“The Intercontinental”: June 6 at Bandstand

At 1pm on Saturday, the 6th of July, The Sackville Citizen’s Band performs at the Bill Johnstone Memorial Park Bandstand. In a concert celebrating the 150th of the Transcontinental railway to the Tantramar region, the band will be playing a selection of works which show the profound influence this railway had on Canadian life. hile some seating is available, feel free to bring your own chair or picnic blanket. Light snacks will be available at the venue free of charge. Please come out and enjoy this very special program, presented by some of the region’s finest musicians.

This map will guide you to the bandstand:

 

 

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Spring Concert, Sunday June 2nd

This Sunday June 2 at 7:30pm the Sackville Citizens’ Band holds its Spring Concert “Fantasy and Fiction”. Entrance by freewill gift at Brunton Hall, Mount Allison Music Building.

This year’s program offers an eclectic mix of classical music, swing, jazz, rock, pop and TV/movie themes. The concert begins with a challenging rendition of Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances. Later, the band tackles Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. To round out the “classical” numbers, Sackville’s own Paula Stewart and Anne Varner give beautiful life to Jules Massenet’s Meditation from Thais on their flutes.

From the “swing” department the band plays a medley of the greatest Glen Miller tunes as well as a salute to Ray Charles and his greatest hits. Jazz numbers include the now famous Spain by Chick Corea and Harlem Nocturne. Director Paul Jensen puts down his baton and picks up his alto sax to solo in this smokey evocative number. Listeners may recall that it was used as the theme from the Mike Hammer detective series in the late 50’s and 60’s.

Offering homage to the more modern and pop tunes in the culture, the band delves into the bluegrass tunes from the George Clooney movie O Brother Where Art Thou. Even more recent fare is heard as the band plays “Despacito.” The band ends the show with an excellent rendition of some of the key themes from the HBO blockbuster Game of Thrones.

Annual Christmas Concert Dec 19th

Take a break from the Christmas bustle and enjoy the twenty-piece Sackville Citizens Band as it presents “All I Want For Christmas Is … Music!”, seasonal favourites from Bach to Rock (plus some musical suprises!) in the inspiring setting of the Mt. A. Chapel.

This is a children-friendly locale and performance: bring the whole family and introduce the very young to the magic of live acoustic music.

Wed. Dec. 19th at 7:30pm. Admission by donation.

 

Job Posting for Sackville Citizens Band

The Sackville Citizens Band, under the guidance of Live Bait Theatre, seeks student assistance for approximately four weeks of work to prepare a special 2019 program revolving around the 150th anniversary of Intercontinental Rail to the Tantramar region. This is funded by the federal Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage program.

The successful applicant will be responsible for supporting the Citizens Band as it develops this program. He or she will, among other things: research the history of rail’s impact on the musical life of Tantramar; collect related news clippings and photos; consult with the Band Director to help determine musical selections pertinent to the program; rearrange or modify scores to suit the instrumentation of the band; investigate upgrades to the band’s formal dress; produce recruitment posters for the band; and improve the band’s social media profile.

Candidates must be local to the Tantramar region, have an understanding of Canadian history and ideally would have experience with performing community band repertoire.

Applications in the form of a CV and covering letter should be sent to sackvillecitizensband@gmail.com. Applications will begin to be reviewed on Sunday July 29th.

Canada150 Wrap

Despite the drizzle, Sackville enjoyed a fine Canada150 celebration, with speeches from our mayor and Jerome Bear, the mayor of Dorchester, who drummed in the local air cadets.

Sackville’s Band played ‘O Canada’, ‘The Maple Leaf Forever’ and ‘This Land is Your Land’ as well as up-tempo crowd favourites. We like to think it was our Beach Boys medley that kept the rain away for a couple of hours!

Canada150 Concert!

Come and hear a live band play the music of the past 150 years!

As part of Sackville’s Canada150 celebrations, the town’s Citizens Band will play a full concert starting at Noon at the Bandstand in the Bill Johnstone Memorial Park, on Main St. across from the Independent Grocery store.

Will there be patriotic songs? Yes! Will there be brass solos? Most certainly!

Performance at ‘Gables Lodge’, Amherst NS

On the evening of Wednesday June 14th, the band will play for the residents of Gables Lodge in Amherst Nova Scotia.

Spring Concert In Review

Here’s a two minute version of our June 10th concert, featuring snippets from 6 of the 14 pieces played on the night:
https://soundcloud.com/sackville-citizens-band/scb-spring-concert-2017-medley

Sackville Citizens Band Spring Concert

Saturday June 10th join us for ‘Canada and Friends’, an all-new tribute to our country and its many musical influences, performed at Brunton auditorium of the Mount Allison Music building at 7:30 pm.

The 20-piece band will (of course) play ‘The Maple Leaf Forever’, but other highlights of the full program include a tribute to the incomparable US songwriter Hoagy Carmichael, a sacred Russian tone poem and music by the British composer Hoslt.

Families are especially welcomed, and admission is free or by donation.

‘A Christmas Fantasia’ At the Chapel

The band will be playing its annual Christmas concert at the Mount Allison Chapel on Saturday December 17th at 7pm. This year, we’re delighted to welcome Sackville’s Flute Choir to add to the festive fun in a program that will span from the 16th century to today, with lots of seasonal favorites like ‘The Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ and a time for carol sing-along.

The architectural splendor of the chapel makes this concert a special treat for band and audience: as always, we’re glad that the Mount A. Chaplin, John Perkin, has invited us to perform there.

Admission will be by free-will donation.

The following map indicates the location of the Chapel:

 

Spring Concert, June 11th

Saturday, June 11th, the twenty-piece Citizen’s Band will present “From Bach to the Blues Brothers”, a full concert of band favourites spanning three centuries. Like last year, the concert will take place at Brunton Auditorium  of Mount Allison University’s Bell Conservatory of Music. The music starts at 7:30, and the band especially encourages young families to join us for all or part of the performance. There is no fee for this event, but a free-will offering will be collected for a charitable cause.

A Christmas Concert to Remember

On Wed. Dec. 16th, the band played its third annual Christmas concert at the Mount Allison University Chapel. The two-set event began with the fanfare of “And the Mountains Echoed ‘Gloria'” and ended with a band rendition of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.  Along the way, the band backed solos by Anne Varner and Bill Costin, while a non-seasonal “Harlem Nocturne” played on Don Short’s alto sax was particular crowd favourite.

This year, the concert’s freewill offering was donated to the Sackville Refugee Response Coalition.

Playing ‘The Drew’

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas for the Citizens Band without its annual visit to the Drew Nursing Home. This year, the twenty-piece ensemble’s carol sing-along was spiced up with a brassy rendition of Greensleeves , a solo for horn played by Bill Costin, and Don Short on solo alto sax for ‘Harlem Nocturne’.

Here’s a sample of the Band playing “I’ll be Home For Christmas.”

These, and other number will be performed by an extended Band at the annual Christmas concert at the Mount Allison University Chapel on Wed Dec. 16th at 8pm.

 

 

 

Annual Christmas Concert at Mount Allison Chapel December 16

The Band will perform its annual Christmas Concert at the Mount Allison Chapel at 8pm on Wed. December 16th. This year’s program includes festive favourites through the centuries as well as compositions that feature the top solo performers among our 20-piece ensemble. The uplifting surroundings of the chapel make this event a pleasure for audience and players, and the Band is pleased that the Mount A. Chaplin, John Perkin, has once again invited it to perform there.

Admission will be by free-will donation, with all proceeds supporting Sackville’s efforts to support Syrian refugees.

The following map indicates the location of the Chapel:

Big Band Bash

On Friday Sept. 18th, the band played to a jumping crowd at the Big Band Dance, a celebration which raised funds for Sackville’s Hospital Auxiliary and was part of the town’s Fall Fair activities. Citizens band played ‘Rock Around the Clock’, ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie’ and closed with a swing version of ‘Red River Valley’.  It alternated sets with Parrsboro’s Elastic Big Band to fill out the three hour event. Perhaps the SCB highlight was ‘Blue Moon’, sung by Sackville’s Janet Crawford with the 20-piece SCB backing.

The Hospital Auxiliary, which was celebrating a 70th anniversary, expressed the hope that this might be an annual event.