The Calgary Stampede Showband is heading to South America for the World Association of Marching Show Bands 2014 World Championships in Braganca Paulista, Brazil, and three Cochrane residents will be joining the group for the trip.
Drum major Becky Johnston, trumpet player Chris Berner and saxophone player Evan Chorney will make the trip to Brazil. Johnston is in her 4th year with the Showband and said she is excited for the experience of the competition and the culture she will get to experience in Brazil.
“The band really becomes part of your family. You get to spend 10 days with your best friends half way around the world,” she said.
The band has one thing on their mind – a three-peat.
The show band has performed very well at the last two championships, taking home the top prize at both. They won in 2012 when Calgary hosted the competition and won again in 2013 when the competition was in Chiba, Japan.
Aaron Park is the director of bands for the Calgary Stampede Foundation. He said the Calgary Stampede Showband is the only group in the world that has won the competition four times in total and is the only group to have ever won it two years in a row.
According to the Showband’s website, the international exposure they have gained has earned the reputation of “Calgary’s musical ambassadors to the world.”
Johnston said that entering as returning champions adds some pressure, but she is sure they are ready.
“We’re going into it with a target on our back. I really think that we’re ready and that we can perform our best,” said Johnston. “As long as everyone comes off the field feeling that they’ve done their personal best, and that they can’t give it anymore, then that’s the best feeling in the world.”
The Showband has 124 members and are sending a range in age from 16 – 21 to Brazil. There will be 26 bands competing in this year’s competition and it will run from July 30 – Aug. 3. Park said there is a preliminary round and a final round – the Top 12 from the preliminary make it through to the final.
Johnston said once they get back from Brazil they will have a break until they start up their next season on Sep. 9, which she said would give them plenty of downtime. Downtime is something that is well deserved, as the group made over 200 appearances during the Calgary Stampede alone, and Johnston said they have been rehearsing for the upcoming competition almost every day.
“I’m sure we will all miss each other the minute we get back and will want to get together,” said Johnston.
You can keep up to date with how the Showband is doing by following them at twitter.com/ShowbandCS and instagram.com/ShowbandCS.
