• David Childs, British Euphonium Soloist
• Alain Trudel, conductor
• The Hannaford Street Silver Band (HSSB)

David Childs, British Euphonium Soloist

"a great ambassador for the euphonium, possessing an astonishing technique and an engaging stage presence." - The Observer

"a charismatic advocate of the euphonium, a demonstration of versatility and extrovert musicality."
- The Guardian

"a serious musician dedicated to raising his instrument's profile. Childs demonstrated a superbly focused, glowing tone." - The Times

"he makes the euphonium sound as flexible and as agile as a trumpet and as smooth as the trombone played by Tommy Dorsey." - The Independent

King Edward III once said: "If you want to train a longbowman, start with his grandfather." This adage holds just as true for British euphonium soloist David Childs who was born in the Yorkshire village of Grimethorpe in 1981, to a family whose name had been synonymous with the euphonium for the last two generations. His grandfather, John was born in the Welsh valleys and was a well-respected euphonium player and conductor who inspired his sons, Robert & Nicholas to play euphonium. Robert began teaching his son David from an early age and in recent years David has emerged as one of the finest brass soloists of his generation.

In the year 2000 he broke new ground for the euphonium becoming the first euphonium soloist ever to win the brass final of the televised 'BBC Young Musician of the Year’ competition, and in the same year was awarded the coveted ‘Euphonium Player of the Year’ title, a title he won again in 2004 and still holds today. Since that time David has been instrumental in raising the profile of the euphonium in the classical world of music and has not ceased to wow audiences with his astonishing technique, extrovert musicality and engaging stage presence.

At twenty-five years of age David is in the early stages of his career, but has already toured extensively performing as a soloist in Australia, the Middle East, Japan, Hong Kong, Europe and the U.S.A. He is a keen advocate of new music and has premièred six new concerti for euphonium including a Royal Albert Hall radiobroadcast of Alun Hoddinott's, 'The Sunne Rising - The King Will Ride’. David has performed on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, Classic fm, channel 4 television and BBC 2 television. He has also been featured in the Gramophone, Classical Music and MUSO music magazines.

David has had the pleasure of performing as a soloist with some of the UK’s finest orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Sinfonia Cymru. He has given solo performances at a number of high profile music festivals including the BBC Proms, Melbourne International Festival, Cheltenham International Festival and the Welsh Proms. He also became the first euphonium soloist to give recitals in London’s most prestigious recital venues; the Wigmore Hall and the South Bank’s Purcell Room.

David has already achieved a great deal as a young euphonium soloist and received many awards in recognition: a Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians; a Star Award from the Countess of Munster; the Musicians Benevolent’ Sir Charles Leggett Award; the Welsh Music Guild’s Leo Abse & Cohen Award; the BBC Radio Wales Soloist Award and the Harry Mortimer Award for Outstanding Achievement. As a Schreiber-Keilwerth York Artist David is leading the way for a new generation of euphonium players worldwide; he is proving the euphonium as a serious solo vehicle within the world of classical music whilst remaining dedicated to British style brass band movement. With several new commissions on the horizon, David is sure to continue raising the euphonium’s profile through his own unique performances.

Alain Trudel, conductor

Principal Conductor of the CBC Radio Orchestra, Principal Guest conductor of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra Alain Trudel is also Music director and conductor of l’orchestre symphonique de Laval, in one of Canada’s most dynamic and fastest growing cities. In addition, Alain Trudel serves as Artistic Advisor to the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra through the 2008-09 season.

Trudel has received many awards among them the Virginia Parker prize, the Mildred Dixon-Holmes award, and more recently the 2007 Heinz Unger Prize, the only conducting prize awarded in Canada. Alain Trudel was unanimously named Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra in 2004, a position that brings him great pride and joy. On top of his projects with those orchestras, Trudel also participates in a number of exciting artistic projects around his native Canada and abroad.

In September 2008 Trudel will conduct the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on their Ontario tour (this will be their 4th tour together). He will also conduct Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony in the TSO’s main series in Roy Thompson hall. At the end of September 08 the CBC orchestra will play for the 100th anniversary of the UBC with featured guest Ben Heppner. The concert will also feature a new work for chorus and orchestra by Steven Chatman. A frequent guest of the National Arts Centre Orchestra Trudel will conduct in their 2008 summer festival, their Young Audience series and in the series in the Spring of 2009. In May 09 Trudel will make his conducting début in Russia with the St-Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Trudel will also conduct the Albanian Radio-Television Orchestra.

Back home he will conduct the final round and Gala concert of the Montreal International Music Competition. Trudel will then be conducting Gustav Mahler’s 2nd symphony for the 30th anniversary of the Scotia Festival on June 14, 2009. In the summer of 2009, Alain Trudel will be the conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada Conducting Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Mahler’s 6th Symphony.

In October 2007 he successfully replaced Maestro Andrew Davis, at the last minute, conducting Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In the spring of 2008 Trudel made his conducting debut with l’Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal in “L’heure espagnole” by Maurice Ravel and “Il Segreto di Susanna” by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, in his own orchestrations.Beyond the borders of Canada, he has conducted the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, the Orquestra Sinfonica de Guatemala, The Tokyo Metropolitan chamber orchestra, the Northern Sinfonia in the UK, and several others.

In Canada, Trudel has been invited and re-invited to conduct numerous orchestras including, the Toronto symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Center Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, Orchestra London, L’Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montreal, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic. In addition he has conducted in several special contexts including leading Les Violons du Roy in a live recording at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and l’orchestre symphonique de Laval in a concert tribute to the Québec pop group Harmonium at the “Mondial Choral” for more that 120 000 people.

Trudel’s recent compositions for Orchestra include "Charlotte and the Music Maker" commissioned by the Platypus Theatre as a work for Family and school audiences and premiered by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under his direction in 2007. The work has since been performed by a dozen orchestras in Canada and the United States. He also was commissioned by the CBC to write "Carnets de voyages" for Trumpet, Bassoon and String Orchestra and percussion, which premiered under his direction with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra.

In the 08-09 season, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal will perform his “Big Bang” and he will premiere a new orchestral work with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

First known to the public as a trombone soloist, Alain Trudel made his debut at the age of 18, with Charles Dutoit with l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal. He has been guest soloist with leading orchestras on five continents including the Deutsche-Symphony (Berlin), l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Paris), the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa), the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Austrian Radio Orchestra (Vienna), the Polish National Radio Television Orchestra and many others.

Trudel has taught conducting and orchestral literature at the Glenn Gould Professional Music School (Royal Conservatory, in Toronto). He has also taught trombone at the Conservatoire de musique du Quebec à Montréal. In the past decade he has trained some of Canada’s best trombonists and is very proud of their successes around the world. Trudel has recordings, both as trombonist and conductor, on the NAIVE, ATMA, WARNER, and NAXOS labels.

Alain Trudel has numerous Awards, among them the Virginia Parker (one of the most prestigious awards in Canada) and Le grand prix de l'Académie Charles Cros (France), an Opus prize and a Juno and now the Heinz Unger Prize for Conducting. Radio and television networks around the world have broadcast his concerts.

Alain Trudel was the first Canadian to be an "International Yamaha Artist". YAMAHA has been a major sponsor of his outreach activities all over the world. In the mid 1990's, YAMAHA invited him to design an "Alain Trudel” signature trombone mouthpiece, which they now market internationally.

During his seven-year tenure (four of them as president) at the Fondation pour les arts et la culture de Chambly-Carignan, Trudel encouraged excellence among the young through competitions and prizes in music, painting and literature.

The Hannaford Street Silver Band (HSSB)

Official Website: www.hssb.ca

Band Members: Norman Engel - Eb Cornet; Robert Venables, Richard Sandals, Raymond Tizzard , Anita McAlister - Solo Cornets; Brad Norton - Repiano; Ted Sparks - 2nd Cornet; Andras Molnar - 3rd Cornet; Doug Chaulk - Flugelhorn; Linda Bronicheski (solo), Tom Wade West, Vincent Barbee – Eb Tenor Horn; Curtis Metcalf, Herbert Poole – Euphonium; Robert Ferguson, David Archer – Trombone; Larry Shields – Bass Trombone; Robert Brown – EEb Bass; Mark Bonang – BBb Bass; Michael Perry, Richard Moore – Percussion; Lorne Grossman - Tympani

Since 1983, The Hannaford Street Silver Band (HSSB), has been striking up the brass band tradition and stirring up critical and popular acclaim. The HSSB is recognized as Canada’s award winning premier professional brass band and is a Resident Company of Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.

The HSSB has been regularly featured at such events as, The Festival of the Sound, Westben Summer Music Festival and The Huntsville Festival of the Arts. The HSSB made memorable appearances at The Winnipeg New Music Festival and the Massey Hall New Music Festival. Recent guest conductors include Bramwell Tovey, Gary Kulesha, Lydia Adams, Ormsby Wilkins, Michael Reason, Alex Pauk, Richard Bradshaw, Robert Cooper, Howard Cable, James Cumow, Elmer Iseler, Susan Haig, Robert Childs, Nicholas Childs and Elgar Howarth. In recent years the HSSB is increasingly recognized by an International audience particularly in the United States and England.

Since 1999, the HSSB has sponsored the activities of the Hannaford Youth Band (HYB). Over the years this ensemble has developed a growing reputation for excellence, evolving to include mostly university and some advanced high school players. In January, 2005, the Hannaford Junior Band was formed to give beginning brass students an opportunity to develop their skills. This coming season, in September, 2006, the Hannaford Community Band will commence, filling the “gap”, aimed at high school aged players. Now the Hannaford Youth Education Program offers opportunity for brass players age 10 to 22 to audition for, and participate in one of 3 brass bands, enjoying social interaction, while developing their brass skills and musicianship through rehearsals, concerts, clinics, competitions and more! Adult Education Classes are also run by members of the HSSB.

The HSSB maintains a vigorous commissioning program resulting in new concert works for brass band by such Canadian composers as 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, Douglas Court, Kelly Marie Murphy, Derek Holman and Barbara Croall. One of its recent commissions, Requiem Mass for a Charred Skull by Bramwell Tovey was awarded a 2003 JUNO Award for Best Classical Composition.

The band is heard regularly across Canada, The United States, the UK and Europe on both private and public radio stations. The HSSB has the following recordings to its credit:

• Bring On the Brass (MPR 1990)
• Voices On High (ODR 9324)
• Canadian Impressions (CBC SMCD 5136)
• Northern Delights (ODR 9308)
• A Christmas Flourish (CBC SMCD 5175)
• Brass Links (CBC SMCD 5188)
• Heavy Metal (ODR 9319)
• The Magic of Christmas (CBC SMCD 5192)
• The Hannaford Street Silver Band (CBC SMCD 5103)

In May of 2005 the HSSB released Connections in Brass (ODR 9335), a recording of Canadian works commissioned by the HSSB that features well known Canadian artists, Joan Watson, and Amici all under the direction of Gary Kulesha.

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

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