Red Deer Royals

The Red Deer Royals are a Concert and Marching Band based in the City of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. They are Central Alberta's only Marching Band. The Royals have been around for the past 39 years, currently under the direction of Rob Goring. They go on tours every two or three years, the last time being Australia in July 2006. In the summer of 2009, the band will be travelling to The Netherlands for the World Championship of Marching Show Bands. [http://www.wamsb.org/index.php?actionID=news&news_aID=showNewsPage]

Members

The Band draws approximately 110 of Central Alberta's finest musicians to come together annually to create this marching band. The Royals have members aged as young as 11 all the way up to 21, and they currently represent 20 School Band programs from the Central Alberta region. The members travel from many cities of Central Alberta, some as far south as Carstairs, Alberta, as far north as Ponoka, Alberta, as far west as Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, and as far east as Stettler, Alberta. The band is comprised of four groups; woodwinds, brass, percussion, and colour guard. The band's member leaders are called the drum majors. In the 2007-08 season the drum majors were Anthony Cherniawsky and Allie Oberhammer. The assistant drum majors were Ellie Neufeld and Krysta Nichol. The drum major in training was Hayley Goertzen.

Concert Season

From September to March, the Red Deer Royals perform as a concert band, performing at many different venues. They play for Remembrance Day ceremonies, Christmas festivals, and various events around Red Deer. [http://www.reddeerroyals.com/rdr/aboutus/general.html] During the concert season, the band is conducted by Rob Goring. Each year there is a concert master and assistant concert master selected to direct the band for a song. In the 2007-08 season, the concert master was Emily Schultz, and the assistant concert master was Hannah Steenwyk.

Parade Season

Starting in May, the Red Deer Royals perform in parades throughout Central Alberta. Some of the locations of their parades are: Blackfalds, Sylvan Lake, Rocky Mountain House, Innisfail, Sundre, Ponoka, Three Hills, Calgary, Edmonton, and of course Red Deer. In most of these parades they are the only marching band performing; but other parades, such as the Calgary Stampede Parade, attract bands from across Canada and the U.S., and sometimes from over seas. The Royals spend a great deal of time rehearsing their parade songs, incorporating actions into some of their songs, to be used in competition. Their competition parade song for the 2007-08 season was Knock On Wood, which they won the Calgary Stampede Parade and the Capital Ex Parade with.

Awards

At the 2008 Calgary Stampede Parade, the Red Deer Royals won the following awards: Best Canadian Band, Best Senior Band, and Best Overall Band, as well as third place for Best Auxiliary. [http://parade.calgarystampede.com/entrants/Winner_Circle_2008.html] , Calgary Stampede Website.]

At the 2008 Edmonton Capital Ex Parade, the Royals were judged as the best marching band and were also the musical Grand Champions, winning the Sig Hansen Musical Award.. [http://www.capitalex.ca/family-fun/parade] , Capital Ex Website.]

Directors

Throughout the Band's history there have been six Band Directors

2001 - Present Rob Goring

1991-2001 Keith Mann

1978-1991 A.L. Jigger Lee

1973-1978 Frank Connell

1970-1972 Richard Campion

1966-1969 Vic Wright

International Tours

1976 England

1984 California

1992 California and Mexico

1994 North Dakota

1995 Australia

1998 England and France (WAMSB Championships London)

2001 Netherlands and Germany (WMC Kerkrade, WAMSB Championships Potsdam)

2003 Italy (WAMSB Championships Monza)

2006 Australia

2009 Netherlands and Ireland (Joint WMC/WAMSB Championships Kerkrade)

References

External links

* [http://www.reddeerroyals.com/ Red Deer Community Band Society, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada]
* [http://www.wamsb.org/ The World Association of Marching Show Bands (WAMSB)]
* [http://www.wmc.nl/?sLang=en/ The World Music Contest 2009 (WMC)]