The Grande Prairie Music Society is getting set to host a couple of upcoming shows in the coming days at Grande Prairie Live Theatre.
Director Bob Howey has been a Band Director before and ran the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble for 17 years.
“We’ve had the Marching Band running since the 1900s in Grande Prairie and Beaverlodge. We thought we would expand the Music Society to include the Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble, Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and the newly founded Youth Orchestra,” he says.
Chris Gallagher is the Director of the Marching Band, Krista McLauchlan is the Director of the Youth Orchestra and Bob Howey is the director of the Jazz Band, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and the Symphony Orchestra.
“We had a Wind Ensemble Concert on the 30th. This coming Friday we have the Jazz Ensemble playing at Grande Prairie Live Theatre. Anyone who purchases tickets would be supporting the Music Society directly, to help our programs,” Howey explains.
“This is the first time we’ll be holding concerts at GPLT but they have been extremely supportive of us in terms of selling tickets and helping us put together these concerts. We also have a Mother’s Day concert at GPLT that will feature the newly founded Youth Orchestra, as well as the Symphony Orchestra.”
“We want to make sure any musicians in the area have a proper opportunity to continue to develop their talent outside of just school programs,” he adds.
The Grande Prairie Music Society was formed in August of 2021 to support community-run music ensembles in our region. The Society Board of Directors is made up of volunteers who are passionate about having live music thrive in our community. The Music Society currently has five performing ensembles, the Jazz Band, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Youth Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, and the Grande Prairie Marching Band.
Anyone interested in joining the Music Society can reach out to them on their Facebook page. Tickets for the upcoming shows are available on the Grande Prairie Live Theatre website.