Fanfare Duo

At one time, the Skydome in Toronto was just one huge empty parking lot.   My company was involved with several special events for that management, right from the first day of the ground breaking. Fanfares were requested for these ribbon-cutting ceremonies that heralded the start of different phases of construction. 

The Skydome was of unique design with its retractable roof and was considered ahead of its time for a sporting facility.  The sliding roof allowed you to watch a game away from the weather when the roof was closed or under a bright sunny sky when the roof was open.

The management of Skydome were always satisfied with my company's musical involvement and always called us when Fanfares and other musical presentations were required.

I should mention that the Skydome is now called the Rogers Center and is owned by Rogers Communications.

I happen to be watching a television newscast one day and the news event was another groundbreaking ceremony complete with two trumpet players. I didn't know why we weren't called.  Maybe the executives of the Dome wanted to save a few bucks. Who knows? I didn't know the trumpet players but they appeared to be somewhat young and didn't look like pros.

The Premier of Ontario at the time was David Peterson and he made the usual remarks as to this auspicious milestone. After his short speech the two trumpet players proceeded to blow their short Fanfare.

 Maybe it was because they were up tight and scared being on camera or they weren't used to playing out doors or whatever but I have never heard so many "clams" (mistakes) in my life.  The fanfare music from what I could hear wasn't all that difficult to play.  A fanfare written for two trumpet players is usually very exposed and any mistakes are glaring even to non-musicians. 

It was embarrassing to say the least.   Even the Premier was embarrassed and said, "Why don't you guys give it another try, which they did. I guess he wanted to appear sympathetic by giving them another chance. It was hard not to notice how badly they played the fanfare. They struggled through the piece a second time and it was even worse than their first attempt.  

The Premier out of courtesy and wanting to appear somewhat satisfied remarked,  "Now, that's better."

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