McBride Elementary School, attracted more than 170 members from as far away as Australia.

Fred Turner forged an almost 50-year musical relationship with the Royal City.

Turner, who died May 7 at the age of 94, left behind a musical legacy.

He formed the Royal City Junior Band in 1941, that served as the Army, Navy and Air Force bands in New West during the Second World War.

Eventually the youth band transformed into the New Westminster and District Concert Band, a name it still carries today.

His contribution earned him an honourary lifetime membership in the B.C. Music Educators’ Association.

Our thanks to all the support that has been given to the band society in 2010!  We had a fantastic year and look forward to an even better 2011.

Rehearsals start the week of January 3rd.