Mount Royal Conservatory is well-known for its important role as a training ground for child prodigies, the Calgary Youth Orchestra, choirs, and offering excellence in music lessons and speech arts.

But few realize the Conservatory offers musical training for adults who have never played an instrument.

That includes a class that has really taken off: Adult Beginning Band.

It’s a fun, positive experience for adults. No previous playing experience required, and it’s okay if you don’t read music — we will be starting with one note at a time.

The class is for people who have never picked up a musical instrument before, or played in childhood and want to start again. The instruments include flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, French horn, trombone, baritone, tuba, drums and percussion.

The group has attracted players from all walks of life: there is an 80-year-old doctor turned trumpet player, a brass player who is keen to turn his attention to the tuba, and a husband and wife team on trumpet and flute. Mount Royal University faculty are also joining: there’s a nursing faculty member and even the Conservatory’s own theory instructor.

Says band instructor Gina Allen: “They are all amazing, courageous individuals who I admire and who inspire me to be a better leader every week.”

The group is gearing up to perform a concert in June. Stayed tuned!

Sherri Zickefoose, Dec. 15, 2014