Foothills musicians celebrate summer

A global pandemic may have shut down rehearsals for the past four months, but that didn’t stop a group of avid musicians from putting on an outdoor show for the community.

The Foothills Music Society concert band, led by Kathie Van Lare, performed an hour-long concert in the parking lot at Okotoks Walmart on July 11 along with members of the Sherwood Like to Play concert band from south Calgary, to the delight of shoppers and employees of the store who stopped by the have a listen.

Party in the Parking Lot was all done without any group rehearsal time, as neither band has met in person since mid-March.

“We’re flying by the seats of our pants basically,” said Van Lare. “We had more people show up today than we anticipated, which is good.”

She got the idea from a friend who conducts a community band in St. Albert, who ran a similar outdoor concert last month. Van Lare approached the manager at Walmart and asked for permission to play in front of the store, in the alcove between its two doors, for about an hour. He was excited about the idea, she said.

About 15 members of the Sherwood group performed with 25-odd musicians from the FMS, and they were joined by a “smattering of friends,” she said, including band directors from the area and a couple of conductors from Vancouver, friends of Van Lare’s who decided to come out and play.

The music was sent out to the community groups a few weeks ago, digital versions of a combined library of sheet music from FMS and Sherwood, and most members practised on their own time before coming out to play as an ensemble.

Long-time member John Bird said he was unable to practice much beforehand due to sharing walls with his neighbours, and he wasn’t sure how his embouchure would hold up at the performance.

“I didn’t think I’d last. We played for an hour and I was surprised I got through it,” said Bird. “But I think a lot of that is experience. We’ve been playing so much, pretty intensely the last couple of years, and you tend to stay in pretty good shape even if you’re not practising all the time.”

It’s been hard not to rehearse with the group every week, making music and socializing with members, he said.

Putting together a concert without being able to do even a run-through ahead of time was impressive, he said – especially with so many musicians coming from different groups.

“We played something like a dozen pieces totally unrehearsed, which is to the credit of the members of these groups that they can actually just sit down and read a piece of music and play it for the public,” said Bird. “It’s not perfect but it’s a bit of fun, and it’s just great to get out and play.

“And playing in the fresh air on a day like this is first-class – we lucked out there.”

He was shocked by the number of people who came out to perform, having expected no more than 30 musicians at the most. Inviting the Sherwood group helped those numbers, he said, and made it even more fun.

Chris Greschner, director of the Sherwood Like to Play concert band, said they were on board the moment one of their members, who played clarinet in both community groups, suggested they join the FMS.

“It worked well because they may not have had full numbers on their own, and it was a good opportunity,” said Greschner. “It was nice to get together here.”

He said the Sherwood members have held a few Zoom meetings, but it’s not very conducive to rehearsals.

“We’re just thrilled the FMS invited us to come share in this today to get out and play, because it’s been a few months,” said Greschner.

The FMS concert band hopes to be up and running again in the fall, said Van Lare. It meets on Tuesdays evenings at Holy Trinity Academy and the jazz band plays on Wednesday evenings.

For more information visit www.foothillsmusicsociety.com.

Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca

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