Bernie Badley strikes up the band

In rehearsal, Dr. Bernie Badley puts theTupper Concert Band through its paces. Besides being conductor ofthe Tupper Concert Band, Dr. Bernard Badley is medical director ofthe Colon Cancer Prevention Program, Cancer Care Nova Scotia, and agastroenterologist at the Stadacona Hospital in Halifax. (NickPearce Photo)

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Dalhousie medicalschool’s Tupper Concert Band is promising a blow-outperformance for its season finale, 7:30 p.m., April 23, in thePresbyterian Church of St. David, Halifax.

Wielding the baton, as always, will be the inimitable Dr. BernieBadley, a former CEO of the Victoria General Hospital and a pastvice-dean of the medical school.  “I enjoy it,”says Dr. Badley. “I don’t take well to sitting on mybackside.”

Indeed. He has been kept on his toes, leading a constantlyshifting group of players since the band’s inception.

The association started on a whimsical note. Jim Holland, arespiratory physiologist and faculty member, approached Dr. Badleyto shape up a newly formed group of med school musicians for aChristmas concert in 1979. It was supposed to be a six-weekengagement.

“I had been brought up in the English brass bandtradition. I knew nothing of woodwinds,” says Dr. Badley.

Nevertheless, he accepted the challenge, but in the interim thegroup was supposed to find “someone who knew what they weredoing.” As Dr. Badley wryly points out, “it’s now30 years and six months later.”

Still, there are no discernable regrets. Dr. Badley, anenergetic 77, continues to fill the bill perfectly, owing tomusical roots that stretch to the Salvation Army in Britain.

A  product of parents who were both Salvation Armyofficers, Dr. Badley was practically weaned on brass band andchoral music.

“I started playing things when I was six,” herecalls. By age 13, influenced by the Welsh choral tradition, hewas conducting choirs. The family moved frequently in England,Scotland and Wales. “I think I went to nine differentschools,” he recounts. Music was a constant, then as now.

Luckily for the Tupper Concert Band, he has developed a gift forarranging. “I don’t know how; I just did it,” hesays.

The skill was born of necessity. The band holds no auditions;interested players simply turn up and sit in. So in any given year,the mix of players, technical proficiency and instruments can takewild swings.

“One year we had six alto saxes. At the beginning of thefollowing season we had none,” says Dr. Badley. People driftin and out of the band as schedules and interests dictate and thatmeans the music is constantly undergoing rearrangement for theinstruments and the skill levels at hand.

“When we started we begged or borrowed the music, just forthe people we had around. One day someone came along playing abassoon and we hadn’t got our hands on any bassoon music, soI had to look to see what bassoons do and write a part for abassoon. You have to rearrange parts or write them, as I do fromscratch, for our instrumentation.”

The spring program features three Badley arrangements: a Beatlesmedley, an andante movement by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and theHadleigh Camp March. “That’s a personal thing– the Hadleigh – the music was written for abrass band music camp held in Hadleigh in 1948, where I played inits first performance. I was delighted to find the original brassband score almost 60 years later and I rearranged it for the TupperConcert band.”

The band survives on a shoestring with a little help here andthere from the Dalhousie Medical Alumni Association and occasionaldonors such as the Plum Foundation, in Studio City, CA., thePresbyterian Church of Saint David, and Dr. George Knight, a formerband member.

“We’ve never had money,” said Dr. Badley.“We charge for one concert a year.” That is the springconcert later this month.

Those who discover the band are usually pleasantly surprised.Says Dr. Badley, “One of the things that everyone says is‘this is a hidden gem. We didn’t know aboutit.‘”

Readers can check out the hidden gem at its upcoming concert.Dr. Badley will be easy to spot; he will be the one striking up theband.

Tupper Concert Band’s seasonender (Nick Pearce Photo) From Brahms to the Beatles, Dalhousie’s Tupper ConcertBand is planning a high-octane performance for its 30th seasonender, 7:30 p.m., April 23 in the Presbyterian Church of St. David,Grafton Street, Halifax. Guest artists will be Dalhousie medical school’s malesinging group, the TestosterTones and their female counterpart, theVocal Chords. The band will serve up familiar tunes from Western movies andBroadway, a medley of Beatles’ hits, a classical number andeven some Irish music. Tickets at the door are $10 for adults and $5 for students andseniors.