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Hannaford Concert

To: Brass Band List <brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Hannaford Concert
From: David Buckley <davebuckley@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 14:45:59 -0500
Priority: low
Reply-to: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The star of the Hannaford Street Silver Band concert in Toronto on
Sunday was clearly Shoichoro Hokazono, the euphonium soloist of the
Japan Air Self-Defense Force Band. But not far behind was the program
concept of East meets West  thought up by Artistic Director Ray Tizzard.

Hokazono showed us a warm, mature, rich and full euph sound with a
firmly controlled and sensitive vibrato. He has as fine a euph sound as
I have heard and maybe the best. This sound was matched by brilliant
technique in all registers. The piece Legend for Euphonum and Brass Band
by Marcel Kentsubitsch, which started life for euph and piano and has
also been arranged for military band and euph giving rise to the
question of the real name of the piece, demonstrated all aspects of this
young man's remarkable artistry. A wondeful addition to the repertoire.
The soloist also brought new insight to James Curnow's Rhapsody for
Euphonium and Band, a much more traditional composition. For the horn
fanatics in the crowd, he played on a Yamaha instrument proving that
Yamaha has mastered the euph along with the rest of their line.

Ray Tizzard consistantly comes up with program ideas that are refreshing
and also accessible. Thay have resulted in the development for Hannaford
of a core audience that is much broader than that of a traditional brass
band. This program while presenting such traditional band items as Bill
Gordon's march, The Great Revival, Moeley Clavert's Canadian Folk Song
Suite, Curnow's The New Covenant and the encore Blaze Away also
introduced us to Three Japanese Folk Songs By Takuzo Inagaki and Garden
Rain for Brass Ensemble, originally written for the Phillip Jones Brass
Ensemble by Toru Takemitsu. Sword, Jewel and Mirror while based on a
Japanese folk tale was written as a test piece by Philip Harper but is
not in the least in the test piece mold. Rocky Mountain Overture by John
Burge was originally written for orchestra but loses nothing in its
recoring by Burge for brass band at the insigation of Tizzard.

Michael Reason, a young orchestral conductor filling in for an injured
Jim Curnow, kept things tight and controlled. Hannaford seemed to me to
show more dynamic range than has usually been the case. Whether that was
due to Reason or the the band having recently hosted Black Dyke Mills,
the exploraion of true pps and ffs was welcome.

Thanks Ray for your continuing efforts to show that there is more to
brass banding than contesting. It does surprise me a little that more
brass guys do not attend but I guess, even in Canada, brass can be a
little insulating.

Dave Buckley


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