The Band of The Royal Marines Association – Ontario
We are pleased to announce that our Annual Christmas Concert will be held on Sunday December 17 at 2:00pm at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Cobourg. In lieu of tickets we will be accepting voluntary donations at the door. All proceeds will be donated to St. Peter’s.
It was a classy affair at our 180th Celebration Gala last weekend, November 4th, 2023, which we shared with the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Marines Association Ontario. It was a beautiful meal, with speeches by Director of Music Paul Storms, RM Maj Paul Weston (ret), Deputy Mayor Nicole Beatty and our MC, Charlynne Jourard, the Gala Chair. The oldest and youngest Marine present (Keith Dawson and Paul Weston) cut their 50th cake and the band cake was cut by president Chris Devlin and our oldest serving band member Glen Workman. As an added twist – they got to cut the cake with a real sword! Attendees perused our history displays and took part in our silent auction before the dancing began!
Band Vice President Stephanie Siegner honoured our concert MC Diana Storen at the gala, presenting her with a beautiful bird hand-carved by band member Brad Kelly. Diana was the first female musician to join the band. And then it was time to dance, dance, dance! Thanks to the Royals who kept the tunes coming all night long. What a wonderful night!
If you think our gala was all stiffness and formality, there are pictures that prove it wasn’t! Check out our picture gallery to all the smiling faces having a blast. Wasn’t that a party?
Thank you, thank you, thank you Cobourg for all your support this summer as we celebrated our 180th anniversary! Every week you came out in great numbers and wore red to show your affection for Cobourg’s Band.
Thank you also to our guest performers, The Royals dance band who entertained us with tunes of the swing era early in August, as well as the Cobourg Legion Pipes & Drums, who joined us last week to close the season.
Thank you also to Lalies and The Dutch for making the beautiful cookies we gave out during our celebration concert on August 22nd, featuring our anniversary logos designed by band members Sandy Stanic-Cook and Charlynne Jourard. We also appreciate all the purchases our followers made at our merchandise booth and donations given throughout the summer. And thanks to our volunteers who manned our booth each week. We couldn’t have done it without you too!
The year is not over yet! Watch for us at Santa Parades in Cobourg and nearby towns, and stay tuned for information on our annual Christmas Concert!
We are fortunate to have a couple of talented logo designers who are members of our band. They have created 2 designs for us to celebrate our 180th anniversary!
The first design is a modification of our standard logo to include our anniversary years.
The second is a more bold declaration of our anniversary.
We will be having t-shirts, mugs, keychains and other merchandise available to the public with these logos at our summer concerts so you too can help us celebrate and show your support of Cobourg’s Band!
The year 2023 marks a major milestone for the Concert Band of Cobourg. We have been proud to be Cobourg’s Band for 180 years! Watch this space over the coming months as we announce numerous celebrations we will be doing throughout the Town of Cobourg. From special concerts to displays, memorabilia and more, our anniversary committee is gearing up for events both big and small throughout the year. We hope you join us to celebrate this wonderful accomplishment!
Paul Storms (Director of Music), Charlynne Jourard (Producer) and Gregory Jourard (Director) had the pleasure of discussing The Concert Band of Cobourg’s new documentary Tradition, Duty, Honour, and Family on The Daily Wrap with Pete Fisher on Northumberland 89.7 FM on October 11, 2022.
If you missed the original broadcast, you can still listen to the session on Northumberland 89.7’s website at https://northumberland897.ca/the-daily-wrap/2022/10/12/daily-wrap-october-11-carole-beauchamp-rebound-storms-concert-band
The Concert Band of Cobourg announced today, Tuesday, October 11th, the release of a short documentary on who the band is, where they came from, and why their future is still bright after 180 years. Check out the premiere on YouTube at 7pm, or watch any time afterwards at https://youtu.be/MTwLK_ZyrR4. Follow the excitement of the release on our Facebook page!
Subtitled Tradition, Duty, Honour and Family, the 15-minute film speaks about the history of the band and its evolution as well as what it has meant to Cobourg (Tradition), the relationship between the Town of Cobourg and the band (Duty), the role of ambassadors and the pride the band brings when performing (Honour), and the social aspects that make the band a place where musicians feel like they are part of the bigger whole (Family).
Much of the information on the early years of the band was taken from the book Journal of a Band by Robert Irvine, which was published in 2017. The band is represented in old photographs and early footage, as well as more current recordings of band performances. These were compiled over the summer by Producer Charlynne Jourard, who also wrote the narrative which is voiced by the band’s concert MC Diana Storen and Chris Devlin. Directing and editing was done by Gregory Jourard, who recently graduated from Durham College in the Broadcasting – Radio and New Media program.
Director of Music Paul Storms is excited to release the movie for everyone to see. “It is an amazing video that encompasses where our band came from, where it stands today and it’s potential for the future. It explains how the band is a longstanding cornerstone of Cobourg. We are very proud of the huge effort that went into producing this work.”
Welcome to the homepage of the Concert Band of Cobourg, the Band of the Royal Marines Association Ontario. We are one of the oldest continuously operating community bands in Canada, having started in 1842. Please browse through our gallery, read more on our history as published in our book Journal of a Band, sample some of our recorded music, and explore our involvement in the community including our documentary on our Video page. From our weekly summer concerts in Victoria Park to our participation in Santa Claus and Canada Day parades, you’ll see why our motto is Pride of Performance.
