"Make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn - shout for joy before the Lord, the King." -Psalm 98: 5-6

Psalm 98 is a call of celebration. It is a call to announce to the world the righteous reign of our Lord and Saviour through the use of music.

On April 20th, 1988, HERITAGE BRASS originally began its history as the Metro Toronto Reservist Band whose purpose was spreading the good news of the Gospel through music. Later, the Metro Toronto Reservist Band became the Ontario Central Reservist Band (OCRB) to reflect the fact that band members came from Corps right across the Cental Ontario Division of The Salvation Army. More recently in 2007, the OCRB changed its name to HERITAGE BRASS of the Salvation Army. However, the band's purpose has never wavered and this commitment to spreading the 'good news' has been shared in nursing homes, seniors' groups, golden agers' rallies, various Salvation Army activities, Christmas Kettles, the annual Seniors' Jubilee Concert at Toronto's Roy Thompson Hall, church functions and worship services throughout Ontario, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Florida USA.

Peterborough Concert:
Cliff Cummings, reporting
Heritage Brass played to a full house at Peterborough Temple on Saturday, May 5. The hour and a half drive from Toronto, (remember that is only from Toronto, becomes a substantially longer trip for some of the members who had to drive perhaps more than 3 hours to reach Peterborough). Just all part of the fun.

In the absence of the incapacitated Bandmaster Ian Watkinson, interim Bandmaster Brian Burditt willingly and competently led the band in a scintillating programme. From Dudley Bright's opening march, Assignment, to the concluding Stars and Leafs Forever (William Himes) Bandmaster Brian kept up his humourous dialogue to everyone's entertainment and pleasure.

Soloists for the night were Bill White (flugel) in He Is Lord; Deryck Diffey (cornet) in I'd Rather Have Jesus, as well as the cornet trio Buglers Holiday with Deryck Diffey, Murray Shadgett and Cliff Cummings. Executive Officer Major Greg Simmonds as always presented a well developed devotional moment.

The Steven Bulla Western Overture always goes over big with the B.M., engaging the audience in "name the tunes" subtly enclosed in the selection.

Everybody on deck in the morning at their own corps bands.

Conducted by Bandmaster pro tem Brian Burditt
Click here to find more information about our tour of Florida!

Read our Travel Blog HERE!

Our latest CD, Good Old Army 4, is now available right here!
Click here to hear selections from our latest offering, and how you can own a copy.

 A Netherlands brass band enthusiast, Herman A. Haverkate presents Christian oriented brass band music on radio every Sunday at 18:00 - 18:25 hours (GMT+1) which for North American listeners is 12:00 noon (EST or EDT).  It is noted that you can listen to the broadcasts by clicking the button Logos Live on the website: www.omroeplogos.nl

You can access the web site during the day time hours to listen to previous broadcasts. The programme with numbers from Good Old Army 4 is scheduled for broadcast Sunday May 6.  The previous recording Peace Of Heart should come on sometime early in the fall on the third Sunday of the month.

HB RECORDING SESSIONS
Cliff Cummings, reporting

Two-day long (at least 5 hours each) recording sessions took place on Thursday and Friday, November 18 and 19, 2011 at the Etobicoke Temple site. The production of "GOOD OLD ARMY #4" was a marathon endurance test on the band's part. From the disc's signature tune, "Good Old Army" (Nick Simmons-Smith) to the final add-on tune "A Child This Day Is Born," which will likely appear on the Salvation Army's Christmas Disc, a group of very tired people made their journeys homeward.

It was very applicable that the opening line of the initial track is "We're a band that shall conquer the foe if we fight in the strength of the King."

The concept of a recording featuring many of the grand old songs used in Salvation Army worship services through the ages and interspersed with snappy marches, inspirational selections and great festival numbers has been well received at the market level. This recording features only one soloist. Deryck Diffey contributed the lovely work, "In The Love Of Jesus" (Wm. Hammond, arr. Ray Steadman-Allen). Master recording engineer Ted Marshall of Marshall Arts was able to catch all the faulty entries, releases, missed accidentals and the odd snuffle or cough.

Congratulations to the bandmaster Ian Watkinson as well as his wife Isobel who provided us with a wonderful dinner on the final day!

HERITAGE BRASS ANNUAL FESTIVAL
Clifford Cummings, reporting

The annual festival of Heritage Brass was again held at Oshawa Temple Corps on Saturday, October 29, 2011. To a full capacity house the enthusiastic audience was treated to a wonderful evening of cherished Army music and up-to-date singing and solos.  Guests, Nicholas Giles, the youthful wonder-kid of the euphonium formerly of Norwich Citadel Band, England, and the Korean Corps Songster Brigade under the leadership of their charismatic leader Helen Song were in top form.

The band opened the concert with Wilfred Heaton's great march PRAISE immediately followed by Davis' arrangement of FROM EARTH'S CONFUSION. The two pieces back to back  made a striking contrast from the bombastic to the simplistic. The band has a rousing arrangement of Colonel Norman Bearcroft's for the song COME JOIN OUR ARMY which brought the congregation into the Army spirit right off the top with hand-clapping and perhaps some muffled hallelujahs.

Nicholas is a young man just into his twenties who combines his considerable instrumental talent with a nice flair for showmanship. His presentations of SONG OF THE BROTHER (Leidzen), BENEDICTUS (Jenkins) and BRILLANTE (Graham) were superb.

Helen Song is a lady with a wonderful voice and has the musical credentials of the professional she is. Her songster brigade of sixteen singers held the audience in the palm of their collective hands. Her presentation of Cesar Franck's PANIS ANGELICUS was delicately and tastefully rendered. The glorious evening concluded with Joyce Eilers Bacak's THE IRISH BLESSING.

During the programme the service of retiring Executive Officer Major Ernie Reid was recognized and the in-coming EO Major Greg Simmonds was welcomed. Bandmaster Ian Watkinson wiped the perspiration from his brow at the end of the evening and accepted the congratulations from the audience on behalf of the band.

Another evening of successful music making by Heritage Brass.

Below you will find some images of our concert. Click to play! You can also click an icon for full monitor viewing.