The British Columbia Regiment Band is an unauditioned band. Feel free to drop by a rehearsal to have a listen, or sit in with your instrument.
Band rehearsals take place every Monday evening, from 7:30 – 9:00 PM (doors open at 7:15pm) at the historic Beatty Street Drill Hall, 620 Beatty Street, Vancouver. The “Stadium/Chinatown” SkyTrain station upper entrance is across Dunsmuir Street from the Drill Hall.
As a civilian volunteer in a voluntary band assisting the Canadian Forces, you should expect:
- not to be paid for playing or rehearsing;
- to pay no fees for belonging to the Band;
- to provide your own instrument;
- to wear the provided uniform, when required, in a militarily-acceptable fashion;
- to wear your hair above the collar (either with an appropriate haircut, or by tying it up) while in uniform;
- to march and drill while playing in street parades or in military ceremonies (you may choose to do only “sit-down” concerts if you are prevented from marching for medical reasons), and
- to find band practices to be casual and good-natured, though hard-working.
From a musical perspective:
- instrumentation is similar to that of a concert band – brass, woodwind and percussion, but no strings;
- the band plays a wide variety of music, from marches to classical transcriptions to movie music and popular songs; and
- the music is at a “medium easy” to “medium” level of difficulty (Grade 2 to 3.5).
Contact our Music Director, Brian Smith, at 604-789-1865 if you have any questions. Or, fill out the form below and we will get back to you with more info!