The Nanaimo Concert Band is getting a breath of fresh air this coming Monday when the ensemble takes to the stage for an outdoor performance at Maffeo Sutton Park.
The show comes a week after the group’s plein air recital at Ladysmith’s Transfer Beach Park. Recently elected band president Linda Hughes said there are considerations to be made when performing outside.
“We have to play so that we project louder because, of course, it’s not the acoustics that you have inside and the band always sounds different to our own ears when we’re playing,” Hughes said.
“And then just whatever the weather is doing for us and the wind blowing the music around. We take precautions but sometimes things happen.”
Hughes, a bass clarinetist, joined the group about seven years ago. At the time she was already playing with a couple bands out of Parksville-Qualicum and Nanaimo, but she was drawn to the 146-year-old Nanaimo Concert Band due to its reputation.
“I had heard the band for many years and I just had always wanted to play with them,” she said, adding that it’s been fun and challenging.
Hughes said the music they’ll be playing on Monday will include the marches, swings and show tunes of their typical repertoire but without the heavier overtures.
“It’s lots of fun because the audience is walking past and sitting down and they’re surprised to hear that there’s a concert sometimes,” she said, adding that she hopes listeners leave the concert feeling uplifted.
“It’s usually the bouncier, lighter music, toe-tapping tunes that we play. Recognizable, so [they] leave with a song in their heads and wanting to come back and hear us again.”
WHAT’S ON … Nanaimo Concert Band performs at Maffeo Sutton Park on Monday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m.
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