Arriving on Saturday afternoon, we spent time working with the corps youth band and beginners’ band before preparing for the evening concert. This mostly consisted of one-on-one tutoring sessions in which staff band members were paired with individual players to give them private instruction. It afforded us some great opportunities to get to know the young people as we worked with them to improve their technique and encouraged them to keep using their musical gifts for the Lord. Afterwards we rehearsed with the corps youth band for our massed item in the evening concert. We were encouraged by the standard of music making and are thankful for the dedicated leaders who work with the young people week after week.

Working with young instrumentalists

Following a delicious roast beef dinner graciously served to us by members of the corps, a packed hall greeted us for the evening concert. Salvationists and friends had come from many surrounding communities to hear the band and it was good to meet many of them before and afterwards. We began with Living Flame (Jeff Christmas), then proceeded into a varied program that was well received by the appreciative audience. Soloists included Major Kevin Metcalf with This Is My Story (Lundkvist) and Steve Pavey in A Joy Untold (Camsey). As always, Leigh Rowney’s xylophone dexterity in Joyous Rhythm brought the house down.



























In a world premier, Craig Lewis presented a brand new solo, Incarnation, written especially for him by composer Ralph Pearce and based on the hymn tune Armadale written by his wife’s grandmother, the late Mrs. Colonel Lily Skinner.

Other highlights of the evening were the perennial favourite, Canadian Folk Song Suite (Morley Calvert), James Curnow’s Variations on Terra Beata, and Songs of the Pioneers, written for Guelph Citadel’s 125th anniversary in 2009, and conducted by the composer, Deputy Bandmaster Major Ken Smith. In a special presentation, the CSB combined with the Guelph Youth Band to present a new “rock ‘n’ roll” setting of Days of Elijah by Dean Jones, led by Y.P. Band Leader Dean Westover.

By special request, the CSB presented Dean Goffin’s timeless classic The Light of the World, which was followed by Scripture and led into Cameron Rawlins’ vocal presentation of It Is Well With My Soul (arr. William Himes). The program then concluded with Robert Redhead’s Corpus Christi, a large-scale festival work depicting the unity of believers in the body of Christ.

Sunday morning worship included two services, at 9:30 and 11:00 respectively, as well as a small group who ministered during Sunday school. The band presented a variety of musical selections including Martin Cordner’s Let Everything Praise! and a new work, Healing Grace, by Marcus Venables. Steve Brown, originally from the Guelph Corps, presented a cornet-euphonium duet with Steve Pavey—Ivor Bosanko’s Time and Eternity. The CSB worship team led in a time of praise and celebration and Major Kevin Metcalf brought the Bible message encouraging listeners to give thanks in the midst of all of life’s circumstances.

It was a wonderful weekend and a great way for the CSB to kick off a new year of ministry. We were thrilled with the level of commitment and ability demonstrated by the young people’s bands in particular, and pray God’s continued blessing on all the leaders and each member as they move forward in the days to come.

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First up was the annual Christmas With The Salvation Army program at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. This year’s guests were Barbara and Steve Allen from Los Angeles, who inspired the audience with a selection of items. Starting with It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Barbara then moved into Who Would Imagine a King before concluding her first set with a sing-along medley, arranged and accompanied by her husband, Steve, on the piano. Later in the program she delighted the audience by recruiting a volunteer to assist her as she presented Christmas on the Beach in Malibu, which came on the heels of Big Band Santa and proved to be a real highlight of the night. Elsewhere on the program Barbara was the featured soloist with the festival chorus, piano and staff band in a new Len Ballantine arrangement of the song More Than Wonderful, and to close out the evening, a setting of the contemporary worship song Adonai.

The chorus itself was in fine form again this year. In addition to providing the descant for the congregational carols, the group presented three other items—Little Lord Jesus Is Born (John Wells, arr. Ballantine), For Unto Us a Child Is Born from Handel’s Messiah, and a new setting of the Huron Carol, also by Len Ballantine. Accompaniments were by Bill Way on piano and Elizabeth Colley on flute, with drums, bass guitar and other instruments as required. For Unto Us A Child Is Born from Handel's Messiah was accompanied by organist Giles Bryan, who also played for the carols along with the band in the familiar David Willcocks arrangements..

The CSB’s main contribution to the evening was the world premier of a new work by Robert Redhead written for this concert. Entitled Christ Is Born!, it features numerous carols associated with Christ’s birth, including A Great and Mighty Wonder (Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming), the Huron Carol (‘Twas in the moon of wintertime), A Child This Day Is Born and Unto Us a Child Is Born. Starting simply, the music builds until it reaches a majestic and glorious conclusion with the peal of bells and rich, sonorous chords echoing off the walls of Roy Thomson Hall.

Also appearing on the program were dramatist Colin Fox who presented a series of readings; the territorial commander, Commissioner William W. Francis, who brought a devotional message; and Ontario Lieutenant-Governor David Onley, who brought greetings and thanked the Army for its valuable work to the community.

A week later it was off to St. Paul’s Church for the 31st annual Christmas Carol Concert, an annual event that is always packed out for both performances and helps the Toronto Star provide gift boxes to 45,000 underprivileged children in the Greater Toronto Area. Once again this year, conductor emeritus Giles Bryant was in fine form, leading the massed choirs and congregation in the usual carols with band and organ accompaniment. The CSB’s contributions were A Great and Mighty Wonder (Kenneth Downie) and Morten Lauridsen’s beautiful setting of O Magnum Mysterium, arranged for band by Len Ballantine. Both items were very well received.

For Salvation Army band members, December is a busy month when you hit the ground with your feet running and don’t stop until it’s all over. And the extra-mile service when you’re in the staff band, which comes on top of normal corps band duties, is all part of the privilege of service.

To all our regular visitors, we wish you a very Happy Christmas and all the blessings of a new year filled with the joy and peace of God's love.

(Photo of St. Paul's Church, above, courtesy of David Cooper, Toronto Star)

Visiting band members were kept busy from the moment they arrived, presenting a concert to a packed house at Whitby Community Church on Friday evening. The audience appreciated the warmth and humour of the guest musicians who presented a variety of music to suit all tastes.

After a busy day of rehearsals on Saturday, the visiting group joined the Canadian Staff Band and Ontario Central-East Divisional Youth Chorus to present an enjoyable concert at Scarborough Citadel. Participating in the program were Commissioner William W. Francis, territorial commander, and Lt-Colonel Alf Richardson, divisional commander for Newfoundland and Labrador. CSB items included William Himes’ festival march Milestone and the bright and energetic Hallelujah! by James Curnow, as well as two larger works, Robert Redhead’s Corpus Christiand Dmitri Shostakovich’s lively Festive Overture, arranged by William Gordon.

The youth chorus under leader Cathie Koehnen added significantly to the program with their enthusiastic presentations of Praise the Lord, All You Servants of the Lord, an arrangement of Psalm 134 by Canadian Jason Locke, and the dynamic Alive Forever Amen. More meditative selections included Come to the Water and Nothing But Thy Blood with soloist Melanie Pond.

St. John’s Citadel Band under Bandmaster Derrick Moore showed the diversity of their repertoire by playing everything from the contemporary song arrangement Make His Praise Glorious to Eric Ball’s classic The Kingdom Triumphant. In between the audience was treated to Barrie Gott’s Swingtime Religion, Len Ballantine’s Wade in the Water, Brian Bowen’s stirring festival march The Southern Cross, and cornet soloist Aaron Tansley in To Worship, a meditative setting of the familiar worship chorus I Love You, Lord. A particular highlight was the band’s moving rendition of John Williams’ Hymn to the Fallen from the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan. This was presented as a tribute to Canada’s fallen soldiers from the current Afghanistan conflict, and during the music pictures were shown of all 133 Canadians who had lost their lives since the mission began in 2002. Afterwards the audience stood for a moment of silence to honour their memory.

The evening concluded with the massed bands playing Norman Bearcroft’s scintillating Songs of Newfoundland (pictured above), with of course the audience (many of them Newfoundlanders) standing for the majestic Ode to Newfoundland at the conclusion. Then it was off to billets in preparation for the day ahead.

On Sunday morning, the visiting band participated in worship at Toronto's Bloor Central Corps. The guest band presented Dean Goffin's The Light of the World and the CSB sang O My Jesus. Then it was off to march in the 105th annual Toronto Santa Claus Parade. With the St. John’s Citadel Band and Canadian Staff Band, as well as players from many other corps bands in and around Toronto and southern Ontario, this year’s group of 165—including territorial and divisional leaders, the colour party and timbrellists—was the largest since The Salvation Army re-commenced participating in this event in 2005. It was a tremendous witness to the 500,000 who lined the parade route as well as the millions more who watched the event on TV throughout Canada and around the world.

The Canadian Staff Band was pleased to host the Newfoundland visitors for what it hopes to become an annual event on its fall calendar. Plans are already well underway for next year’s Fall Festival and Parade weekend. Details will be announced in due course.

Also participating, at the request of their bandmaster, Paul Storms, was the Concert Band of Cobourg, more formally known as The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Association – Ontario. In honour of the occasion, we played O Boundless Salvation together for the assembled crowd before various government leaders including Cobourg Mayor Peter Delanty brought greetings, congratulating the Army on its long history of practical and spiritual ministry to the community.

At the conclusion of the ceremonies, the concert band stepped off and marched right through the CSB, then performed an impressive countermarch, wheeling around and coming back through our ranks. On a double-tap from the bass drum, we headed off together, marching eight abreast, playing the well-known Salvation Army march Montreal Citadel (especially arranged for the other group, which included woodwinds as well as brass). Bystanders lined the sidewalks cheering the massed bands as we marched along the busy downtown street to St. Peter’s Anglican Church, site of our evening concert. With the community band in their red tunics and us in our navy blue, it created a very colourful picture to brighten up a rather dreary autumn day (see photo above and video below). For the CSB, the event was a definite highlight of the weekend that will be remembered for many years to come.

A large audience filled the church for our evening concert, which marked our first official program of the 2009-10 season. In addition to music from our latest recordings, new repertoire included William Himes’ festival march Milestone, James Curnow’s Variations on Terra Beata and Lorne Barry’s Credo. Other items included Major Kevin Metcalf’s cornet solo This Is My Story (Krister Lundkvist) and Morley Calvert’s always popular Canadian Folk Song Suite. The audience especially appreciated Cameron Rawlins’ vocal solo Were It Not For Grace, as well as Stephen Pavey’s rendition of Welsh Fantasy for Euphonium and Band and Leigh Rowney’s xylophone dexterity in Joyous Rhythm.

On Sunday, Salvationists and friends gathered for morning worship at the corps under the leadership of Captains Jim and Debbie Sinclair, corps officers/pastors. Featuring musical ministry by the staff band and participation by the corps mime group, Louder Than Words, the meeting included lively singing and testimonies of God’s work in people’s lives. In addition to the prelude, the CSB’s main contribution to the service was a new setting of the contemporary Christian song Refiner’s Fire (arr. Craig Woodland). In his Bible message, guest speaker Major Andy Miller, U.S.A. Central Territory, challenged his listeners to live out the next chapter of the Book of Acts by continuing to work and witness in their everyday lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. Many responded to the invitation to sign cards of commitment as they rededicated their lives to serving Christ.

Following a light lunch including the cutting of the anniversary cake, it was homeward bound. It had been a short but memorable weekend that will be remembered long into the future. May God continue to bless the Cobourg Corps as it continues to serve its community in name of Christ.

We were happy to have with us Marco Hererra, a young Salvationist musician and medical student from Ecuador who had been visiting Canada to attend the National Music and Gospel Arts Camp the week before. We invited Marco to sit in with our horn section for the duration of the rehearsal, an experience that he enjoyed and appreciated immensely.

At the beginning of another season, we are glad to welcome back returning CSB alumnus Kevin Wilson of London Citadel. Kevin previously played with the CSB from 1987 to 2000 and replaces veteran percussionist Ron Reid, who retired in June following an amazing 32 years of service. We also welcome Joshua Bailey of Listowel on trombone. A mechanical systems engineering student, Josh is also a longtime member of Impact Brass Divisional Youth Band.

As we enter our fifth decade of ministry, the CSB anticipates another busy year of activity. Check back with us often for the latest news and updates.