CYMC - Summer Music from Courtenay '74
Stepping back in time to a bygone era of youthful classical music passion and talent
In 1967 Robert (Bob) Creech, the principal french horn player for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO), co-founded CYMC, the Courtenay Youth Music Camp/Centre, with a vision of bringing together talented musical youth to receive instruction from some of the world's leading classical musicians, and to perform great works from classical composers in weekly concerts throughout the warm sunny Comox Valley summers. Many members of the VSO, including Kazuyoshi Akiyama, the VSO conductor, made yearly pilgrimages to Courtenay to share their knowledge and passion for music with hundreds of youth. There were special musical guests invited from all over the world, including soloists from as far away as the USSR.
Amazing things resulted from this fusion of talent and interaction. By 1973 the senior orchestra was performing pieces such as Mahler's 3rd Symphony, complete with 16 french horns, and a 100+ musician lineup. In 1974 Tschaikowsky's Symphony No 5 was chosen and again a large contigent of musicians worked for weeks to perfect it before performing in front of a live audience. Bob Creech had arranged for professional recording equipment to capture the concerts that summer and then got it published in this 2 record set. Despite the limitations of performing in a large gym with its sub-optimal acoustics the recording is of remarkable quality - allowing the listener to clearly hear the instruments and impressive musicianship on display.
My own role in this was as a french horn player. I was only 12 years old in the summer of 1974, not officially old enough to be a member of the CYMC senior orchestra, but my teacher, Bob Creech, slotted me into this group starting in 1973, allowing me to play with musicians much older and more experienced, lifting me up and exposing me to wonderful influences. I will never forgot that experience. My middle son, Colin, found a copy of this LP in a Salvation Army store in the spring of 2024 and brought it home, saying 'Dad, I think you might have played on this album' - I didn't even realize it had been recorded 50 years ago. Wow - what a find!
This was a special moment in west coast musical history in the making - a time when everything came together to create musical magic. Enjoy!
CYMC, was re-named in the 1990s as the 'Comox Valley Youth Music Centre' and operates to this day (www.cymc.ca), continuing a proud legacy of inspiring youth to pursue their musical passions.
Here are the LP audio tracks from my server (also available on music streaming services):
Side 1 - Tschaikowsky 'Symphony No 5 in E Minor' (part 1)
Side 2 - Tschaikowsky 'Symphony No 5 in E Minor' (part 2)
Side 3 - Harry Freedman 'Laughing One', R Wagner 'Liebestod '
Side 4 - Beethoven 'Coral Finale from Fantasia', J.S. Bach 'Cantata No 140'
Click on the images below for high resolution images of the entire LP cover artwork:
Here is a news article from the Comox District Free Press, August 15, 1973, during the summer when the CYMC senior orchestra performed Mahler's 3rd Symphony with 16 french horns - I am the 11 year old horn player in the centre while Bob Creech is 3rd from the right (click on image for a high resolution version) - he was such a creative mind, naming his horn playing group 'The Comox Valley Philosophical Horn Society' and taking them all out to an abandoned concrete building to play with extreme echo effects ...
