Chattanooga, Tennessee

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Well if it’s Tuesday, it must be Chattanooga! We left the CFOT in Atlanta in the early morning mist for the drive to Chattanooga. As we drove, we were treated to a top ten “old-school” style by our very own “Stadtler and Waldorf” otherwise known as the Nottle brothers. The fact that I can’t remember anything from their comedy bit doesn’t mean that it wasn’t funny.

We arrived about 11:00 am at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga (UTC), where we were to give a clinic about brass bands to the music students there. It was a nice auditorium. We were joined by Composer James Curnow who used the band to show examples of how different combinations of instruments are used by a composer to create different sounds or “colors” and add interest to music. For the clinic, he used excerpts from the piece “Proclamation” which he wrote for the Tab band and this tour. The clinic was well received by all who were present.

We then moved to the Chattanooga Citadel corps for the 1st of 3 intensive feeding sessions. We were given gift bags including Cola and Moon Pies.

The evening concert was held at the 1st Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It is an amazing building. Although it’s not very old, it is built in the style of a large European Church. Real cut stone and a massive wooden ceiling were architectural highlights.

A local brass band, the Jericho Brass, played as a prelude to our concert and also joined us for two massed band items in the second half. James Curnow conducted the two massed items.

Although the crowds were a bit small and it’s always more exciting to play for a large audience, the band kept true to the spirit and purpose of Salvation Army music by giving their best. We don’t play for our personal glory, but so that God may use us. None of us knows what may come of our efforts on this tour and we are mindful that it may be in this very audience that God wants to work,

After the concert, we were treated to snacks by the Chattanooga Salvation Army who were kind enough to bring them to us at our hotel. It was a very nice spread and the people of the corps there are owed a debt of gratitude for their kind treatment of us.

We went to bed as early as possible (at least us old folks did) and got ready for the next day’s drive to Charlotte, North Carolina.