Barrie Concerts & Georgian Music

Raymond Tizzard is a performer, administrator and arts activist. He received his B.Mus. (Education) and M.M. (Literature and Performance) from the University of Western Ontario, followed by studies at the Banff School of Fine Arts. He is currently the Orchestra Personnel Manager and Music Administrator for the National Ballet of Canada with whom he performed from 1978 until 2010. From 1980 until 2007 he was a member of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. Ray is a founding member of True North Brass with whom he is a Yamaha Artist and is the Board Chair of the Interprovincial Music Camp, one of Canada’s finest summer music camps

Ray’s artistry as a trumpeter and cornetist can be heard on over 50 recordings ranging from brass band, orchestral, chamber music, operatic and ballet repertoire not to mention a number commercial music recordings, television and musical soundtracks along the way.

In 1983 Ray was the driving force behind the formation of the Hannaford Street Silver Band. He first served in the capacity of Artistic Co-ordinator and throughout the 1990’s served as Artistic Director. Under his artistic leadership many of the HSSB’s ongoing traditions were formed. These include the move to the St. Lawrence Centre, the production of 10 commercially available recordings, the commissioning of over 50 works by Canada’s finest composers and extending invitations to the who’s who of the brass world to perform with the HSSB. Ray also initiated collaborations by the HSSB with a myriad of jazz, classical, choral and world music artists at its home venue in Toronto.

On July 1, 2000, Ray was appointed as the HSSB’s first Executive Director and in this capacity oversaw the activities of both the HSSB and the Hannaford Youth Education Program. Commencing March 1st, 2011, Ray become the HSSB’s General Director, responsible for the artistic vision and overall organizational architecture. His tireless advocacy on behalf of the HSSB is a key element to the on-going success and development of the organization.

http://184.107.41.78/~hannafordbrass

www.truenorthbrass.com

www.national.ballet.ca

http://ca.yamaha.com/en/

www.campimc.ca

The HSSB is Toronto’s award-winning professional brass band and Resident Company of Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. In 1983, The Hannaford Street Silver Band was formed by a group of professional musicians with a love of the brass band repertoire and ensemble playing. Since then, The HSSB has been reinvigorating the brass band tradition to critical and popular acclaim. Its mission is to honour the traditions of this art form and at the same time place it in a contemporary context with a unique Canadian point of view. The HSSB has redefined what a brass band is capable of doing by facilitating innovative creative projects and collaborating with the very best of Canada’s diverse cultures and outstanding artists.

Unique in its mandate and structure, the HSSB is the only fully professional ensemble of its kind in Canada; in fact, in the whole of North America, there is only one other professional brass band, the River City Band of Pittsburgh. Through its artistic excellence and ongoing advocacy of this art form, the HSSB has had a local, provincial, national and international impact. Its recordings and commissions are of particular interest to bands in Europe, and here at home, the annual three day Hannaford Festival of Brass at the St. Lawrence Centre is Canada’s largest international brass festival, attracting ensembles from both Canada and the United States. The excitement and appeal of the brass band stems from its distinctive instruments which were developed in the 1850’s. Their sounds have rung out from the coronation of King’s to the village bandstand, and now down Canada’s main streets and concert halls. The HSSB stands apart in this musical genre in its pursuit of artistic creativity and musical innovation.

One of our core values is to promote and foster education and to this end, the Silver Band has for several years sponsored and administered the Hannaford Youth Program. Young musicians between the ages of eight and 24 perform in three vibrant ensembles: The Hannaford Junior Band, The Hannaford Community Band and the Hannaford Street Youth Band. Each year over 100 young musicians from across the GTA and beyond enroll in this dynamic and continually growing program.

The HSSB also maintains a vigorous commissioning program that has resulted in new concert works for brass band by such Canadian composers as Vivian Fung, Christos Hatzis, Malcolm Forsyth, Raymond Luedeke, J. Scott Irvine, Andrew MacDonald, Donald Coakley, John Burge, Roger Bergs, Alex Pauk, Omar Daniel, Charles Cozens, Patrick Cardy, Henry Kucharzyk, Gary Kulesha, Randolph Peters, Jeff Ryan, Scott Good, Larysa Kuzmenko, Kelly Marie Murphy, Derek Holman, Barbara Croall, Erik Ross, Marcus Venables, and Rob Teehan.

The commission, Requiem Mass for a Charred Skull by Bramwell Tovey was awarded a 2003 JUNO Award for Best Classical Composition.

In recognition of its accomplishments, in November of 2003, the HSSB was awarded its second Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts.

There is indeed a Hannaford Street in the east end of Toronto, home to one of the HSSB’s Founders.