Shand, Patricia. "Canadian Band Repertoire." Canadian Music Educator, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Spring 2005), p. 9

Keywords

Canadian music

band repertoire

Canadian Wind Band Repertoire Project

band teachers

band conductors

composing for band

John Adaskin Project

Canadian Music Centre

commissioning Canadian band repertoire

Jeff Reynolds

Summary

This article outlines recent initiatives to promote the use of Canadian band repertoire. Jeff Reynolds and colleagues Denise Grant, Keith Kinder and Michael Purves-Smith have established the Canadian Wind Band Repertoire Project in an effort to educate teachers about the quality, availability and value of Canadian material.

CANADIAN BAND REPERTOIRE

Patricia Shand

Reproduced with the permission of CMEA/Acme.

I am pleased to report in this column on recent efforts to promote Canadian band music. In 2003, four band conductors (Denise Grant, Keith Kinder, Michael Purves-Smith, and Jeff Reynolds) met with the Ontario Regional Director of the Canadian Music Centre (Jason Van Eyk) to discuss approaches to promoting the performance of Canadian band music and to encouraging the creation of new repertoire. They established the Canadian Wind Band Repertoire Project with these aims in mind. They issued a call to band conductors across Canada to submit information about Canadian pieces with which they were familiar and which they would recommend. The first product of the new project was an article in the Fall 2004 issue of Canadian Winds, written by Denise Grant, Keith Kinder, and Jeff Reynolds, assessing 16 recommended Canadian band compositions. For each piece, the authors provide information on level of difficulty (ranging from grade 1 to grade 6), duration, and availability of score and parts. (Some of the pieces are available from publishers, while others are available from the Canadian Music Centre.) There is a short description of each piece, providing useful information on technical challenges, musical characteristics, and pedagogical value. Biographical details on each composer are also included, plus information on recordings where they are available. The authors emphasize that there are “benefits inherent in promoting the culture of one’s own country, including the nurturing of artists and the development of a strong national self-image. . . . Even though our own country has produced some fine wind-band music, this repertoire tends to be overshadowed by American and European influences. We need to become better at embracing the efforts of our Canadian composers and promoting their music.“[1]

As Director of the John Adaskin Project, I have recently been working with my University of Toronto colleague Jeff Reynolds on the Canadian Wind Band Repertoire Project, since the two projects have much in common. Jeff provided the following comments on the Wind Band Project. “Because of the overwhelming U.S. influence, and also that of the British and Continental European tradition, Canadian repertoire needs to be highlighted. The project aims to encourage Canadian publishers, especially because of the influence of the huge U.S. publishing industry. We also need to assist Canadian composers, in partnership with the Canadian Music Centre and the John Adaskin Project. Commissioning new works, as some educators such as Sharon Fitzsimmins of Barrie North Collegiate have done, and initiating band composition competitions are two positive steps that we would like to encourage. It seems evident to us that the music of Canadians in every genre has value as Canadian music, in addition to its own musical strengths.”

At the 2004 OMEA conference in Toronto, Jeff Reynolds continued his promotional efforts. He conducted the University of Toronto Wind Ensemble in performances of compositions by Howard Cable, Morley Calvert, and Henry Kucharzyk as part of the opening session of the conference on Nov. 26. Then he presented a workshop on Canadian band repertoire, leading the U. of T. Wind Ensemble in excerpts from a wide variety of Canadian compositions, ranging in difficulty from grade 1-2 to grade 5. Included on Jeff’s list of 14 recommended pieces were two works commissioned by Sharon Fitzsimmins for the Barrie North Collegiate band, with financial assistance from the John Adaskin Project. Sharon spoke with enthusiasm about her students’ positive response to learning and performing music written especially for them. Some of the 14 pieces recommended at the workshop were published by companies such as Eighth Note Publications, Curnow Music Press, and Northdale Music Press. Other pieces were unpublished, with several of these available from the Canadian Music Centre and others available directly from the composers.

Jeff Reynolds is a knowledgeable and articulate advocate for Canadian music. His OMEA workshop was very well received, as the following comments demonstrate. One southern Ontario band teacher wrote: “I attended Dr. Jeff Reynolds’ very informative workshop on Canadian wind band music. As a full time high school music teacher it was great to learn that not only is there plenty of published Canadian wind band music suitable for my students but that the music available is of high musical quality. It was very beneficial to me to hear the music performed by the U. of T. Wind Ensemble as well as learning about small Canadian publishers that make Canadian repertoire accessible to educators. Dr. Reynolds made an important point concerning the inclusion of Canadian repertoire as an ongoing and natural part of concert planning and not as a token piece of Canadian content or a novelty selection. I certainly intend to include much more Canadian music in my bands’ repertoire.”

An experienced teacher who is currently doing graduate work at the University of Toronto performed as a member of the U. of T. Wind Ensemble at the OMEA workshop. She commented: “I observed Jeff Reynolds’ presentation from a unique perspective. Not only was I a teacher, but also a performer with the Wind Ensemble. Having access to individual parts in both rehearsal and in concert, fortunately gave me more time to digest the hefty amount of information that was presented. I was amazed at how accessible the music was. As a band director, sitting in a music store examining reams of scores can be tedious at times. And the majority of that music is American. Having access to a live performance of Canadian literature was such a treat! Much of it I had never heard of, but most of it, I believe, was of excellent quality. Jeff presented material suitable for beginner through to advanced students, and certainly made me believe that accessing this music is not so hard at all. He gave us step by step instructions, along with handouts, regarding where the music is located, and how easy it is to use. I believe we should be playing more of our own music. The effort to access the music is minimal, and definitely worth it. It was a very valuable presentation -- very informative for the wind band director.”

Teachers seeking further information on the Canadian Wind Band Repertoire Project or on the OMEA Canadian band workshop should contact Jeff Reynolds by email () or by mail (Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C5).

[1]Denise Grant, Keith Kinder, and Jeff Reynolds, “Canadian Wind-Band Repertoire,” Canadian Winds (Vol. 3, No. 1), p. 31.