Dublin, Ohio, 1996. James Curnow's Trittico was the testpiece for the Championship Section. Iliinois Brass Band pipped the favoured Brass Band of Columbus for their first of six North American Championships. The Weston Silver Band under Ron Clayson finished last in the Championship Section, and it would be the last time a band from Canada competed at the North American Brass Band Championships.

Forward ahead to 2004

Canada has always had some fantastic brass bands. Best known are it's Salvation Army Bands (especially the Canadian Staff Band), Bram Gregson's Intrada Brass, and the Hannaford Brass Band, a professional outfit from Toronto.

The Hannaford Brass Band has always been testing the limits in the brass band world with a plethora of fantastic commissions. In 2004, the Hannaford Street Silver Band began it's Festival of Brass and Weston Silver has been on of the leaders at the Community Showcase every year since.

Strong Ties

It has been this strong relationship with the Hannaford Street Silver Band (HSSB) that has lead to a meteoric rise in the level of Weston Silver Band. Larry Shields, HSSB bass trombone player, has lead Weston as their MD and several players have been shared of the years. This year Brad Norton (HSSB repiano) will be one of the feature players for Weston as they make their run at the US Open title.

Current Status

A few years ago Weston recorded a very well received CD, "Around the World in 80 days."
More recently, in 2008 the band won the Hannaford Cup at the Festival of Brass for best performance of a set march. Personnel has solidified and the band are looked forward to the trip to Chicago to listen to and perform in front of so many good bands.

There is also the social side that comes with the bands first major trip in years. Anytime you cram 30 players on a bus for 10-hours something is bound to happen. Odds are the band should have a great trip and represent Canada very well.