Music and memories fill Halifax church as concert pays homage to veterans

The Royal Canadian Navy’s Stadacona Band performed with Dalhousie’s Collegium Cantorum.

The vaulted ceilings of St. Andrew’s Church in Halifax filled with the sounds of remembrance last weekend, as the Stadacona Band of the Royal Canadian Navy joined Dalhousie University’s Collegium Cantorum for a concert that blended memories, emotion and music.

The performance, which was part of Veterans’ Week, featured stirring pieces such as “A Pittance of Time” by Atlantic Canadian musician Terry Kelly. His song’s familiar melody carried through the church, calling listeners to pause and reflect.

“For Remembrance Day, it’s always a very powerful thing,” said Petty Officer Second Class Chrisian Navratil. “We have an opportunity to use music to connect with some very powerful emotions, and we as the players also share those emotions.”

The concert, titled Our Veterans, Their Stories, was more than a musical event. It was a tribute, a collaboration between voices and instruments that paid homage to veterans past and present.

Gary Ewer, director of Dalhousie’s Collegium Cantorum, said the experience of performing alongside the Stadacona Band was unlike any other for the choir.

“It was really the looks on their faces,” Ewer said. “I think the look basically said, we’ve never done anything like this before, and it was really wonderful.”

For Master Sailor Emily Bellman, a trumpet player with the Stadacona Band, the concert represented a chance to tell stories that words alone could not.

“As musicians, we get to tell a story in ways other than words,” Bellman said. “It’s beautiful to be able to share that in a way that is so special to veterans, to members of the community and to other musicians too.”

Master Sailor Tony Taylor, who helped organize the concert, said music like Kelly’s A Pittance of Time reminds audiences why remembrance matters.

“The core of that song is to just really pull back and take the time to remember people that laid down their lives for the better future that we have,” Taylor said.

As the final notes faded and silence filled the church before a standing ovation, the moment captured a collective act of remembrance through sound.

The Stadacona Band will perform at Grand Parade on Tuesday as part of Halifax’s Remembrance Day ceremony.

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