My first recordings to make it to vinyl were not rock, jazz, or anything remotely close; I was head of the percussion section in the Delta Youth Orchestra, and played tympani on the album mentioned in the write up below.
I was a member from 1971 to 1973, the first two years of the Orchestra’s existence.
That final year coincided with the Alice Cooper/Flo & Eddie Billion Dollar Babies tour coming to town, and after buying tickets, I was forced to give them away when the Orchestra was booked to perform Mendelssohn’s ‘Fingal’s Cave,’ or some such piece on the same night. I’d far preferred to watch my hero, Aynsley Dunbar, bashing away at the big rock show than perform at a more cultured event.
Delta Youth Orchestra
Operated by the Delta Symphony Society. Founding conductor Harry Gomez served 1971-84; successors have been Garth Williams 1984-5 and Lloyd Blackman 1985-90. In 1991 the society operated five ensembles comprised of 100 to 120 students (most from the greater Vancouver area), gave 15-22 concerts annually, and offered a sholarship program. The orchestra made private recordings in 1973 and 1976 and commissioned and premiered Centennial Suite by Ryszard Wrzaskala in 1979. The senior orchestra toured Germany, Holland, Austria, and Switzerland in summer 1988.
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