Every year the Campbell River Community Band’s director Céline Ouellette is faced with the challenge of choosing a theme and finding music for the annual spring concert.
The music has to be pleasing to the audience, fun for the band, and, aside from a couple of new scores every year, available in the band’s extensive music library.
This spring’s concert, scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. meets all of those requirements. The theme, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” represents every conceivable mode of transportation from tall ships to rocket ships.
The concert, to take place in Carihi’s multi-purpose room, will include two guests. Band member Phil Cassidy (who has been the band’s director in the past) will conduct several numbers.
Rick Howell will serve as the Master of Ceremonies. Howell, a retired English and drama teacher, is renowned for the way he introduces the music at the Comox Valley Concert Band concerts.
Refreshments prepared by band members will be served at the concert which will not be long; children are very welcome.
The band has never had a shortage of talented soloists to choose from. A relative newcomer, Brian Killikenny, a retired band teacher from Victoria, will be featured on trombone in Solo Flight.
To round out the afternoon, there will be music about ships, including the themes from the movie Titanic, and a descriptive piece about a shipwreck. As well the band will visit Nascar and the bustle and traffic of New York in 1927.
Tickets to Planes Trains and Automobiles are available from band members or at the door. The cost is $5, or $12 for a family.