Community band makes sweet, sweet sound

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2018 (2784 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Band enthusiasts will find it music to their ears to hear about an entertaining benefit concert featuring dozens of talented local musicians. 

The Northwinds Community Concert Band will take the stage on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at Elmwood Mennonite Brethren Church (145 Henderson Hwy.). The 7:30 p.m. show will open with a performance by the Winnipeg Golden Chordsmen. Admission is by donation, with all proceeds going to Siloam Mission. 

Northwinds Community Concert Band formed in 2000 when the River East Concert Band and Kildonan East Community Band amalgamated. Today, about 40 musicians work together to perform a range of styles, including pops, classical adaptations and big band music, as well as modern pieces that written specifically for this type of band. 

“We try to keep things at a challenging level. We have some pieces that are a little harder than others that work up to over the course of the year. So we might start working on them in the fall and then maybe not perform them until the following spring,” said board president Kaeren Anderson, who joined the band in 2011 after attaining her Grade 6 designation in clarinet. “We’re not a teaching band, so we’re responsible for our own rehearsal at home. We gradually get better week after week.”

Many noteworthy benefits stem from of being involved in the concert band.

“For me, I’ve met a lot of new friends. I’ve become a little bit more outgoing over the years,” Anderson said. “I also like entertaining people. It’s fun to go to a seniors’ home and play them a Christmas concert or play them something in the spring. It makes a lot of people happy that way.” 

In addition to the Oct. 24 concert, the Northwinds band will play a Remembrance Day concert at Legion #215 on De Vries Avenue. They also perform each June at the Community Band Festival at The Forks, as well as at a Pinawa-based band festival held every second year.

“A bunch of us take a bus to perform in Pinawa that day. We get together with a few other bands and work on pieces in common, so we wind up with one really big band with well over 100 people,” Anderson said. “We also got connected with Siloam Mission because we volunteered to play at their Christmas luncheon a few years in a row. A group of us go over there on Christmas Eve when they’re serving up the turkey dinner, so we’re the entertainment for all of their guests.”

The group practises on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at Salisbury Morse Place School from September to June, and Anderson encourages others to get involved. 

“If you used to be involved in music and you miss it, come out and see us,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to get involved because practise makes it better and it is definitely a lot of fun.”

For more information about the Northwinds Community Band, visit https://northwindsband.weebly.com