Folk Songs And Fairy Tales: Wind Ensemble’s First Concert In The New Auditorium

Photo Credit: Eric Hamber Wind Ensemble

On Dec. 4, Hamber’s wind ensemble played its first official concert in the new auditorium, titled Folk Songs and Fairy Tales. “Fanciful, imaginative, and whimsical” is how Mr. N. Francis (Music) described the program. In his director’s note, he said, “Tonight, we explore the idea of storytelling [...] and the myriad [of] ways that it can be done with music.” 

Hamber’s wind ensemble played a total of five pieces with an intermission. “Peter and the Wolf Op. 67” by Sergei Prokofiev, “The Ecstasy of Gold” by Ennio Morricone, “Shenandoah” by Omar Thomas, “Melodious Thunk” by David Biedenbender, and “Aquarium” by Johan De Muij.

Peter and the Wolf Op. 67, which began the evening, is known as a “symphonic tale for children,” as the band plays music along to a story. 

“I’ve wanted to do Peter and the Wolf [...] for a long time, it’s a classic story. I think it was one of the pieces that I heard as a child that made me want to be an orchestral musician,” Mr. Francis said. “When I realized there was a full transcription for band, I thought, well this is really great!” 

In wind ensemble’s rendition, each instrument or section represented a character in the story: the flute represents a bird, the oboe embodies a duck, the soft clarinet evokes a cat, the bassoon embodies a grandfather, the clarinets and saxophones play the “role” of Peter, and the horn section enacts the wolf.

“When I started thinking about building a program around Peter and the Wolf, I began thinking about the importance of storytelling in human society,” Mr. Francis said. “The link in the program became various ways of looking at storytelling, be it through the idea [...] of folk song (“Shenandoah”), more directly through movie music (“The Ecstasy of Gold”), or with music that alludes to its own history in an unexpected vernacular (“Melodious Thunk”).” 

The second half of the program included “The Ecstasy of Gold,” “Shenandoah,” “Melodious Thunk,” and “Aquarium.” In the Director’s Note for the program, Francis remarked that “[in these songs], we’ll consider what might constitute a modern-day folk tale.” 

As far as challenges with the program, Francis noted how “Shenandoah,” in particular, was a technically challenging selection. 

“When I pick music, I always find that there are some things that are going to be very hard for the band that they nail immediately, and others things that I think will be relatively smooth [...] that are [in fact] really hard for them,” said Francis. “Shenandoah in particular [...] required a level of musical maturity that they had to reach for.” 

The new auditorium was also a significant factor in the functionality of the show. “If you can believe it, a new theatre is not standard in any new high school in BC,” Francis said. “It’s just not a way to be serious about the performing arts if you don’t have a [...] performance space where the community can come together.” 

Band members and teachers have noticed a difference. “It allows us to achieve higher standards in our artistry because the acoustics [...] bring out the ensemble instead of stifling the ensemble,” said Adrian Yue (12). 

“All of our equipment that we had [in the old auditorium] was held together with pieces of gum, tape, things like that […] Not a lot of things worked smoothly,” said Mr. R. Worth (Music). “I think the feeling amongst the sound crew is that [the new space is] just more professional.” 

In the new auditorium, the stage itself is much bigger, and has improved lighting. The auditorium has three new dressing rooms, new LED lights, and a sliding metal door. With the sliding metal door, Worth says that, in the future, the space could become a flagship auditorium, used by professional theatres.  

Francis feels very fortunate to have access to the new concert space. “We fought for this. We didn’t realize we were going to get something quite [this] good, but we knew we were fighting for something better.”