Event Details
Who: Kamloops Community Band
When: Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 7:30 pm
Where: Kamloops Full Gospel Tabernacle, 1550 Tranquille Road, Kamloops, BC
Ryan is playing with the Kamloops Community Band in evening of entertainment and wonderful music with all proceeds going jointly towards the Richard Dickens Music Scholarship Fund and the Donald Bennett Music Legacy Fund.
The band was founded by Dick Dickens – a long-time Kamloops school music teacher – in 2001 to provide a place for young people, teachers, retirees and other community members to play their instruments. Dickens passed away in 2009 and proceeds from this event will go toward the scholarship named for him, which provides $2,000 a year for four years to a student who has shown exemplary aptitude and achievement in music and is continuing in full-time music studies at the post-secondary level.
Don Bennett leaves a rich legacy of music & education, having spent over 35 years in music education, as well as being an active musician in our community. Don played with the Kamloops Symphony for 26 years and was active in Beyond Brass (Kamloops Big Band), Vancouver Philharmonic, Orchestra Viva, Okanagan Symphony, and Prince George Symphony. Locally he was also the conductor of the Thompson Valley Orchestra and co-conductor of the Kamloops Community Band. The Donald Bennet Music Legacy Fund will help provide financial assistance toward the purchase of services to enhance community-based music events of all kinds.
The concert programme features some energetic marches (Dick’s favourite!) along with a fun mix of classic wind band repertoire like Holst’s First Suite in Eb and band arrangements of songs like Toto’s Africa. The band will also be joined by special guests, the South Kamloops Secondary Jazz Band and Slow No Tempo.
Both Dick and Don were important figures for Ryan, and this annual concert is always a very special one for him. If you want to support the two wonderful funds set up in Dick and Don’s memories, click the links above to donate.