The Royal City Alumni Band has welcomed a new music director for its 25th season and the public is invited to celebrate this passing of the baton at a festive concert.
The 45-member band will perform a joint show with about 60 senior music students from Burnaby North Secondary School on Thursday, March 14 at Michael J. Fox Theatre in Burnaby.
The concert will include a variety of types of music, including jazz, string orchestra, choral performance and concert band.
Peter Wenzek, a longtime music teacher at the school, took over the roll of music director of the alumni band at the beginning of November last year.
Wenzek said he is happy to be in this new role and is keen to bring the youth from his classes and the adult musicians from the alumni band together for this show.
"Often when kids finish high school, they often say, 'Well, what do I do next with my music?' or, 'I'm done,' and I look at it as, actually this is just the beginning," he said of the alumni band. "I wanted to get a chance to introduce the kids to the band, and the band to the kids."
Bill Walters, president of the Royal City Alumni Band Society, said the band originally formed to provide adult amateur musicians with the opportunity to further their musical education and experience, which, over the past quarter century, has grown to include musicians from all over the Lower Mainland.
"We play general concert repertoire, classical, pop, show tunes," he said. "It's a very wide variety. It's a wind ensemble concert band, so no strings - it's wind and percussion."
The alumni band has a long tradition of performing at community events in New Westminster and around the Lower Mainland and continues to welcome new members.
Wenzek said until about 15 years ago, Burnaby North used to host concerts that showcased both school and community bands together.
"That was a (good way) to introduce the kids to the community bands, and the community bands to the high schools, and this is a good way to foster more students, when they finish high school, and later in life as well," he said. "There really are opportunities to play, and it's about finding some artistic part of your life that's missing."
The adult band members range in age from 18 to 80 and come from a variety of musical backgrounds.
The alumni band practices at New West Secondary School music room and performs at community events around town throughout the year.
The concert on March 14 starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 at the door, at the Michael J. Fox Theatre, at 7373 Macpherson Ave.
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