Band Stands (& Podiums)
Four of a kind? 

by Jack MacQuarrie
 
For some years now the BandStand column in WholeNote has striven to serve one particular segment of the music community. It has been our goal to provide timely information for both performing groups and their audiences. In our musings over the summer break we have had time to reflect on our coverage and contemplate how we might better serve our constituency in the months ahead. That lead us to the need to define our community.
 
Since its inception, BandStand has focused almost exclusively on the activities of community concert bands and their all brass counterparts.  But what about community symphony orchestras and the many other instrumental groups active in our area? While their numbers have grown significantly in recent years, they have not had the voice they deserve in this column.
 
As a preliminary step, I pulled four diverse instrumental organizations from the hat, so to speak, in order to reflect on the ways their philosophies and activities are similar and the ways in which they differ. From the band side we picked Milton Concert Band and The Koffler Concert Band (aka Resa’s Pieces, after director/founder Resa Kochberg); from the orchestral side, Orchestra Toronto and The North York Concert Orchestra. 
 
We posed a few basic questions: how set are things already for the coming year in terms of a concert schedule, repertoire and player personnel; how did the groups and their directors get where they are today; and what else do the groups’ directors have on their plates?
 
Starting with the obvious, orchestras tend to have more rigid well-defined concert series in place, with published brochures for the season. Probably because of greater mobility, while they do have a fixed concert schedule, the bands have greater flexibility in terms of the types of venues where they are able to perform. (Groups of all types make it clear that varying forms of community outreach are an important component of their activities throughout the year.)
 
In all cases repertoire is selected by the music director, with varying degrees of input from members of the group. The orchestras tend to emphasize the traditional classical repertoire with occasional contemporary works – this season, for example, The North York Concert Orchestra will be featuring a new work composed by music director David Bowser. The emphasis at Resa’s Pieces seems to be mostly the works of Broadway composers and easy to play classical pieces. Perhaps surprisingly, Joseph Resendes intends to challenge members of his fledgling Milton Concert Band, particularly with works of contemporary European composers.
 
Regarding opportunities for players, the membership of these four organizations is generally stable with limited turnover. But that being said, opportunities do arise. The orchestras usually would be happy to welcome additional violas; most bands would lay down the welcome mat for one or two bassoons. Community orchestras  generally have paid principals for the string sections; a practice unheard of in the community band world! In all cases, though, you will find that personal enjoyment, comradeship and mastering musical challenges are essential components of their rehearsal evenings.
 
As to how the groups got where they are today, the stories are as various as you might expect. Orchestra Toronto is the oldest, tracing its origins back to 1954 as The Bennington Heights Community Orchestra. With incorporation in 1967, the name was changed to East York Symphony. The amalgamation of the City of Toronto – the “megacity” as it was called – in the nineties prompted another change, to the current Orchestra Toronto name.
 
The North York Concert Orchestra also has something of a pedigree, initially formed in 1975 as a reading orchestra under the auspices of the North York Symphony Orchestra. It has developed into an ambitious multifaceted organization under the acronym of NYCO, encompassing orchestra, chorus and small chamber ensembles, with a well-planned multi-concert season. The introduction of the choir as an integral part of their organization is definitely their biggest news this season. This new choir rehearses on a different night from the orchestra, but is included in four of the five scheduled concerts listed in this year’s brochure. And in April 2009, NYCO will take on its biggest challenge to date – a four day music festival.
 
Resa’s Pieces began in 2000, at the Koffler Centre for the Arts, as a beginners’ band to provide  opportunities for adults to return to playing band instruments that they hadn’t touched for years. The response to that initial announcement was so good that they actually began rehearsals months ahead of the intended startup date.
 
In the case of Milton, the almost meteoric growth of that community in recent years was the catalyst for the establishment of this new community concert band. Founded by several former members of the Etobicoke Community Concert Band who had recently taken up residence in Milton, the band began rehearsing on Feb. 1, 2007. They have since had two successful seasons and, under Resendes, have an ambitious plan for the coming year.
 
As for the music directors, all have university degrees in music. Errol Gay of Orchestra Toronto has a doctorate and has performed and conducted widely  throughout North America. David Bowser of NYCO switched from trumpet to flute and then progressed through a masters in composition to further studies in Vienna and in Italy. In Canada he has conducted symphony orchestras in Thunder Bay and Brantford and assisted with the Quebec City Symphony. The youngest of the conductors, Joseph Resendes of the Milton Concert Band, started playing in Hamilton at age four. He still plays regularly in the band of the Music Society of St. Helen’s, an outstanding Portuguese community organization, conducted by his father, José Manuel Resendes. Joseph is putting the finishing touches to a Ph.D. in music. The focus of his academic studies is on the concert band as a viable concert medium (and clearly he’s playing his part in keeping it so!).
 
Resa Kochberg is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she earned a Bachelor of Music Education with flute as her major. Upon graduation, she taught instrumental music for the Scarborough Board of Education, then took time off to raise her three children and pursue other interests, including private piano instruction. Now on the faculty at Koffler, she has conducted the Scarborough All-City Concert Band, taught and conducted at Scarborough Music Camp, and has led numerous flute workshops.
 
In addition to teaching and conducting, Resa also plays flute and piccolo for the North York Concert Band.
 
Expect to hear more about all these organizations in this column as the season progresses, and to find out about other notable denizens of our community bandstands and podiums. Suggestions for organizations we might take a look at are welcome.
 
Musicians wanted: The North Toronto Community Band is looking for some new members,  particularly Clarinets, Trombones, French Horns and Percussionists. Interested musicians should look them up at:   www.ntcband.ca
 
Coming Events - Please see the listings section for full details




To contact Jack MacQuarrie email bandstand@thewholenote.com