Kitsilano Boys' Band

ARTICLE CONTENTS:  |  Bibliography  |  Links to Other Sites
Kitsilano Boys' Band. Vancouver concert band founded in 1928 and conducted solely by Arthur W. Delamont for some 50 years. It held its first rehearsals at General Gordon School and made its debut in 1928 playing 'O Canada' to welcome the Olympic gold medallist Percy Williams to Vancouver. Members ranged in age from about 13 to 18 and numbered from 40 to 70 brass, reeds, and percussion. The repertoire encompassed a wide variety of material, from symphonic overtures arranged for concert band to medleys from Broadway musicals. The band performed in Great Britain, Holland, Germany, and the USA. On several trips to England it was billed as the Vancouver Boys' Band. In 1962 it performed in the USSR. The band gave freely of its time to many causes, especially during World War II, when it raised funds for the Victory Loan campaign and for the Red Cross. It enjoyed considerable critical acclaim and received over 200 awards in competition. In the mid-1930s the band recorded Sousa marches and other music in England for the Bluebird and Regal Zonophone labels. By the late 1970s its activities were reduced to an occasional rehearsal, though concerts in which current members were joined by past members were organized in 1975 and 1978. At the latter over 300 musicians participated. Delamont was responsible for the training of the boys and gave many the grounding for a professional career. Among the KBB alumni are Robert Buckley, Don Clark (Pacific Salt), Arnie Chycoski, Ron Collier, Gordon Delamont, Bobby Gimby, Ted Lazenby (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra), Marek Norman, Dal Richards, Bernard Temoin (TS), and Bill Trussell. The Arthur W. Delamont Concert Band, formed in 1976 and active until his death in 1982, included many former KBB musicians.

Author Bryan N.S. Gooch


Bibliography

Daniels, Alan. 'At 86, Arthur still loves to face the music,' Vancouver Sun, 28 Jan 1978

Dykk, Lloyd. 'Goodbye and welcome back, Arthur Delamont,' ibid, 6 Feb 1978


Links to Other Sites
Canadian Band Association
The Canadian Band Association website features links to bands across Canada, events, and related resources.

Sheet music from Canada's past
A very extensive collection of digitalized copies of sheet music published before Confederation and during the First World War. Includes patriotic and parlour songs, piano pieces, sacred music, novelty numbers, and more. Also, check out the sheet music covers that appear in the Gallery section. From Library and Archives Canada.

Dal Richards and his Orchestra
Listen to some great big band sounds at the website for Dal Richards and his Orchestra.

0
Feature Articles
Toronto Maple Leafs 1967: The Last Stanley Cup

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ victory in the 1967 Stanley Cup was a singular event. Who would have predicted that it would not happen again?

INSIDE TCE

Gallery
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Interactive Resources
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
Canucklehead
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
Timeline
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
100 Greatest Events
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.