Celebrating 90 Years Of Music MakingPlease join the Metropolitan Silver Band on Sunday, April 21 at 2:00 pm as we present our 90th Anniversary celebratory concert called Shine On!
The concert, which will be held at our home at Metropolitan United Church, will shine the light on some great music from our past, present and future. Our program will include music from our history, some of our favourites, and, of course, our customary wide variety of music that is sure to include something for everyone. There have been many exciting moments in our history so we have created a special short retrospective medley of our past 90 years featuring some of the music from the band’s past such as the hymn tune Deep Harmony, Telemann’s Heroic Music with band and Jonathan Oldengarm at the organ, Percy Fletcher’s contest piece Labour and Love, Al Woods’ arrangement of Lady of Spain, and even a bit of Paul Lovett-Cooper’s Dark Side of the Moon. We will also be playing many of the pieces that our audiences and the band love including the wonderful suite called Impressions by Canadian composer Kevin Lau, music we commissioned that depicts the beauty of Kay Martyn’s garden, the lovely Flower Duet from Lahkmé with two of our great band soloists, Debbie Silverthorne and Michele McCall, the gorgeous music of John Barry from the film Out of Africa, Bugler’s Holiday featuring our cornet section, and some classic Rock and Roll and dance music that will have you dancing in your seats….or better yet, in the aisles! Come early for the SILENT AUCTION! Lots of fabulous items up for bid, with proceeds towards the Met's Community Meal Program. This will be a celebration that you won’t want to miss. Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students (12 and under free!) and are available at the door or through our website link below. Be sure to join us on April 21st for a celebration of 90 years of music making with the Metropolitan Silver Band as we Shine On!
0 Comments
Rick Dior gives a lot a material to work on between lessons. But I'm up to the challenge. So, I've organised my practice along the picture above. Not included is practice away from the instrument, namely deep listening, and band rehearsal, two key ingredients to making progress.
I practice everything with the metronome and evaluate my results through listening back or reading the score on my Roland practice app that is built into my TD-27 Sound module. It works as advertised. I'm now able to quickly change surfaces without exchanging sticks with beaters. However, when time allows, I can still play the triangle with a beater in the old fashioned way.
Last week percussionist Rick Dior showed me how to set it up and even do rolls on it. David
I've been working with Rick Dior since December 2023. A recent assignment was Wilcoxon's Rhythmania. Starting slowly, I've worked it up to this tempo.
First test drive of my new anvil fx with the Metropolitan Silver Band. Built by my neighbor Daniel, of Daniel's Scrap Metal & Garbage Removal fame here in Toronto. It was a big clangorous success. Thank you, Daniel. Should a musician play through pain? The short answer is no. In my personal experience years ago, it will lead to catastrophic consequences. So here I am, my right shoulder is a bit uncomfortable. Not sore or painful, just uncomfortable. Am I over practicing? Perhaps after all there are dangers to over practicing. However, in my 65th year, the dangers can be more serious than at 20. So, what I'm I doing?
1. I booked a physio appointment for early next week. 2. No extra practicing. I will have to run on the gas in the tank until my commitments are met. 3. No pushups or other activities that put pressure on the shoulder. 4. Follow the physio's advice. 5. Rest Nipping problems before they are chronic is the key to playing at this age. David Juggling practice is difficult when you play three instruments.
1. Piano practice is required for my job as a piano teacher. 2. Drumming is required because brass band music is difficult, and I want to keep the chair in the band. Furthermore, endurance takes time to build and repetition to maintain. To improve my skills, I take a weekly lesson and lesson preparation requires daily attention. 3. Mallets. I love playing the malletkat and xylophone. And it is a required skill, on occasion, in the brass band. How do I do it? 1. Piano practice maintains my skills to the level required to serve my students well. I'm not preparing for concerts or gigs anymore. Therefore, endurance is not required. 2. Drumming. I have a ritual I've been following for a few months. It starts with 20 minutes on hand warmups and chops building. I follow-up by reviewing a lesson from a drum kit book for 10 minutes. Then I tackle Brass band music. However, I only practice the tricky bits as there is no time for fooling around. With this I've covered chops, endurance, skill development, and being ready to contribute to the band. 3. I do a few minutes in the evening working out of a lesson book and slowly chip away. David |
AuthorWhat I'm up to behind the scenes. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|