(Posted 7:30 a.m., April 21)
Gloucester Community Concert Band delivers entertaining performance
By Fred Sherwin
Orleans Online

Conductor Lisa Concessi MacLean leads the Gloucester Community Concert Band through their program during their annual Spring Concert on Sunday. Fred Sherwin/photo

More than 120 music fans were treated to an entertaining performance on Sunday as the Gloucester Community Concert Band took to the stage at Béatrice-Desloges High School for their annual Spring Concert.

The eclectic program offered a mixed bag of tunes from a suite of traditional folk songs to a pair of tributes to Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.

The theme of the concert was "Spring has Sprung" and the lively music certainly suited the spring like weather outside the theatre.

The program was tied together by a running script featuring two neighbours, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones, who were played by Jolene Savoie and Carole Mongeon who had to sprint from their positions in the orchestra to the front of the stage between each song.

At one point Mrs. Jones was having a garage sale at which Mrs. Smith bought a copy of "A Tribute to Copland" which led into the Copland tribute.

The Gloucester Community Concert Band was founded as a youth orchestra by Nelson McClintonin in 1986. In 1992, McClinton handed his baton over to Lisa Concessi MacLean who has been the orchestra's director and conductor ever since.

Over the years the band has evolved into a true community orchestra with members from both the anglophone and francophone communities. The youngest member is 16 and the oldest member is in his 70s.

The band forms every September and accepts members of all ages and skill levels. Rehearsals are held every Tuesday night at St. Peter High School. The fall is usually spent learning new arrangements in preparation for their annual Christmas concert.

The spring is by far their busiest time of the year. The season usually kicks off with a performance at the St. Peter Band-A-Thon, followed by their annual Spring Concert.

Over the next six weeks they will play at a number of seniors residences including Amica Bearbrook in Blackburn Hamlet and Résidence St-Louis as well as a special performance on Parliament Hill on May 19. They will then take a well deserved break over the summer before reforming next September. For more information about the Gloucester Community Concert Band visit www.gloucesterband.ca.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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