Canadian Concert and Brass Band Restarts?

[prairieboy1]

I know there are Canadian members here. Have your Community Concert Band and/or Brass Bands made plans to restart this fall? Here on the prairies, things are very quiet. I know that some groups are looking at small ensembles such as brass and woodwind choirs for example. The physical distancing requirements ( all musicians being 4 metres apart from each other and a conductor behind a full-length plexiglass shield) have really limited what can happen. Our neighbours to the west in Alberta have recently relaxed their requirements for bands. Perhaps that will have an e ffect here. Share your news from different parts of the country!

[Shawn]

Chester (Nova Scotia) Brass has a benefit concert scheduled for Sep 27 at a church.
Let's see if it comes off.

There is no rhyme nor reason here as to which events the government approves and which it does not. Very confusing.The major junior hockey team can have fans, but the regional (pro) theatre has been binned until at least May. The symphony is hoping to do something after Christmas, but can't get thumbs up or thumbs down.

[prairieboy1]

Thanks for your reply. Chester is a beautiful place, I visited there many years ago. My main band (Saskatoon Concert Band) has already sent out a survey to determine how many musicians are prepared to return to it and the Auxiliary Band as well. The result was that over 90% of the members in each group are prepared to return when it is possible. Our registration is online this year. It arrived today by email and was completed and returned with an online transfer to look after the yearly registration fee. The next step is to determine how many players can exist in our 2800 square feet rehearsal space. At a four metre distance apart from each player, 11 players and 1 conductor can be there. If a two metre space is used, then we can approximately have between 25 and 30 players. The government here says that four metres is the expectation. There will be debate as well as decisions made within our bands as to those of us who play in both bands. We may have to make a choice as to which band we play in. That's what is happening here at the moment. Good Luck with your proposed Concert on the 27th of September!