Kurt Curtis, the Music Director of the famous Disneyland Band, conducting music from the happiest place on earth.
I recently enjoyed the privilege of being the Guest of Honour on the 20th Anniversary of the Royal Swedish Cadet Band and had the opportunity to address the band, its family and its supporters during the concert.
My association with Royal Swedish Cadet Band began just 10 years ago when I was invited to conduct the band here in Karlskrona. Since then, I was fortunate to conduct the band in concert in Malmo and during the finale for the 2015 Ystad Tattoo, and I have been enthralled to watch from afar, on social media, the progress of the band as it journeyed extensively as music ambassadors for Sweden.
'Music is the universal language of mankind’. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
As a former leader of the Royal Australian Navy Band, I can attest to how music can speak to many cultures and transcend language barriers. My band travelled extensively throughout the world, but perhaps not as extensively as the Royal Swedish Cadet Band. Over the past twenty years, the Royal Swedish Cadet Band has travelled to most, if not all, major cities in Sweden, extensively throughout Europe, to the United Kingdom and as far afield as Pasadena in the United States of America for the Rose Parade and to China for the Nanchang International Military Tattoo. By any measure, that is a remarkable achievement, and I congratulate the leaders of the band and committee members, past and present, for their stewardship and perseverance in delivering such a comprehensive program and developing such a respected music ensemble.
'Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything’ (Aristotle Plato) and 'produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without’ (Confucius).
During the celebrations, Kurt Curtis, the Music Director of the famous Disneyland Band, conducted music from the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. The selection of Disney tunes brought a smile to all of our faces and reminded us that 'music washes away the dust of every day life' (BertholdAuerbach).
For those of you who are participating in this Winter Music Camp for the first time and are thinking about joining this musical ensemble I say, look no further. Members of this band have proven themselves great ambassadors for Sweden. Together, with them, you will enjoy the gift to speak a universal language, to traverse cultures and transcend language barriers, and bring insight and pleasure into your life and to those around you.
The band's motto Per Aspera ad Astra, is an old Latin phrase when translated means, reach for the stars no matter what challenges lay ahead. Congratulations on your last twenty years, you have touched the stars and become a preeminent youth music ensemble for Sweden, and in the years ahead may your journey continue to inspire and incite.
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As we say in the Royal Australian Navy,
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