Weston Silver Band returns to Cornwall Concert Series
April 18, 2024
Weston Silver Band, Canada’s award-winning brass band, returns to Aultsville Theatre to close the Cornwall Concert Series season on Saturday, May 4th at 7:30 pm with a concert entitled Hymn of the Highlands, celebrating the traditional music of Scotland.
Featuring a varied program of audience favourites such as Loch Lomond, My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, and Auld Lang Syne, this acclaimed ensemble is renowned for their exciting concerts and dazzling soloists!
Now in its 100th season, the Weston Silver Band (WSB) traces its continuous history back to 1921, when it was created as the Weston Boys’ Band by George Sainsbury. Under the baton of Music Director Larry Shields, the band’s membership is made up of accomplished brass players from Toronto and surrounding areas. Larry has been playing professionally for over 35 years and has been an educator for 33. Currently Larry is the Music Director for National Music Camp of Canada, Music Director for the Weston Silver Band and the Brampton Concert Band, as well as Music Teacher for The Country Day School in King City. He has been back-up to many great musicians that include David Foster, Andrea Bocelli, Aretha Franklin, Michael Bublé and Diana Krall, and some old favourites such as Paul Anka, Chaka Khan and the Temptations. Larry was a member of DCT (David Clayton Thomas), the Paul Read Orchestra, the Ron Collier Jazz Orchestra, the Canadian Tribute to Glenn Miller and the National Concert Band of Canada. He can be heard on many CDs and commercials, most recently on Christmas recordings by Alan Jackson and Matt Dusk.
Three-time North American Brass Band Champions, the WSB returned to competition in 2014 at the North American Brass Band Championships after an 18-year hiatus, and is the first and only Canadian Brass Band to win section titles at the contest. Weston won first-place honours in the Second Section in 2014. Moving up to First Section in 2015, the WSB repeated their top prize-winning result. Following a second- place finish in 2016, the WSB won first place at the Championships in March 2017 and second place in 2018. Five-time winners of the Hannaford Cup, an annual Award of Excellence at Toronto’s Festival of Brass, as well as Best Soloist awards for members Brad Norton, cornet (2011), Robert Miller, euphonium (2013) and Matthew Ross, flugelhorn (2015), the WSB has recently gained international recognition as a performing ensemble.
The WSB became the first Canadian Brass Band invited to perform at the US Open Brass Band Championships, in Chicago, Illinois with a third-place podium finish in 2009 and a US Open Best Soloist win for WSB euphonium virtuoso Robert Miller in 2010. Miller has established himself as one of Canada’s leading euphonium soloists. Currently, he is Principal Euphonium of the Weston Silver Band, Hannaford Street Silver Band and the Mississauga Temple Band, and has instructed euphonium as a member of the University of Toronto Faculty since 2007.
In November 2022, the WSB returned to the US Open Brass Band Championships, held in Michigan, and placed 2nd in the Championship section and was presented with several additional recognition awards (Best euphonium/bari section, Best tenor horn/ flugelhorn section, Best performance of a March) as well as Best Soloist and Best Individual Performer for WSB euphonium virtuoso Robert Miller.
Through excellent artistic and educational performances for musicians and communities, the WSB actively seeks to promote the brass band tradition as an important part of the cultural heritage of the Province of Ontario as well as a dynamic and unique voice for contemporary composers and arrangers.
The concert will mark the third appearance for the WSB at the Cornwall Concert Series, which has been a fixture of Cornwall’s cultural scene for over 30 years.
Ticket information
Single tickets ($35) for the performance may be purchased in advance (cash or cheque) at TD Canada Trust (1 Ninth Street East), Jolly Tours (Eastcourt Mall) and The Squire Shop (113 Pitt Street).
Tickets are also available at the City of Cornwall Box Office locations at the Cornwall Aquatic Centre (100 Water Street East, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm) and Benson Centre (800 Seventh Street West, Monday to Friday, 7 am to 9 pm).
Single tickets may also be purchased at the Aultsville Theatre Box Office on the day of the performance subject to availability.
Additional information
For additional information on the Cornwall Concert Series, please visit the Cornwall Concert Series website.
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