A local music legacy

By Kelly McManus - North Shore Outlook and Scott Neufeld - North Shore Outlook - May 15, 2008

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Full steam ahead - With sights set on raising $500,000 this summer, the West Van Youth Band will soon have a place to call its own at the new Community Music Hall, what honorary chair Diana Krall calls “the heartbeat of the community.” The fundraising campaign kicks off May 24 with the Big Band Cabaret at the West Vancouver Ice Arena, featuring special guest Colin James. Pictured above: Fraser Muir (left), Collette Brown and Regan Cairns.

They need half a million big ones, but if anyone can do it, the West Van Youth Band can.

The community band with 77-year-old roots on the North Shore is raising the funds for a permanent home, what will be the Community Music Hall at the new West Vancouver Community Centre.

“In 77 years, we’ve never had a permanent home,” explains band director Doug Macaulay, who has spent the last year deep in planning for the new community space.

The plan is that the Youth Band will share music stands, chairs, instruments and other equipment, lending their space and resources to other community groups at the new community centre.

West Vancouver council has agreed to a plan for the new

$1.6- million Community Music Hall, and now the West Van Youth Band has the summer to raise half a million dollars for equipment and operational costs.

“This has been a 40-year saga,” said Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones of the youth band’s search for a permanent home. “They (the band) shouldn’t have to worry so much anymore. They should focus on their music. They’re really, really good.”

Directed by Macaulay, who brings his experience as a composer and teacher to his 14 years with the band, the 98-piece ensemble has grown from 39 kids to more than 180 since the early 90s.

The members come from Delta, Burnaby, Vancouver and the North Shore.

The kids usually start around eight or nine years old and some stay until their early 20s.

The band plays music in and around Grades 4 and 5-level in the Royal Conservatory scale, but there are no auditions, explained Macaulay.

“We try to inspire them to do well rather than judge them in advance so we can look good.”

Less than five per cent of the musicians come from private lessons, said Macaulay. “We don’t want it (the community band) to become elite. It’s not an elitist organization; it’s a community organization.”

Even so, the group maintains an extraordinarily high level of performance and prestige, also commissioning a number of original compositions from North American composers, most notably the four-movement work, Sea-to-Sky, from composer Ralph Ford.

Ford, who attended the West Van Youth Band performance of his composition in 2006 raves about Macaulay’s contribution: “Really, Doug has been a remarkable musical leader, producer, conductor, you name it,” he said. “It was a real honour and pleasure to be commissioned to write the suite.”

With at least two evening-long rehearsals for the kids every week, the West Van Youth Band represents a major time-commitment for its young musicians.

That time together bolsters lifelong friendships, noted Macaulay: “The band is a constant for kids with ups and downs in their lives. They’re very solid kids in this band. They support each other.”

For all the blood, sweat and tears spent in sessionals and band practice, the parents and board members constitute an incredible volunteer contingent.

Richard Robertson, board co-chair for the band, estimated that last year alone volunteer hours totalled about 7,000 hours.

This year the major fundraising starts with the Big Band Cabaret May 24 at the West Vancouver Ice Arena.

The band will play with local legend Colin James, and Macaulay expects the dance floor to be jumping.

“We hope people are going to dance all night long.”

For tickets, contact the West Vancouver Recreation Centre, 604-925-7210 or tickets@westvancouveryouthband.ca

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A local music legacy

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