In Tune: 25 Years of New Horizons Band
On a sultry June evening, Western’s campus is quiet. The convocation crowds have departed. The ever-present geese have gone to wherever it is they sleep. The only activity comes from Mother Nature, as she unleashes a thunderstorm.
Inside the Don Wright Faculty of Music buildings, it’s a different story.
In three spaces, music is being made. No surprise there. The difference tonight is that the musicians are not there to earn a degree.
In room 227, about 50—brass, woodwinds, percussion—are warming up. Conductor Mark Enns holds up his baton and asks them to play scales. It’s a big night for this group—they’re going to run through the entire set list for their upcoming European tour.
Downstairs in the Paul Davenport Theatre, conductor Eric Heidenheim is with another group, working on an instrumental version of the Sinatra classic, “Come Fly With Me.” Heidenheim asks them to stop and repeat a few bars, one of a number of such requests as they take the song apart.
Across the hall, about 20 jazz and blues players are playing the Glenn Miller Band chestnut, “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.” Conductor Andy Chelchowski wants them to end the song with a real resolve. He and the band engage in a lively back-and-forth the musicians all seem to enjoy.
This is the Western University chapter of the New Horizons music program in action. The musicians are all amateurs, meaning none of them gets paid for playing as a profession. Some came to the program knowing how to play their instruments. Some came as absolute beginners, not even knowing how to read music.
But the conductors—all professional musicians and teachers—work the bands through the music as if they’re rehearsing for Broadway.
Read full article (published in Fall 2024 edition of Western Alumni Magazine, by Paul Fraumeni)
Photo: Margaret Wilkinson (Advanced Band I) playing the oboe, June 20, 2024 (Nicole Osborne/Western Alumni Magazine)
