That chance will come Aug. 10 - 14 during the annual band camp.
The camp will be held each day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Gorham School, Liverpool. Sessions will provide introductory training to people of all ages who have never played a musical instrument. Intermediate or advanced players will have the opportunity to improve their skill level. For some people it could mean a musical comeback after years of not playing an instrument.
The Mersey Band will provide the sheet music. Beginners start with familiar tunes with melodies that are widely known. Intermediate and advanced players are given more challenging material including some gospel, classical and jazz.
On the first day as the camp gets underway, new students look over the array of brass, woodwind and percussion instruments and instructors help with the selection of the most suitable instrument. Students learn and rehearse in small instrumental groups and also learn some basic musical theory. The week ends with a band concert for family and friends of the attendees.
“Students learn a lot and have lots of fun,” said Mersey Band Director Scott A. MacDonald.
The five-day training program is of particular value in Queens Co. where at present no formal instrumental music program is offered in the schools. Because of Mersey Band Society subsidization and a grant from Nova Scotia Culture Department, tuition will be kept to a low cost of $75 for the entire week. Scholarships and bursaries are also available.
Learning to play a musical instrument can bring students a sense of “success and achievement,” said band secretary Frances Yeske, a retired school principal who had a 30 year career as an educator. “Students can develop confidence and self-esteem as they acquired musical skills. Learning to play an instrument is a lifetime gift.”
Band Director Scott MacDonald, who also serves as the Mersey Band’s training officer, Marlene Zinck, who has been a teacher with the New Germany Rural High School Music Program for the past 22 years, and Rod MacGillivray are confirmed band camp instructors for the 2009 season.
MacDonald - an accomplished woodwind, brass player and music arranger-currently performs with a number of South Shore musical groups including The Bridgewater Fire Department Band and the Chester Brass Band. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Acadia University and, along with Zinck, directed Mersey Band camps in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Zinck – also an Acadia music graduate – is an accomplished brass and woodwind player and arranger. As a performer, she is currently or has been a member of such groups as The Chester Brass Band, The Bridgewater Fire Department Band, and the Lighthouse Chamber Orchestra as well as musical groups in Halifax.
Rod MacGillivray - who graduated from Bridgewater High School in the late 1970s - will be serving as a third clinician at the camp. MacGillivray has returned to Nova Scotia after a musical odyssey that has seen him serve as band director and assistant professor of music at Adams State College, Almosa, California, and adjunct professor of music at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Columbus, Ohio. Along the way, he spent six seasons with the band, which performs the traditional changing of The Guard Ceremony on Parliament Hill, Ottawa. He currently plays with the Mersey Band, the Bridgewater Fire Department Band, The Chester Brass Band and the Mahone Bay Legion Community Big Band.
The camp plays a vital role in recruitment for the Mersey Band now marking its 61st anniversary. Students who attended in recent years are now full-fledged members of the band participating in events such as Remembrance Day observances, the Privateer Days parade and the Kiwanis Christmas concert as well as the summer concert series which this year will include July 21, Aug. 4 and Aug. 18 performances on the Brooklyn Bandstand.
To register or for more information about the camp contact: Scott at 354-3100 or Frances at 354-3226 or by e-mail at smacclarinet@hotmail.com.
Getting on the (Mersey) band wagon
Getting on the (Mersey) band wagon
The Mersey Band has saxophones, clarinets, flutes, trumpets, trombones, euphoniums and drums on its shelves waiting for students eager to learn how to play them.
- Rate
- Top of the page
