The Citizen, 2015-02-26, Page 26On Friday, Feb. 20, the St. Anne’s
Catholic Secondary School Concert
Band welcomed acclaimed
composer Jeff Christmas to rehearse
a piece that he composed
specifically for the St. Anne’s
Concert Band. Jeff’s compositions
are in demand internationally and
have been performed by symphonies
all over North America from
Orchestra London to the Dallas Fort
Worth Symphony.
With the help of a grant from the
Grand Bend Rotary Club, the 56-
member St. Anne’s band
commissioned a piece from Jeff
Christmas that would reflect its Lake
Huron heritage. Jeff delivered with
an exemplary concert band piece
entitled “Songs of the Karegnondi”
which explores themes surrounding
the Big Storm of 1913.
“Commissioning a piece of music
about the lake provides students the
opportunity to explore their Lake
Huron heritage through music,” says
band director Josh Geddis.
“Students in the band have been
involved with the process from the
initial idea, previewing the rough
copy of the score, to learning the
piece, and now getting to work
directly with the composer. It is an
amazing educational opportunity to
watch local history and music
collide.”
In his liner notes Jeff describes the
piece further. While at St. Anne’s he
elaborated on how the research
process works directly with the
composition process when creating a
piece such as this: “I chose to divide
this work into three themes, ‘Hymn
To the Foundered’, ‘Wexford
Shanty’ and ‘November Witch’.
‘Hymn To Be Foundered’ is a
chorale dedicated to souls that
perished in the Big Storm of 1913.
While most sailors clung to various
superstitions, they had a deep
respect for the power of the lakes
and consequently, the power that
created them. Using a hymn setting
brings a reverence to the piece that
speaks to that respect.
‘Wexford Shanty’, a ‘sea shanty’,
is written in the style of a lovely folk
tune or jig. Deeply rooted in
seafaring lore, this is a ‘work song’,
commonly sung by sailors while
performing shipboard labour. This
also was frequently the style of
music they chose for entertainment
to relieve the stresses of their long
days. The SS Wexford, built in Great
Britain in 1883, foundered 8.6 miles
NNE of Grand Bend, Ontario. The
wreck was discovered in August 25,
2000, sitting intact and upright in 75
feet of water on the bottom of Lake
Huron.
‘November Witch’ depicts the
strong November Gales that
frequently blow across the Great
Lakes in autumn. These ‘witches’
have caused numerous shipwrecks
over the years, including during the
‘Big Storm’ of 1913. This
‘Freshwater Fury’ contained
PAGE 26. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015.
The Kenny Plunkett Memorial
raffle draw and weekend event
was a great success according to
organizer Gary Courtney.
The event and raffle, which
created a trust fund for Austin
Plunkett, the son of Teresa Dykstra
and the late Kenny Plunkett, were
held on Saturday, Feb. 14 and,
despite the bad weather, brought out
100 people and over 45
snowmobiles.
More than $9,000 was raised for
the trust fund with more still coming
in.
Twelve different prizes were
raffled off, including tickets to
National Hockey League games for
the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo
Sabres, tickets to hockey games for
Ontario Hockey League teams the
London Knights, Guelph Storm and
Kitchener Rangers, Blyth Festival
tickets, Old Mill gift certificates, a
Village Barber gift certificate and oil
for snowmobiles provided by
Edwards Fuel.
“Everything for the entire
weekend was donated,” Courtney
said. “Everything from the prizes to
the food to even the raffle tickets. I
want to thank everyone who
contributed and everyone who
attended.”
Courtney said that, while the
winners of the raffle were
determined, some of the winners
decided to donate their gifts back or
sell them to other people with the
funds going directly back to the trust
fund.
“It’s really great when people are
that interested in helping out,”
Courtney said.
St. Anne’s Band to perform original piece
Conducting
Renowned composer Jeff Christmas spent some time
working with the St. Anne’s Band last week in preparation
for the performance of an original piece at the band’s
spring concert in May. (Photo submitted)
Family Day event raises $9,000 for Plunkett
Doing their part
A special fundraising event and raffle was held at the
Courtney property on Scott Line for Austin Plunkett, the son
of Teresa Dykstra and the late Kenny Plunkett. The event,
which was held on Family Day weekend, set up a trust fund
for Austin worth more than $9,000 thanks to donations like
those made by the Blyth Lions Club and many others. In the left
picture, Austin’s mother Teresa Dykstra, left, is seen accepting the
cheque along with Kenny’s father Steve, while in the right picture,
the Blyth Lions Club made its contribution, From left: Lion Ronnie
Abel-Rinn, Lion Ryan Lee and Dykstra. (Photos submitted)
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Specialty Coffees &
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Live Entertainment
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Tim Craig and Julie-Ann Lewiski
8:00 pm ~ $10. admission at door
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 28