Once again the Canadian Staff Band has completed another busy month leading up to Christmas, with all the usual seasonal concerts and activities.

 

For the fourth straight year we were privileged to participate as part of the massed band for the Toronto Santa Claus Parade on November 16. As always, crowds lined the route and cheered us on as we sounded forth the message of the Christmas season.

 

Then on December 6 we participated in the 30th annual Carol Concert at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, an annual event that is always packed out for both performances and helps the Toronto Star provide Christmas gift boxes to 45,000 underprivileged children in the Greater Toronto Area. It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 years since this event was first put on in 1978. At that time a very young Captain Robert Redhead led the band and it’s interesting to note we are still using his original transcriptions of the David Willcocks carol arrangements three decades later. Three of our members – Stan Ewing, Ron Reid and Major Kevin Metcalf – were present at that first concert 30 years ago, and a few others have been involved almost that long. Once again this year, conductor emeritus Giles Bryant was in his usual form. The CSB’s contributions were Winter’s Snow (by our own Phillip Rayment) and Richard Phillips’ arrangement of Bizet’s Farandole. Both items were very well received. All in all, it was another wonderful day to remember.

 

A week later was the annual Christmas With The Salvation Army program at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. This year’s featured soloist was Captain Margaret Davis from Philadelphia, who was scheduled to come last year but had to cancel due to illness. But better late than never, and she was definitely worth waiting for. Her inspirational singing contributed greatly to the evening as she brought a wide selection of items. Included in her presentations were everything from The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy to Domine Deus by Vivaldi, along with Jesu Bambino/O Holy Night, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year and Angels We Have Heard On High, the last two with band accompaniments transcribed by Major Len Ballantine from the original arrangements. Captain Davis also presented a new song entitled Someday, written especially for her by Harold Burgmayer.

 

The Festival Chorus was in fine form again this year with several new choral arrangements by Major Len Ballantine, including Sweet Was the Song, Feliz Navidad and a beautiful setting of The Prayer. Under Bandmaster John Lam, the CSB’s main contributions were Farandole, the exciting march The Bells of Christmas by Stephen Bulla, and Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s Christmas Finale.

 

For Salvation Army band members, December is a busy month when you hit the ground with your feet running and don’t stop until it’s all over. And the extra-mile service when you’re in the staff band, which comes on top of normal corps band duties, is all part of the privilege of service.

 

To all our regular visitors, we wish you a very Happy Christmas and all the blessings of a new year filled with the joy and peace of God’s love.