Meet The Saxes

Tobias Beale is a recently retired instrumental specialist / band teacher with the Halifax Regional Centre for Education. He is one of the co-directors and arrangers of the Tuesday Night Band, as well as lead tenor sax player with occasional improvised solos on flute.  He also enjoys playing in the Sackville Concert Band, Sax4Hire Quartet, Cool Cats, and other groups in the area. One of his most recent ventures is owning and operating Paul's Hall, an arts space with a focus on music education, production and performance. The Band has played Paul's Hall in both indoor and outdoor concerts.

Amanda Mark is honoured and jazzed to be a regular saxophone sub with the Tuesday Night Band, currently sitting in on Alto 2.  Band director at Island View High by day, she also plays flute, sax, clarinet, and sings tenor with a lot of groups around Nova Scotia and PEI, including PEI Symphony, Glass winds, Great Harbour Winds, I and the Village (world music), Ireland Meets Scotland (Celtic), 36 Canadian Brigade Group (clarinet and vocals), and also performs in the Ebb&Flow multicultural show, which she co-produces.  

Tenor Sax player, Derek Cochrane, joined the Tuesday Night Band about 8 years ago.  Having studied music with Bob McCarthy at Acadia University and Pat LaBarbera at Humber College, Derek holds a Diploma in Jazz Performance and a Masters in Music Education. Over the years, he has played in a number of bands in both Halifax and toronto. In addition to being a musician, Derek has been an elementary school music teacher with HRCE for the past 25 years.

Steve Rigden plays 1st Alto in the Band.  He is one of the original members of the Tuesday Night Band that began rehearsing in a warehouse in Burnside Industrial Park where the members sat on beer kegs while playing. Except for a few years when he was completing his MASc in Electrical Engineering, he has been playing every Tuesday Night with the band, save when sadly cancelled due to the pandemic, although they did manage to find rehearsal space outdoors once it was considered safe. Steve also plays in several other musical groups in HRM, including Sax4Hire (alto), Dartmouth Concert Band (clarinet), Sackville Concert Band (clarinet), Bedford Leisure Orchestra (flute), a Dixieland Band (sax), and Timeless (alto sax). When not playing sax, Steve volunteers as a Sound Tech at Woodlawn United Church, a skill the band relies on as well.

The tallest member of our band fittingly plays some of the lowest notes. Peter says he lives with his biggest fans, Betty, The Gooch, and Spotty Ninja. He started ukulele with Chalmers Doane at 8 and added saxophones at 11 with the All City Schools Band. He played in the Halifax Jazz Band for 2 years before taking a hiatus. His brother Paul brought him back to the Chebucto Big Band before switching to the Tuesday Night Band in 1991. Many thanks go to Peter's wife Betty, who comes to all rehearsals and concerts and is the Band's Music Librarian. During 2020, Peter and Betty started a Little Library on their front lawn with new books, movies and CDs free each week.