Mission Hill’s Brass Band accordion adventures

The Mission Hill Brass Band has a knack for pulling unexpected rabbits out of a hat. Take for instance the bellows-driven accordion and brass band.

At first glance, they’re an unlikely musical marriage. Yet in the climate of excitement for Mission Hill’s last concert of the season, music director Daniel Skepple Jr. has paired the disparate instruments.

Accordionly Brass brings together the 28-piece British style brass band with special guest St. Albert’s Denis Bourdon and Kathy Dahlberg from the Edmonton Accordion Society.

“I was at a community meeting for the Capilano Tennis Club and we were talking about ways to rent the hall and make it more financially viable. Somebody mentioned we could rent it out every night except Wednesday because an accordion group rehearsed then,” said Skepple.

“Accordion group? Is anyone still playing the accordion,” Skepple quietly asked himself. But he went home, tapped a few keys on his computer keyboard and discovered a thriving community of regional accordionists.

The idea of presenting a concert with brass and keys kept brewing, and he contacted the Accordion Society to see if the interest was mutual.

Bourdon and Dahlberg replied enthusiastically. The result is a concert of four sets alternating between brass and accordion.

The accordionists have compiled a diaspora of global music intended to show off the squeezebox’s versatility and influence across the world.

The cultural and geographical kaleidoscope is far reaching from the jazzy Clarinet Polka and the spirited Latin Espana Alegre to Germany’s uplifting Unter Hamburger Flagge and the soulful Elvis Presley hit It’s Now or Never.

The brass band repertoire is packed with 10 pieces. Seven are new.

“We always want to share new music, not the same old stuff. We’re very excited and this is a great opportunity for the players,” noted Skepple.

The opener is an attention-grabber – John Williams’ iconic Superman theme written for the 1979 big-budget movie starring the ill-fated Christopher Reeves. It is immediately followed by The Moody Blues mega-hit Nights in White Satin.

The most challenging composition of the evening is Kevin Norbury’s Flourish for Trombone with a solo from Fenton Corey.

“It’s a trombone solo with different variations that are challenging for the soloist and for the band. It’s fast and slow with different measures, different beats and different time signatures. It’s a very dynamic piece.”

One of the evening’s most poignant works with a dark history is Emblem of the Army, a march written by Arthur Guillidge.

“He (Guillidge) was captured as a prisoner during World War II. On his way to a camp where he was being transported, the boat he was on capsized and he died. His music didn’t get discovered until the 1960s.”

On a fun note, the band dives in the more whimsical Meet the Flintstones, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Skepple has also added a spiritual element with St. Francis and All that I Am, a funeral ballad composer William Himes wrote to honour the death of his first wife.

Closing the concert is Montreal Citadel, a very popular Salvation Army march written in 1934.

Accordionly Brass is on Saturday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. in St. Albert United Church.