Originally organized in 1931 as the Brantford Boys’ Band, the Brantford School of Instrumental Music (BSIM) has been known for providing band and orchestral experiences, affordable music lessons and community performances, for decades.
Deb McLoughlin, an instrumental teacher with the BSIM and conductor of the Brantford Community Symphony Orchestra, said the non-profit organization all began in an effort to get young boys, aged ten to 18, involved in music.
“People from a Toronto instrument distributor actually came out and recruited the boys,” she said. “They offered to provide the instruments and a conductor came out to teach them how to play and they became the Brantford Boys’ Band Association. Initially they started out rehearsing in the Brantford Conservatory of Music building, which is now the Hill and Robinson Funeral Home, on Nelson Street but eventually they moved to the Brantford Pattern Works building and were there for quite a few years.”
The group went on to play various outdoor concerts within the community and travelled to different places such as Port Elgin and Port Stanley. After performing several times over the years at Mohawk Park, the boys eventually helped to build the park’s gazebo for them to play in.
“The band really grew, and they became quite well known,” she said. “They went to the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto and even played in several competitions throughout all those years.”
When World War II began in September of 1939, McLoughlin said that a number of the young men went to volunteer overseas and that six of them lost their lives fighting for their country.
“When the organization started up again after the war, they officially became the Brantford Memorial Concert Band.”
In 1947, the organization was able to build its own facility at 32 Marlboro St., and as the years passed, a curriculum was established in order to offer private lessons to students. By 1957, girls were officially welcomed into the program and the addition prompted the association to change its name to the Brantford School of Instrumental Music in 1959.
Although the BSIM sold its building around 2021 due to the cost of replacing their roof, the organization has since moved into the Fairview United Church.
“The building became no longer viable, the roof was a mess and it was going to cost a fortune to repair it so we sold the building,” she said. “Currently, we are renting space at Fairview United Church and while it was an adjustment, we’re getting along very well with them, and they are very good to us.”
She said that while many things have changed over the years, these days, the school continues to offer weekly group lessons for anyone, aged ten to 100, looking to learn a brass, woodwind or percussion instrument, or for anyone looking to brush up their existing skills.
“If you register with us and don’t have any experience playing an instrument, you would enter what we call our Level 1, Basics class which is taught on Thursdays from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.,” she said. “Once you’ve done that one year and you feel ready to move on, or if you’re coming in with a little bit of previous experience, you can then register for the Level 2, Building Skills class which I personally teach, on Mondays from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. The cost for both those levels is $150 for the year, or if you come with a family of three or more, it’s $400.”
From there, McLoughlin noted that herself and Level 1 teacher, Paul Nicholson (also president of the BSIM and conductor for the Brantford Memorial Concert Band) try to help people decide if they want to do another year of the Level 2 class, or if they are ready to move on to the Level 3, Bell City Band.
“Decades ago we ended up incorporating and absorbing the old Kinsmen band and so that eventually became our Bell City Band,” she said. “It’s really for people who want to improve their musical skills in an ensemble setting and so some people will be there for a year or two, and others will stay for longer because they just like it. Rehearsals for that band are every Thursday from 7:15 to 8:15 p.m. and they do quite a bit of concerts at seniors homes in the Brantford-Brant area which are always lovely to do. .”
McLoughlin said, in all, there are three BSIM performing ensembles for people to join: the Bell City Band, the Brantford Memorial Concert Band, and the Brantford Community Symphony Orchestra (founded by Karl Langton in 2012). All cost a membership fee of $100 a year.
“All three of the groups play genres like rock and jazz, and we all do movie and Broadway pieces too, but the Bell City Band is playing instrumental music that’s specifically composed and geared to that two to three years of experience level,” she said. “In the Memorial Concert Band, we’re really focusing on music specifically composed for concert bands, while the Orchestra plays all the classical boys like Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.”
McLoughlin added that the concert band rehearses every Monday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., and the orchestra rehearses every Wednesday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. She also said that the organization will provide an instrument for those who don’t have their own.
“While a lot of people will eventually go on to buy their own instrument, one will be assigned if you don’t,” she said. “As long as you are involved in the organization, or in any of the ensembles, you can use one of our instruments.”
The conductor said that because part of the BSIM’s mandate is to enrich the arts, presenting admission-free musical performances in both public and private settings is large part of what they do throughout their season.
As a nonprofit, the organization is able to run because of various fundraisers, donations and the volunteers who donate their time every week.
“Fortunately, we are still able to do all of this because the people that work for our organization are all volunteers,” said McLoughlin. “The teachers, myself and Paul, are both volunteering our time and so that’s what helps to make this all possible, between the two of us, we pretty much cover all the bases.”
Overall, she said that it’s the potential that being involved in music can bring to individuals, that keeps them dedicated to the role.
“From my point of view, it gives people confidence. It’s the learning process and that moment of ‘hey, I can do this,’ you know? People don’t learn an instrument unless they love music. When people identify that music is important to them, they start wondering ‘how can I express that? Am I going to learn individually? Am I going to take a music class in high school or go out of my way to find somewhere I can learn? The bonus is the human contact that comes with joining something like the BSIM that is really important. Not only that, but that other big part is that a large number of people in our ensembles are a bit older and practicing music is a great way to keep our brains active. It’s a fact that playing music is one of the most complex things our brains can do and so I think that’s a huge consideration that people make when they think of joining one of our groups.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
