No
Strings Attached
Community Band
Sudbury
Ontario
Canada
Our Conductor: Sandra McMillan...
Sandra
McMillan has been the musical director, conductor, and indeed driving force of the
No Strings
Attached Community Band of Sudbury since its inception in the Fall of 2000.
A life-long resident of the community, Sandra was born in Sudbury on November 28, 1978.
While growing up, Sandra's main early exposure to music consisted of singing in local choirs. To this day, she continues to sing, and in the past has sung in the Bel Canto Chorus in Sudbury.
Sandra first learned to play the saxophone in the 8th grade. She attended Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School in Sudbury, graduating in 1997. Throughout her high school years she continued to play the saxophone. She prefers to play the tenor sax, but has played soprano and alto sax as well. In her grade 12 year, she participated in the Northern Ontario Band Festival All Star Jazz Ensemble.
In 2001, Sandra graduated from
Laurentian University's honours B.A. program in music at
Huntington College. For her honours thesis at Laurentian, she
undertook a project which involved organizing and running a community
concert band.
After completing her thesis, some of her band members insisted
that she continue to conduct the band on an on-going basis. The hope
at that time was that the band would eventually become a permanent fixture in the
community. Sandra agreed, and the band eventually became known as the "No Strings
Attached Community Band," and the rest, as they say, is history.
Since completing her honours B.A. in music at Laurentian, Sandra went on to earn a Bachelor of Education degree from Nipissing University in North Bay.
Sandra
currently teaches music at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School
(previously, she had
taught music classes to elementary students with the
Sudbury Catholic District
School Board). 
Sandra
has also given private music instruction to students in the saxophone. She
is currently a member of the
Ontario Music Educators'
Association as well as the Canadian
Music Educators Association.
Sandra has been one of the leading voices in the community for amateur music and the role of music education. In 2007, she received the prestigious "Alumni Young Leader Award" from the LU Alumni Association--an award which recognizes the accomplishments of our young Laurentian graduates. [Photo at right shows Sandra receiving her award from Lisa Demers-Brooks at awards dinner, Nov. 22/07].
Although Sandra has a good working knowledge of all of the wind instruments, her favourite instrument to perform remains the tenor sax. Her musical tastes as a listener on the other hand can be said to "eclectic," as she enjoys listening to jazz, classical, folk, and bluegrass music.
Sandra enjoys working with the public
and is fully bilingual in English and French. She has considerable
experience in planning and organizing community events. Her hobbies
also include custom woodworking, in which she has operated her own home-based business.
During her spare time, Sandra enjoys outdoor activities such as kayaking, hiking, and soccer (although she would not consider herself to be a "health nut" per se).
If you wish to get in touch with Sandra, you may contact her at (705) 523-5627, or by e-mail at slkmcmillan@yahoo.ca.
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