East York concert band to celebrate 75th anniversary with concert this Sunday

By JESSICA SHACKLETON

Members of The East York Concert Band have been busy rehearsing for their upcoming 75th anniversary concert this Sunday.

The band rehearses every Monday evening and this year’s spring concert, Musical Memories: Celebrating 75 Years of the East York Concert Band, will take place on Sunday, June 2, at 2 p.m. at St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral on Overlea Drive.

For the anniversary concert, some of the band’s alumni will join the current ensemble to perform. The East York Concert Band has about 55 members and is fully stocked with a range of instruments. It is an all-ages group with members in their 20s, 90s, and everything in between.

The 75th anniversary milestone is important to recognize since there are not many community bands with such a long history left in the city.

The East York Concert Band (EYCB) was founded in 1948 by local music teacher Norman Tuckwell. Initial members were drawn from East York Collegiate Institute night school music class students.

Russ Welton, who will be 96 in October, is an original member of the band and still plays the drums. He was personally invited by Tuckwell in 1950 to join the band as he had been a percussion player in his years as a student at East York Collegiate.

“The conductor was the music director at East York. (He) had the high school orchestra but then he got the idea of having a concert band and when I graduated he contacted me to come out and it started from there,” said Welton. “I haven’t had the sense to get out.”

Welton was too young to fight in the Second World War but he had two older sisters and their husbands fought in Italy so the band’s early years in the post-war world are very memorable for him as they would perform Wednesday night concerts at hospitals and nursing homes.

The band was also frequently commissioned to provide musical entertainment for skaters at the Scarborough Skating Club, he recalled.

After the Toronto megacity amalgamation became official at the start of 1998, the EYCB started putting on more of their own concerts. They hold two major concerts a year in the winter and spring, along with smaller performances. They have the memorial concert and sometimes play at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre.

The fact that Welton has stuck around for 75 years means the band must be doing something right, he said.

Russ Welton, at left, plays the drums during a recent East York Concert Band rehearsal. Photo by Jessica Shackleton.

Russell Sutherland is the band’s president. He’s been a member for about four years and plays the euphonium, which is like a small tuba. The EYCB is volunteer-based and Sutherland’s main role is to preside over meetings along with the rest of the executive board.

“It’s fun, you get to meet people, it’s great to make music together. You can always do a better job together than any one of you,” he said. “And some of us are reliving our high school years as well.”

Many eras have passed since the band’s inception and having a stable community of musicians in the band is something special that needs to be preserved, said Sutherland.

“To have an original person in your band is a massive thing which gives it substance as roots are important. We have an original guy in the band and that is just spectacular,” said Sutherland about Welton’s continuing involvement with EYCB.

“It’s a great symbol of the longevity of the band.”

A lot of community concert bands across the city have folded in recent years, and Sutherland was pleasantly surprised when this season saw an increase of 10 new members in the EYCB.

“They’re all pretty experienced players and they’re all good players. We’ve had a boost which has been great for the community but also for the music,” he said.

Throughout three-quarters of a century, the band has been led by many conductors.

This year is conductor David Lum’s first season with the band. He retired in 2021 after a career as a music teacher at the Toronto District School Board, most recently as the head of music at Agincourt Collegiate Institute in Scarborough.

Lum said that he’s failing in retirement since he still teaches music education at York University and is busy as a festival adjudicator. When he heard that the EYCB was looking for a new conductor, he applied and was hired.

He quickly understood the draw and importance of the EYCB.

“My perspective is that they’re a group of people that like to be in the same room together, they’re a lovely community of people that like to play music together,” said Lum.

Part of what contributes to the band’s prosperity is that they keep fun and good company as the priority. For them, it’s a community first and a band second.

“Their focus is different. We play music that’s challenging enough for everyone but entertaining to the audience and we do it to the best of our abilities,” said Lum.

Conductor David Lum, at left, leads the East York Concert Band in a recent rehearsal. Photo by Jessica Shackleton.

Speaking of the audience, sousaphone player Tom Heiner loves seeing children interact with the music. He remembered seeing performances when he was a kid and was inspired to learn to play an instrument.

He said that getting to perform and inspire little kids, and anyone else, with music is the best part of being a member of the EYCB.

For inquiries about tickets for the 75th anniversary concert, contact tickets@eastyorkconcertband.ca.

For more info on the band, visit https://www.eastyorkconcertband.ca/