Arwen is a fourth generation Calgarian, and music has been a big part of her life for as long as she can remember. She started marching with the Calgary Round Up Band when she was 12 and has travelled all over the world playing music, even as far as Taiwan with the Calgary Stetson Show Band. Her passion has led her to give presentations at schools all over the city, encouraging students to join the Stampede programs and explore the power of music performance.
D.O.B.: December 1, 2002
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Event: Calgary Stampede Showband
Awards: The Stampede Showband is a seven-time world champion, competing in the World Association of Marching Show Bands (WAMSB)
Stampede attendance: Has been part of Stampede performances since 2020
Notable facts: Arwen is the first woman in Stampede history to compete in a Drum Corps International (DCI) World Class drumline.
In Arwen’s words:
Being in the band gives you everything you need, really. You get support from friends, from mentors. It's somewhere you can be yourself and work really hard on something as a collective.
It's a time to bond with everybody. There are few activities where you have so much, even just networking, you know, so many people who can help you with things. There's just so much support everywhere. So that's one of the main reasons why I'm there beyond loving my instrument so, so very much. And I just feel important there. There's not a lot of places where I get to feel as important as I do when I'm in the band.
I'm very proud. I'm proud because everybody in our group is coming from a different place, from a different background, from a different level of experience. And by the end of the season, everybody is working so hard together that you can't tell if you're a first year or a fifth year, it doesn't matter.
I remember watching the parade from, like, a balcony in a really tall building one year. And I still think about that parade, just getting a really good angle to see the clean lines in the parade block and everybody working really hard and all of the really cool choreography! I used to go from school to school, to recruit band members and I would ask, ‘have you ever seen a parade?’ And everybody has a story. And some people I talk to have an experience of seeing for the first time the Stampede Show band. It brings so much joy to me personally, just hearing those stories. And I love that I can be a part of that story. And that's a very unique thing. Not a lot of other activities can give you that.