The Medicine Hat Concert Band Society's Allegro band and special guest choir Medicine Hat Sings perform in December at the annual Christmas concert at the Esplanade. The sold-out show was just a drop in a growing bucket of arts and culture events available in the region.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
The City of Medicine Hat is always brimming with music and art, and 2024 showcased the city’s hunger for these forms of expression in a way that’s true to form.
The Esplanade saw various installations throughout the year, such as the “Here I Am – Can You See Me?” which hosted the eye-opening portrait work of 60s Scoop survivor George Littlechild, to current installation “A Hare-Raising Tale,” by Annette ten Cate, which uses ceramic sculptures to courage, hope and the lost dreams of an idealized adulthood.
Highlights also came in the form of a visit from the Band of Household Cavalry, the largest military band in the United Kingdom, on Aug 31, which performed for free for all who were able to attend the concert.
An artifact from the Esplanade also saw a place in a BBC Two series, as the Mike Mountain Horse Story Robe was featured on a four-part documentary as British Historian David Olusoga, which takes a broad look at the British Empire.
Summer in the Hat made its usual mark with PorchFest’s afternoon of local artists, and Art in Motion, with its the streets full of performers, displays and various artisan vendors, as well as inviting residents into the Esplanade and various downtown buildings for music and visual art displays and sales.
In the world of music, the Medicine Hat Concert Band Society made a stunning tribute to athletes on their way to Paris at its Spring Concert, Olympic Spirit, which featured a unique piece for a trombone quartet, which was specially commissioned for the Concert Band and performed for the first time.
The piece, The Day the Water Turned Red, composed by Julien Simard, is written to tell through music the story of Canadian involvement in the D-Day landings. It was intended to be performed before COVID, but the delay allowed for it to be played very close to the anniversary of the event, which band director Curtis Perrin considered fitting.
Not to be outdone by their own previous concert, of course, the bands also welcomed the newly minted choir Medicine Hat Sings to their Christmas Concert, bringing upwards of 100 people on stage at the Esplanade to truly put the acoustics of the performance space to work.
Theatre fans were also certainly treated to a full slate of shows, with Firehall Theatre’s productions of Grumpy Old Men and Honky Tonk Laundry taking stages by storm, and a large collection of classics from Medicine Hat Musical Theatre such as Rock of Ages, Jersey Boys, or the smaller-casted and more down-to-earth scope of Shirley Valentine.
This year was particularly big for MHMT, said director Lawrence Gordon, who is also a past president. This year saw shows sold out in a matter of hours, but also saw significant improvements to the building itself, future-proofing the community hub for productions to come.
“We upgraded our air handling and heating and air conditioning system significantly, which makes it a lot more comfortable for the patrons,” said Gordon. “And we also did a very major upgrade on our speaker system so that the sound is noticeably better.”
With the success of the year, they’re looking eagerly toward 2025, with shows such as the Play That Goes Wrong, 9 to 5, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show all slated for those who share the city’s fascination with all kinds of arts, from small community performances to famous bands such as this year’s Cowboy Junkies or Mariana’s Trench making a stop in this not-so-forgotten corner.
