Edmonton Schoolboys' Alumni Band closes season with diversity

There’s a standard groaner that old musicians never die. They just get played out.

Well, the Edmonton Schoolboys’ Alumni Band, a mixed band of mature musicians, ignores the contemporary myth that only youth equals artistry.

In fact, these musicians from the mid-forties to mid-eighties have discovered a magic combination in melding their diverse skills and proficiencies. And yes, their chops are still pretty hot.

Defying the music industry’s worship of the young, the 55-member ensemble, under the direction of conductor Taina Lorenz, present Under the Baton on Sunday, May 3 at St. Albert United Church.

“This is a good established band that people are starting to recognize, particularly because of the age of the band. That’s what’s different – when you see guys in their 70s still playing and supporting music,” said master of ceremonies Gerry Buccini, a band clarinettist.

Among the woodwinds, brass and percussion, there are an additional nine St. Albert ambassadors: Don Hiron (flute), Bill Kirsch (bari sax), Lou Allemano (baritone-euphonium), George Adams (tuba), Dave Organ (flute), Dale Rokosh (baritone-euphonium), Pat Sturgess (percussion) and, husband-wife duo Aidan and Maura McGarrigle (sax and guitar respectively).

“We play music that gets us excited. The overall arching theme of our concerts is playing the great music everyone loves. It’s varied, lively and meaningful,” Lorenz noted.

Lorenz has compiled a two-hour buffet ranging from ballads, a sea shanty and Broadway tunes, to movie music, a march and a classical composition. The 11 selections she’s chosen promote diversity of musical styles, technical difficulty and mood shifts.

There’s the Coast of High Barbaree, a traditional jaunty pirate tune played alongside contemporary composer Larry Deahn’s With Quiet Courage, a dedication to his mother.

“His family lived on a Wisconsin farm and you can imagine how hard she worked. She also lost both of her legs due to diabetes but never complained. Quiet Courage is a very slow moving, very emotional – just a gorgeous melody,” Buccini said.

From the entertainment world, the band plays the challenging Schindler’s List theme as well as Bond, James Bond, a flashy medley from six of the ultimate action hero’s movies.

“There are quite a few transitions and we have to flip quickly from fast to slow and back again to fast.”

Most music lovers are familiar with John Philip Sousa as a composer of marches.

“But also he composed operettas and many of his famous marches come from operettas,” said Buccini noting the concert band presents a march from El Capitan, an operetta Sousa first produced in 1896.

“When you listen to El Capitan, you can hear him firing up the troops and getting ready to go to battle.”

The group steps into the 18th century with Handel’s Water Music, a project filled with minuets, bourĂ©es and hornpipes.

And then there’s Shenandoah, a Frank Tichelli number that charts the journey of French voyageurs along the Missouri River and how one trader fell in love with the daughter of an Iroquois chief.

In summing up the concert, Buccini said, “The audience will get a wonderful afternoon of music, memories and emotion.”