Mark your calendars for a September 18th noontime celebration out at the Good Cheer Bandstand of the Moreston Pioneer Village at the Grey-Roots Museum and archives as we christen the new bandstand with some vintage brassband and woodwind hits. The City Band takes the stage at noon followed by the ribbon-cutting at 1:30pm, and meanwhile over in by the ironworks, there's a whole day of blacksmithing demonstrations:

10:00 am - 4:00 pm, members of the Ontario Artists Blacksmith Association will be congregating for a festival of iron and fire. In addition to our two onsite Blacksmith Shops: the Pioneer Blacksmith Shop and the 1920s George Rice Blacksmith Shop, visiting blacksmiths from across Ontario will set up portable forges in Moreston Heritage Village for multiple demonstrations. Don't miss this living history experience of a skill that was so central to life even less than 100 years ago. Interested in taking home some arts of the anvil? There will also be amazing forged pieces for sale by individual artisans.

Also on the 18th... enjoy a stroll through Moreston Heritage Village which includes a farm house, schoolhouse, garage, blacksmith shop; stop and listen to the stories from days gone by with costumed interpreters and watch demonstrations of period activities.

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And by way of a teaser for the bandstand show, here's a short video preview glimse originally posted to our Facebook Page, the City Band on hand at Moreston Village way back last Canada Day (July 1, 2010) for a test run of the new gazebo -- the sound was fantastic!

Why did so many people come from so far away to study with Claude Gordon? What made him unique? Why do so many people owe their careers to this man’s teaching?

The following is an overview of “The Seven Basic Items” with a few brief comments on their implications. Each item is intended to work together in harmony with all the other items. If one item isn’t working correctly there will come a day when the player will struggle.

These exact items are also found in Herbert L. Clarke’s Setting Up Drills, which shows how Claude approached things exactly like Clarke did. He studied with Clarke for ten years. Gordon’s Brass Playing Is No Harder Than Deep Breathing has been misunderstood by some as focusing only on breathing. The point is that once everything is working correctly, playing is as simple as taking a big breath, which anyone can do