Mr McMurdo and his High School Band from 1954 Yearbook
By Alex Drdul
The Kamloops High School Band, under the direction of Mr. A. N. McMurdo, has become renowned not only through the province of B.C. but also through-out Canada. The Band has won many honors through the past years, of which I shall mention just a few. They have won the B.C. Championship twice; the Yale-Cariboo Music Festival several times, and the Okanagan festival four times. Once they also won the Canadian Intermediate championship at Waterloo. This last mentioned title is the greatest honor ever won by the Band, thus keeping their record of never having been defeated, intact.
All these honors have been entirely due to the wonderful music teacher of Kamloops, Mr. McMurdo. This brilliant man is "one in a million." He is kind, thoughtful, understanding — in fact there just are not enough words to describe him completely.
Maybe you, like many other people, are wondering what drive, what inner courage keeps him going? It is all because of his unabounding kindness and thoughtfulness towards those less fortunate than he.
He worries more, cares more, for his students than for himself. If a pupil desires to play an instrument, and that pupil has not got the money to buy it, Mr. McMurdo himself will buy it for him. If it gives satisfaction and enjoyment to that student, Mr. McMurdo is grateful. He is the kind of man who realizes the chances he did, and the chances he didn't have when he was a young lad. Whenever the occasion arises where he can help, he does so, always with the great unselfishness so characteristic of this remarkable man.
Although much is heard about Mr. McMurdo and the Band, little is heard about Mr. McMurdo's life. He was born, as almost everyone knows, in Scotland. He grew up with a rich musical heritage, being an accomplished violinist at the age of fifteen. When at the age of sixteen, he conducted his first Symphony Orchestra. This is a feat, I think, unequalled by very few people in music circles today. He has certificates, of which very few people ever hear or see, that would do any musician in any field honorable credit. Among his many certificates, are two from the London Music Festival in London, England, classifying him as a "violinist extraordinary." Also Mr. McMurdo has the honor of being acclaimed one of the three best violinists in Canada.
Many instances, too numerous to mention, could be brought out to show what a talented personage we have in Mr. McMurdo. Kamloops had never been so fortunate as when they enrolled Mr. McMurdo as the music teacher in the High School. But please don't think his job is just teaching during the day, then taking it easy for the rest of the time. Far from It! He conducts the Legion Symphony Orchestra, the High School Band and the City of Kamloops Elks Band. Then his music classes during the day, with special private tutoring on Saturdays, with two bands and one orchestra practice a week and now the special band practices on Sunday, keep him so occupied that he has no time for rest and sleep. Think of the patience he has! Truely he has a heart of gold! He is a tremendous man, taking his setbacks and disheartments with a smile, always looking at the better side of his problems. Think! that if you had to teach about four hundred students a day all year round, plus all his other organizations, how much a strain it would be on your mind and today, especially when Mr. McMurdo is not very healthy. Yet this one person has virtually hand formed the students of Kamloops High School into one vast musical congregation.
One last instance I would like to mention is the great amount of work Mr. McMurdo went to when the Old High School was on the shift system. Twice a week for two hours, Mr. McMurdo would give up his leisure time and rest to teach the students who were unfortunate enough not to be able to attend music classes during school hours. He helped and encouraged these students and it was just part of his extreme kindness to the students. Now, if that does not cause a thought of kindness and thankfulness to be raised in your mind, then nothing ever will.
This brings us to the present time when Kamloops and its Citizenry have the chance to bring world renown and honor to the city and the members of the High School Band. Because of Mr. McMurdo's untiring efforts, the Band has become so well known that this year they were invited to compete in the World Music Festival at Kerkrade, Holland. Now this is probably old news to everyone but somehow, very few people realize its full significance. It means a chance in a lifetime, an opportunity not to be pushed around, but one to be looked upon with the greatest feeling of awe and thanks. Can anyone possibly think of a better, more suitable way to honor Mr. McMurdo than by sending him and his band to Europe? I think not! When the Band won the competition at Waterloo, it was thought at the time that this was the best; the highlight of the Band's climb to fame. But it was not. Unknowingly at the time, it was a buildup to world recognition. It was somehow, inevitable that such a man with such brilliantly trained students, would eventually tread the uppermost heights in the musical world. Now I just mentioned that Mr. McMurdo's students were brilliantly trained. This is no understatement. For the amount of work of teaching the students that Mr. McMurdo puts in, and for the amount of time he has to teach them, it is remarkable what a fine group of musicians he has moulded together to comprise his Band. With all his time and patient work, his silent worries, his unknown illnesses, his numerous setbacks, he has at last almost fulfilled his wildest dreams. Only time will prove this man’s ability to take a group of students, to teach them and mould them into a Band of world renown.
Till now, I have only mentioned Mr. McMurdo and the Band. I have not yet mentioned a person whom almost everybody fails to notice or her about entirely. That person is Mrs. McMurdo. Few people know of the many times she has nursed Mr. McMurdo through long and serious illnesses, through many disheartening setbacks that would be sad enough to break the ambition of any man. She is an ideal wife, one who knows what will be needed next, and what to do for it. If it were not for his wonderful wife, Mr. McMurdo might not be the outstanding personage he is today.
