Members of the Brantford Memorial Concert Band (BMCB) helped audience members “spring” into warmer weather during their most recent performance on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
Over 100 guests settled in and enjoyed a variety of music including marches, classical, contemporary pop, and concert band numbers throughout the afternoon event.
The band, made up of around 67 musicians, opened the concert with “O’Canada,” followed by C. Whitney’s “Thendara Overture.”
They then went on to play “Can’t Stop the Feeling!,” written by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Shellback, and arranged by Paul Murtha. Afterwards, they performed two classical pieces, “Jupiter,” by Gustave Holst, and “Für Elise,” by Ludwig van Beethoven, arranged for a clarinet quartet by K. Agioritis.
After performing Pierre Leeman’s “March of the Belgian Paratroopers,” conductor Paul Nicholson provided the audience with a special surprise involving master of ceremonies Rebecca Marshall.
An experienced multi-instrumentalist, Marshall plays saxophone and piano, as well as the oboe, flute and other percussion instruments including xylophone.
“It’s not on the program, but it’s worth waiting for because it’s like candy for your ears,” said Nicholson. “You may not know this, but she doesn’t just play instruments and do this kind of thing, this girl cansing too.”
Accompanied by the concert band, Marshall sang “You Raise Me Up,” written by Rolf Løvland and Brendan Graham, and popularized by Josh Groban.
Marshall, who had been providing anecdotes about the pieces throughout the concert then went on to introduce the concert band’s performance of “And the Angels Called,” by James Swearingen.
“Too often, there’s a tragedy that robs a community of its youth. You’ve heard of the Humboldt Broncos crash in 2018 in Saskatchewan and the Tumbler Ridge school shooting in British Columbia. They are stories we hear too often, and this is another. In a four week period [back in the early 2000s] an Ohio high school lost three students to three separate car accidents,” she said. “We use music to express that for which there are no words. While we tend to equate celebration with joy and mourning with grief, music makes it possible to both celebrate and mourn at the same time, experience both joy and grief at the same time without using words that probably don’t exist. This song was composed by James Swearingen and it helped the school recover from these three tragedies. Today, we are playing it to celebrate the people we knew, and to find an outlet for our grief for those we have lost.”
The musicians went on to perform Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” from the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, followed by Murtha’s “Stevie Wonder in Concert.”
“This one is very cool and we’re going to shake things up a bit. In a world where musical genius is often used, Stevie Wonder is one of the few that’s truly deserving of that title. His first number one hit was way back in 1963 when he was just 13-years-old. His most recent top 40 hit was in 2020, so he’s doing really, really well. He’s had a full career so far, and he’s still going at it,” said Marshall. “He has so many hits that I’ve got a list of about 25 here that you’re not going to hear including ‘Boogie on Reggae Woman,’ ‘Isn’t She Lovely,’ ‘Master Blaster,’ ‘Part Time Lover,’ and many, many more. But in spite of that, we’re going to feature some of his other best hits, most of which you will recognize and dancing in your chair is highly encouraged.”
To end the concert, the band played “I’ll See You Again” by Noel Coward, arranged by W. Manning.
Before heading home for the day, audience member Brian Wood, said he thought the concert was excellent and that he was impressed with the turnout.
“I thought it was brilliant,” he said. “I loved the music, there was a really great variety of different stuff there so that was nice.”
When asked if he had any particular favourites, Wood said he particularly enjoyed the Stevie Wonder medley, “Moon River” and “Jupiter.”
The resident shared that he appreciated what both the Brantford School of Instrumental Music and the Memorial Concert Band bring to the community.
“They really give local musicians the opportunity to perform and be a part of an amazing group,” he said. “And at the same time, it brings affordable entertainment to the community; it’s always admission by donation and I think that’s great for those that might not be able to afford high ticket prices to a concert in a bigger theatre. If people haven’t been to one of these concerts, they’re missing out on a chance to hear some great live music.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
