The Royal Canadian Air Force Bands

Following the Second World war F/L Clifford Hunt organized the RCAF Training Command Band in 1946. It performed its first public concert under Hunt’s direction for the staff and patients at the Christie Street Hospital in Toronto on November 11th, 1946. Early recognition of this band came when they were engaged to play ten concerts in the Bandshell at the CNE in 1947. Throughout their history the band had a close association with the American and Canadian Bandmasters Association and on many occasions was featured at their conventions. By 1957, under F/L Hunt, the band had grown to fifty-five pieces. The previous year they had concluded an historical overseas tour with a concert in Nottingham Castle as well as three concerts in London over the BBC Radio. In 1959, the band was featured at the Eastern States Exhibition in Springfield Massachusetts marking the first time a Canadian military band had appeared at this event. The band again made a triumphal tour of Europe in 1961 with performances in England, France and Luxembourg playing before an estimated one hundred and eighty thousand people. In 1960, F/L Hunt was promoted to Squadron Leader and appointed Supervisor of Music for the RCAF. He was replaced by F/L Wilf Boyce and in 1961 by P/O Ted Robbins. … Continue Reading »

Posted in The Royal Canadian Air Force Bands, World Bands | No Comments »