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Seventeen years ago, Colin Clarke, a high-school percussionist, found himself yearning for more opportunities to make music in a concert-band setting. With a lot of initiative and determination, Clarke planted the seeds for an organization that would become the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra. Over the next seventeen years, the ensemble developed a reputation for its commitment to developing young musicians and its passion for musical excellence.
The Early Days
As a high-school student, Clarke had been a member of the Peel Honour Band and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, enjoying every moment he spent in both ensembles. Unfortunately, the honour band was disbanded due to budget cuts, so Colin decided to form a community band, the Brampton Youth Wind Ensemble, to make up for the loss. He visited several schools promoting his new band, and was able to convince the legendary Bramwell Smith II to conduct it.
While Smith did lead several rehearsals, he became too ill to carry on, so Clarke reluctantly picked up the baton and led the ensemble through its first public performance in the spring of 1991. With only twenty-two members, the first concert was a little shaky but they struggled through three pieces before an appreciative authence, setting the stage for better things to come.
The following year, Clarke, now in university, moved the ensemble to the University of Toronto, though finding available players to fill out all the sections was still a challenge. He continued to conduct the band on an interim basis, hoping someone with more experience could be found to take the reins, but no one came forward and an enthusiastic Clarke carried on. In 1 993, the band made its first festival appearance at the Southern Ontario Band Festival, garnering a triple Gold, and gave its first major public performance to an enthusiastic authence at the MacMillan Theatre in the University of Toronto's Edward Johnson Building.
1994 was a critical year for the ensemble. Following another well-received performance, a member of the authence approached Clarke to offer his help. Anthony (aka "Tone") Careless, a clarinetist, became a pivotal figure in the development of TYWO, acting as the group's first business manager, appointing a board of directors, developing a business plan, and recruiting a squad of...