To the editor:
In 2023, the music ensemble named Second Wind was awarded a gold medal at the Northern Ontario Band Festival in Sudbury and achieved a two-year invitation to the National Competitions for Music Fest Canada in Niagara Falls. There, they once again were awarded a gold medal.
In May 2024, Second Wind went to Toronto to perform at this Canada-wide event once more. Judges, there, again, presented them with a gold medal.
Here is some background information about Second Wind, under the direction of Mary Thornton.
They are a woodwind ensemble centred in North Bay although Corbeil and Sturgeon Falls are also represented. The average age of the group is 72 years young, with an age range of 62 to 91.
The group has 16 members which includes clarinets, flutes and bass clarinet. They play a wide range of genres from rag to classical.
The name (Second Wind) should say it all. Most of the participants in the group started at their instruments about seven years ago but some hadn’t played since high school.
As an adult group, the work ethic is outstanding, and they are always improving, growing, and moving forward. This group plays in the North Bay area but has played at the Ontario Music Educators Association annual conference. They demonstrate to their own generation as well as to the younger generations that ‘it is never too late’ to engage in musical activities.
Congratulations to Second Wind for being outstanding examples of life-long learners
Al Orlando
North Bay
