Back to School for Canadian Staff Band

In a departure from their normal style of ministry, the Canadian Staff Band (Bandmaster Kevin Hayward) visited the York Mills Collegiate Institute in Toronto on Wednesday, 26 October 2005. The connection to the high school was Staff Bandsman Bob Gray, who is the conductor of the school's senior concert band.

The concert, which coincided with the concert band's first evening concert of the school term, featured both the Staff Band and the concert band, with three items played by both groups as a massed band. The joint performance, while in an unusual setting for the Staff Band, was an excellent ministry opportunity, as the Staff Band was able to influence not just the young musicians on stage but also parents and friends in the audience.

Solo items from the Staff Band included Joshua Swings the Battle (played by Steve Brown), Flight of the Bumblebee (played by Noel Samuels) and Grandfather's Clock (played by Steve Pavey). Other Staff Band items included movements from Variations on “Maccabeus” (Kevin Norbury) and Peter Graham's Gaelforce. For many, the highlight of the concert was Bugler's Holiday, played by the massed bands and featuring three students and Staff Band members Bob Gray, John Avery and Nicole Pollett.