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On Sunday 15th May, we will finally be celebrating our 125th anniversary. The concert will welcome Simone Rebello as our guest soloist. Simone Rebello is a brilliant percussionist and will be performing Taps in Tempo, Concerto for Marimba, plus others. We can’t wait to see her work her magic with the Marimba and Xylophone!

As well as this, we will be performing a premiere piece of music, ‘Sewers Crisis’.  We are so excited to have been given the opportunity to Adopt a Music Creator, thanks to Making Music. Just after lockdown, we applied for the Adopt A Music Creator* programme and were paired with the fantastic, Florence Anna Maunders.

What is Making Music and what do they do?

Since 1935, Making Music has supported and championed leisure-time groups across the UK with practical services, artistic development opportunities and by providing a collective voice for its members. Representing over 3,700 groups of around 200,000 musicians of all types, genres and abilities, Making Music helps them with the practicalities of running their group so they can get on with making music.

What is the Adopt a Music Creator Project?

The Adopt a Music Creator project brings together music groups and music creators to collaborate on creating a brand new piece of music. The project pairs leisure-time music groups with a music creator for a year, culminating in a premiere performance, a recording and a possible radio broadcast.

The music creator has the opportunity to get to know a performing group and write a piece especially for them, while the group has the chance to contribute to the creation of a new work by some of the UK’s most promising music creators.

We have been so thrilled to work with the very talented Flori and cannot wait to showcase her work with you all. We hope to see you there!

For ticket information, click here. Tickets will be available at the door.

For more information on Making Music and the Adopt a Music Creator initiative, visit https://www.makingmusic.org.uk/opportunities/making-music-projects/adopt-music-creator

 

*Adopt a Music Creator is run by Making Music in partnership with Sound and Music, and is funded by the PRS Foundation and the Philip & Dorothy Green Music Trust. 

Well it’s certainly been a year or two! With restrictions now fully lifted, we were finally able to leave the days of Zoom behind us and begin rehearsing together as a band in preparation for this year’s regional contest at Stevenage. After being promoted to the championship section in 2019, we finally had the chance to compete at this level on Sunday 20th March.

Contest Music by Wilfred Heaton was the chosen piece for the bands to play. It wasn’t without its challenges but we enjoyed the piece very much! After a draw of number 6, we had the afternoon to relax until results.

We came a respectable 7th – this was, after all, our first time competing at this level so the band was very happy with this result.

Here’s Dolma, Matt and Jess, our newest recruits and first time contesters, with their take on the day, and a little information about them each!

Dolma Chiodak

Having never participated in a brass band contest, I had absolutely no idea of how the day would unfold. Seeing the different bands of our section come together in an arts and leisure centre (not the location I had in mind!) was pretty surreal. I was anticipating having to wait around and trying not to get nervous, but the time passed fairly quickly. The worst part was waiting to find out our draw. The best part of the day was when we got to play and showcase what we had been working on for the last few months, especially the feeling after we’d finished. I’d summarise brass band contests as: Unusual, Different, yet Fascinating.

Jess Thomas

After a break from contesting, the area contest was a great opportunity to meet again with friends, bond the and together musically and as a group! I was expecting to feel nervous excitement when our wait was finally over to take to the stage and there was definitely some relief and satisfaction after we had performed. I think the worst part of the day is always the anxious waiting beforehand but my highlight of the day was seeing everyone being proud of their performance and celebrating our result together. If I could summarise band contests in three words, they would be… surreal, social and competitive.

Matt Mitchell

What did you expect for a brass band contest?
I expected lots of waiting around with lots of nervous players.

What were your best bits from the day?
Performing Contest Music itself. After spending so much time rehearsing it over the last couple of months, it was great to get onto the stage and give it our all. Also getting to spend a day with my fellow banders. 

What were your worst bits?
Definitely waiting around before it was our turn to play. It’s so tempting to keep warming up and playing, but you know that it won’t do your lip any good after a while.

If you could summarise band contests in three words, what would they be?
Exhilarating, exhausting… brassy!