A music award fund has been established in the name of the late Ralph Cuervo, a former high school band instructor at Kamsack and member of the Yorkton Community Bands.
For about the past five years, Cuervo has been a member of the Yorkton Community Bands, which includes a concert band of between 36 and 40 musicians and a jazz band of about 20 to 24 musicians, said Jack Dawes of Yorkton, president of the bands association.
“Ralph was a dedicated and accomplished trumpet player whose credits include frequent performances with Regina and Saskatoon symphony orchestras,” Dawes said, adding that although musicians in the Yorkton Community Bands had known that Cuervo was accomplished, “most of us were blown away” by his talents.
“He had studied with some very highly accomplished musicians,” Dawes said.
At a memorial service at Andrychuk Funeral chapel in Kamsack on December 13, Cuervo was hailed as a current-day "Renaissance man" with high standards for himself and his students of the Kamsack School Division, he said.
Nine members of the Yorkton Community Band group attended the service and made a contribution to the fund.
The trumpets on the chair and mantle during the service were favourites of Cuervo, who had been a 'backbone' member of the Yorkton band trumpet-line the past five years, Dawes said.
Musical tributes included vocal performances by Nicole Clayborn of Kamsack, he said.
Members of the Kamsack branch of the Royal Canadian Legion also committed their "presenting of the poppies" protocol, following the playing of The Last Post, which was a tribute to Cuervo's service to the U.S. army and the community.
