Community band to hold spring concert

By Murray Green

The Camrose and District Community Band will be holding an open spring concert at the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, March 19 at 2 p.m.

“There’s no better way to welcome the Spring Season. Celebrate with us at this year’s concert which features exciting marches, powerful and moving contemporary works, familiar show tune selections and other popular music. We are thrilled to present this concert free, thanks to grant support from the Camrose Arts Council and the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus Music for their continued partnership,” said Sean McIlveen, business manager for the Camrose and District Community Band.

Band director Tom Spila has the band rehearsing every week to prepare for the concert. He started the band 40 yeas ago with 13 members.

“We started in early 1983 with 13 members and then again in September for the 1983-84 winter season. Prior to COVID-19 we were up to 60 members in the band. After COVID-19, we are around 40 to 45 and hoping to build that number up again,” said Tom.

Band members are 18 and over and are not only from Camrose, but the surrounding area. “We have had members as old as 92 play in the band. We have members who travel here from Edmonton, Tofield, Forestburg and Wetaskiwin. The two who travelled from Edmonton ended up getting married after meeting in the band. It was Peggy Trautman from New Norway and Bob McTaggert from Camrose. They went to university in Edmonton, so they kept playing with us,” explained Tom.

“We have always practiced on Tuesday evenings at the Comp (ÉCCHS), At Christmas we perform a couple of concerts, maybe a seniors lodge, and in the spring we have a home concert. Sometimes we have an outdoor concert, at Jaywalkers or an exchange concert,” added Tom.

Augustana students receive credits if they play in the band and as many as 15 were in the band one year.

“It is a good place to maintain your musical abilities. After high school a lot of people put their instruments away. This is a way to keep playing. My wife (Connie) and I joined the band the first year. That first year we had engineers, scientists, teachers and others from different walks of life,” said Wayne Werner.

“The love of music brought us all together. It is a great place to make friends, socialize and have fun. We had to cancel the last couple of spring shows. We haven’t had a concert since 2019 so this will be both nervous and fun. I started playing trumpet in Grade 7. It wasn’t until about 15 years ago that Tom asked me to play in the baritone section (horn), so I volunteered” Wayne shared.

“I started with the band in 2018. I played the trombone, but switched back to the tuba, the instrument that I played in high school,” said Sean.

“The level of excitement can’t be put into words as far as I’m concerned,” said Sean about the spring concert. “It’s something I’ve long looked forward to. It will be nice to be on stage at the Lougheed Centre, play with other members here and showcase what we do for the public,” Sean added.

The concert at the Lougheed Centre will be offered at no charge to community music fans and supporters. However, you must have a ticket that you can get in advance or at the door.

“We have about 12 songs, but will probably play about 10 at the concert. They are pretty challenging,” said Tom.

“We have different levels of ability, so this can be quite challenging for some members. It is nice to be challenged as we continue to learn,” said Wayne.

“We can hear the notable change from the start to the end of the year,” said Sean. “There is always something special about music in the area and that is because of people like Tom,” Sean added.