Westman Honour Bands rock WMCA

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/02/2019 (2591 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Filling the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium with symphonic harmonies, the Westman Honour Band held its annual concert in early February.

Coming to Brandon the day before the concert, 180 Westman high school students began practising together for the first time at 9 a.m. sharp on Feb. 8 for their afternoon concert on Feb. 9.

The band offers the unique opportunity for musicians from around Westman to meet and connect through their shared love of music, or reconnect with friends they have made in other activities, Westman Honour Band director Claire Powell said.

“They come together for two days and make music together,” Powell said.

While the group faced unusually cold weather the weekend of their concert, Powell said she was amazed how may kids came to perform. It was an especially impressive feat given that many of the divisions had cancelled classes due to the extremely chilly weather.

“These kids came out for a love of music,” Powell said. “We have warmth and music in our hearts.”

Consisting of two bands, the concert features the Junior Honour Band directed by Selkirk teacher Kenny Kristofferson, and the Senior Honour Band directed by Peter Hoberman, a teacher at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.

Concordia College also performed alongside the honour band.

Each of the three bands played a set of four songs for the concert.

As a music educator, Powell teaches grades 6 to 12 in Minnedosa. She finds the event fascinating, refreshing and amazing to see the two ensembles come together over the course of two days of rehearsals. Eight of Powell’s students where in the honour band.

“Through that whole process, they somehow create this musical and magical concert on Saturday,” Powell said.

Practising together at a gruelling pace in the buildup to the concert, students have the opportunity to practise as a full band, in their instrument family sections, and in their specific instrument sections.

The path to hitting the WMCA stage is an arduous one, as the search for band members begins in late October and early November.

“Approach your band teacher. We’re always looking for students who are interested,” Powell said.

Once the selections are made, students are given their sheet music so they can begin preparing for the concert, ensuring they are ready to play together as a cohesive unit when the band meets up for the first time.

The students’ ability to come together and create beautiful music speaks to their dedication, talent and love of the band.

“It’s a really fun couple days,” Powell said.

Madison Tanner has been a member of the Westman Honour Band for the past three years and is always excited for the event.

Driving in from Elkhorn for the big concert, the Grade 10 student plays the euphonium, an instrument in the brass family that looks like a small tuba.

“I like meeting new people, the conductors are always nice and you get to learn something new each year,” Tanner said.

Originally encouraged to join the band by her music teacher, Tanner said preparing for the concert can be challenging, but it is always fun as she gets to expand her musical knowledge.

She began practising for the concert a couple of hours a week as soon as she received her sheet music.

Others should get involved with the honour band because it offers an amazing experience for aspiring musicians.

“When you come here, it sounds a lot better then when you’re practising on your own,” Tanner said.

» ckemp@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp