Jon Rhoders Photography
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Geoff Parr
Terrace Community Band Musical Director - 2009-Current Active in the Community Band on saxophone and clarinet since 1987, Geoff took on the roll of Musical Director in February of 2010. As an educator in the British Columbia public school system since 1986, Geoff has dedicated much of his time at Caledonia Senior Secondary School in Terrace since 1991, where he teaches concert band, jazz band, and choir, and has been the music director and co-producer of the annual Caledonia Musical Theatre Production for eighteen years. Geoff values professional development, regularly attending the British Columbia Music Educators Association conference, and served as a BCMEA table officer for four years. He has also been on the board of the Pacific Coast Festival Association, the Pacific Northwest Music Festival and the Terrace and District Arts Council. Geoff’s post secondary education includes a BEd from UBC (1982) and MEd from UVic (2008). In 2012, Geoff received the BC Music Educator of the Year Award for teaching at the secondary level. A former student expresses his appreciate for Geoff's devotion to music and to his Community: “He has encouraged a lifelong love and appreciation of music and the arts in thousands of people in northern B.C. and I think of no one who is more deserving than him of this recognition.” Here's the article if you'd like to read more. |
Al Richardson Photography
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José Coosemans
Terrace Community Band Musical Director 2006-2009 Trading the bassoon for the baton, José took over the musical direction of the TCB in the Fall of 2006. Born in 1949 and raised in Flanders, Belgium, music has played an integral part of his life, foremost as pure enjoyment, but also through the coaching and teaching of aspiring musicians, young and old. A piano and music theory teacher in Terrace since 1973, José believes that music both reflects and permeates every aspect of life: language and communication, physical and mental exercise, history, social and cultural belonging. |
Rick Brouwer Photography
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Susan Brouwer
Terrace Community Band Musical Director 2003-2006 Described as one of the finest band conductors in Canada, Susan Brouwer has directed choral, jazz and concert band ensembles throughout British Columbia. A graduate of the University of Victoria School of Music, she currently directs the concert and jazz band program at Skeena Middle School in Terrace, BC, and has taken her ensembles to compete and win gold at MusicFest, Canada's national festival. Susan credits her love of music to the enthusiasm of her music teachers, and to her parents, who would make every concert a family event. When not conducting, teaching, or playing her bass trombone, Susan loves to spend time with her husband Rick and their daughter Renya. |
Al Richardson Photography
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Bob Butchart
Terrace Community Band Musical Director 1998-2003 "A person's interest, love or career involving music begins and ends whenever they choose. And so, for those of us who started at an early age and wish to continue until an older age it is truly wonderful to have ensembles like the Terrace Community Band to support our habits." - Bob Butchart Bob began trumpet when he was in Grade 6 in North Vancouver. He carried on through several high school and post-secondary institutions. Bob taught in West Vancouver, Kitimat, and Terrace, and has had the pleasure of performing with many different types of ensembles (instrumental and vocal) in many different venues in many different towns and cities. Bob believes that it is rare that a musician will ever want to totally stop all involvement with their love, and never would an experienced artist suggest that the arts have not enriched their life. |
Al Richardson Photography
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Jim Ryan
Terrace Community Band Musical Director 1983-1998 Jim Ryan's interest in music began at an early age in the town of Chilliwack, British Columbia. He studied clarinet with Howard Denike, who was to become one of the Canada's foremost music educators. Jim spent twenty-two years playing in the Canadian Forces Naden Band, majoring on woodwinds, writing and arranging. Upon retirement from the Naden Band in 1974, he went on to teach band, and became the music co-ordinator with School District #88 in Terrace, B.C. until his retirement in 1984. Jim formed the Terrace Community Band in 1983, and twelve years later fulfilled a life-long dream, forming and conducting the Terrace Symphony Orchestra. An ocassional adjudicator in the Pacific Northwest, Jim made himself available for band consultation and woodwind workshops. For years he enjoyed doing part-time instrument repair, and pursuing his passion for writing and arranging music for friends and ensembles. A highlight for Jim and the band in 1997, was performing his composition, True North, on the steps of the Legislative Buildings Centre Block, in our nation's capital, Ottawa, Ontario. Following this maiden performance for an enthusiastic audience, Jim's music was introduced into the National Archives, a very momentous event for Jim. In 1998, Jim retired from his podium, leaving his strong band to the capable baton of Bob Butchart. Bob was an important component of its trumpet section, but that section overcame his absence in the back row, and continued to grow, along with the rest of the ensemble, with his encouragement as the director. Jim Ryan, a man known by many as simply Mr. Music, passed away March 30, 2004 at the age of 69. We will have fond memories always. Read the Terrace Standard newspaper tribute to Jim Ryan. |
