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Medan Band (BBJ)

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ABRSM Grade Examinations
Eight band members sat for these exams on August 20. Results are expected at the end of September.
Christmas carolling
December 2010: As usual BBJ will be playing Christmas carols at various shopping complexes in Medan.
Concert 2011
July 2011: Major concert in Medan with the Latrobe Gospel Brass, an A-grade brass band from Australia.

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Medan Band (BBJ)

Members

Medan Band - Members

Written by Bruce Gale

Current Members
The pioneers

Current Members

here are currently (April 2010) 37 members in the Brass Band Jenderal (BBJ), with ages ranging from 12 to 32. All come from very poor backgrounds or single parent families. Until very recently, all the players were also current or former members of the William Booth Salvation Army boys home in Medan, Indonesia. However, in February we admitted our first female member after she passed the entrance test.

No-one gets special privileges.

There very few formal rules. However, failure to attend band practice without an acceptable reason can result in (usually temporary!) loss of membership. The band also maintains a philosophy of strict equality of rights. No one gets special treatment or privileges because of his age or ability, not even the leaders!

The membership of the band has varied over the years as new members come in and older ones leave. The photograph below was taken in Medan in early November 2005, a couple of weeks before the band began the Malaysia/Singapore tour. I am in the front row (centre). On my right is the superintendent of the Boys Home at the time (Major Spener). His wife is on my left. Below the picture is a complete list of band members (all of whom are current or former members of the Medan Salvation Army Boys Home) and their various responsibilities.

	Music Director	Bruce Gale
	Bandmaster	Danias Karosekali

First Cornet		First Trombone
Jastis Bago		Yudhykana Laia	Section Leader/guest player from Jakarta.
Nobuala Halawa	Section Leader/Librarian
Eben Sinaga		Second Trombone
		Mike Tyson Pangaribuan
Second Cornet		Yohannes Mory
Yasahati
Ganda Sinaga		Euphonium
		Erjoin Marbun	Deputy Bandmaster and quartermaster

First Horn		Bass Eb
Putra Imanta Karosekali	Section Leader	Semro Manatap Sirait
		Lasnointer Marbun	Section Leader
Second Horn
Dodi Susanto Tampubolon		Bass Bb
Tison Sanmaruli Saragih		Rocky Tarigan

First Baritone		Percussion
David Hartawan	Section Leader	Dedy Agusta Purba	Section Leader
Niusman Halawa		Apollos Marbun
		Daniel Sinaga
Second Baritone
Hotdi Parningotan Siahaan

Go Top

The Pioneers

Things were quite different when we first began. Here is a photograph taken around 1987, showing the pioneer members of the band. At that time the band had only been in existence for a few months, so we could only play a few simple hymn tunes. Notice the absence of a tuba. I hadn't been able to obtain one at that point, so I got the euphonium player (extreme right) to play the tuba part instead.

The band relies heavily on donations.

The arrangement served our needs for about a year until the Kuala Lumpur Salvation Army in Malaysia donated an old one. In fact, almost all the band's first instruments were provided by the Malaysians. Since then, most of our instruments (all second hand) have been donated by well-wishers in the Salvation Army in Singapore and Australia. Over the years, I have also bought quite a lot myself. I am on the left of the photograph holding the baton.

Our first bandmaster (remember, I live in Singapore and can only travel to Medan every three or four months) was Posma Hutabarat. He was later sponsored to a local university by Michael Hall (a Briton who also had an interest in the band). Posma is now a fully qualified medical doctor living in Java. Did I mention that these boys were smart? Here is an early photograph of him: