Fantasia Newsletter of the Metropolitan Silver Band

June 2017, Issue 93

Contents:

MSB celebrates Canada’s

150th with Met choirs and

organ, page 1

Concert at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, page 2

MSB Muskoka Weekend,

page 3 - 4

New Piece Commissioned for Met’s 200th B-day! Page 5 CD Available, page 6

Welcome to Our New Members, page 6

Upcoming Performances,

page 7

Contact Us:

Metropolitan Silver band

c/o Michele McCall (416) 407 - 1890 metband@rogers.com

Celebrating Canada’s 150th Birthday at

Metropolitan United Church

By Michele McCall

It’s not every day that your country turns 150 years old! So much great

Canadian music to celebrate and such a variety of musical talent at our

Metropolitan United Church. How fitting then, that on May 28th, the

musical groups from the Met combined to present Music at Metropolitan –

a Celebration of Canada! Highlights performed by the band included Kevin

Lau’s Great North Overture, Ty Watson’s lively Songs of Newfoundland

and Howard Cable’s classic piece McIntyre Ranch.

Patricia Wright performed a stirring number on organ entitled Variations

on “O Canada” that literally rocked the walls. The Met choir sang the

beautiful When the Stars Fall and Here’s to Song and also backed up the

Choristers for Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom. The youth group, Great

Heart, provided a rousing rendition of Acadian Driftwood. It was a great

afternoon of music enjoyed by all. Happy Birthday Canada!

Page 1

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Page 2

MSB Helps St. Andrew’s Anglican Church Celebrate 60 Years

The band enjoyed double duty this season by performing two concerts at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in

Scarborough. The shows were part of a year long list of festivities planned by the congregation to celebrate their

60th anniversary. Thanks go out to Joy Kurantsin-Mills and the congregation for their warm hospitality.

(Canada’s 150 Concert Cont’d)

Pat leading the Met Sparklers Pat leading the Met Choir

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Page 3

Weekend Getaway: Joint Concert with the Muskoka Concert Band! Usually once a season, the band likes to take a weekend trip somewhere to perform a Saturday night concert and

Sunday morning service. This has been a fun tradition now for many years. This season we were delighted to accept

an invitation from former MSB member, Neil Barlow, to perform at a joint concert with the Muskoka Concert Band.

The setting was the lovely Active Living Centre at the Canada Summit Centre in Huntsville. Each band provided ~

30 minutes of music and then the concert finished with a mass band performance. The mass band performed Phillip

Sparke’s Pioneers, the beautiful Hymnsong on Phillip Bliss, and the exciting Madrigalum by Philip Sparke. The

Muskoka band also provided one of the most tremendous pot luck dinners in the 83 year history of the Met band!!!

Many thanks to all the members of the MCB for their warmth and hospitality – what a great day all around.

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Page 4

(Cont’d)

On the Sunday of our weekend we visited Trinity United Church in Gravenhurst for

the morning service. Thanks to Dan and all the congregation for a very warm

welcome!

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Page 5

Help Fund our Musical Commission for Metropolitan United Church’s

200th Anniversary!

Welcome to Our New Band Members! We are so pleased to welcome 6 new members to the Met this year.

.

v

Peter Reynolds – 3rd Cornet

Ian Small – Solo Cornet

The Met church is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2018 and

many special events are in the planning phase. The band and Met

organist Patricia Wright are celebrating this incredible milestone

with the commissioning of a special piece of music arranged for

band, choir and organ by acclaimed Canadian composer Leonard

Ballantine. It will be performed at several anniversary events during

the year. If you would like to help fund this special project, your

donation is most welcome! Please follow the donation instructions at

the end of this newsletter.

Dylan Shropshire - Percussion

Kaylee Longman – Tenor

Horn

James Wells – 3rd Cornet Andrew Wells – Solo Cornet

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Page 6

Reminder: Our Most Recent CD

Amazing Grace — A Gospel Celebration

In November 2015, the band released a CD featuring gospel music. The CD is in honor of the band’s 80th year

at the Metropolitan United Church and the gospel theme comes from our recent tradition of finishing a service

with a gospel piece for the postlude. So many people have asked, “Is that number on your CD?” that we

decided to make a recording of them. The music on the CD includes:

1. Spiritual Sounds – Alan Fernie

2. A Southern Gospel Suite – Alan Fernie

3. Go Down Moses – Leonard Ballantine

4. A Gospel Celebration – Piet Hamers

5. Shall We Gather – Leonard Ballantine

6. Chariots – William Gordon

7. Amazing Grace – William Gordon

8. My Lord What a Morning – William Gordon

This collection of our most popular gospel renditions is sure to delight!

To order a CD, send a cheque made out to the Metropolitan

Silver Band, for $20.00 (or two for $30.00), to Michele McCall

at 1527 Robillard Rd., Mississauga, ON, L5J 3K3.

News Flash! Stay tuned for our new CD coming this fall

featuring sacred brass favorites!

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Page 7

Upcoming Performances 2017

Sun. Sept. 10th Met United Service 10:45 am

Sun. Oct. 29th Met United Anniversary Service 10:45 am

Sat. Dec. 2nd Wexford Heights United Church Concert 7:00 pm

Sun. Dec. 10th Met Service and Deck the Halls Concert 10:45 am

1:30 pm

Sun. Dec. 10th Northlea - Caroling in the Pines 7:00 pm

Don’t Forget those Charitable

Donations!

We are happy to report that the MSB can issue tax

receipts for any charitable donations it receives.

If you would like to make a donation to the band,

please send a cheque or money order, made out to the

“Metropolitan Silver Band”, to Michele McCall, 1527

Robillard Rd., Mississauga, ON, L5J 3K3

Check Out Our Website!

Keep up on the latest MSB news and

performance schedule at

http://www.metband.ca/ and via our

Facebook page.