Bandemonium Music Society

Bandemonium provides music instruction and opportunities for performance for members of the Salt Spring Island community through the Salt Spring concert band (Bandemonium) and the big band Swing Shift. Our community musicians range from middle school students to seasoned adults in their 80’s; beginners on their instruments to retired professional musicians. Bandemonium works closely with local school music directors to encourage youth participation in instrumental music and provide joint performance opportunities with school music groups. Bandemonium also collaborates with other on-island community groups both to assist in fundraising (the local Hospice Society Hospital Foundation and Public Library in recent years) and to collaborate in public music performances (most recently with the Salt Spring Singers mixed chorus). The Concert Band performs classical repertoire as well as lighter music from film soundtracks and musicals. It has a core membership of 30 with full wind ensemble instrumentation: Woodwinds (flutes clarinets oboe bassoon and alto tenor and baritone saxophones) Brass (trumpets trombones euphonium and tuba) and Percussion (drums tympani mallets keyboard and string bass). Swing Shift performs swing and jazz standards from the 1930’s and 1940’s along with more recent jazz compositions. Their repertoire also includes Latin funk and rock charts along with commissioned arrangements for specific occasions. The core 20-piece band includes 4 trumpets 4 trombones 6 saxophones string bass electric bass electric guitar keyboards percussion and a drummer. The band is often augmented for performances with guest vocalists and instrumentalists from the community.