Spring at Fulham

What a year it’s been so far at Fulham Brass Band!

In the past few months, we have welcomed Adam Meyer onto the front row. A first year Guildhall student, Adam has helped the band on a number of occasions in recent years and we’re delighted he’s joined the Band permanently.

We have also welcomed back Grant Jarvie onto the soprano cornet seat. He has already made an impact with an excellent performance at the Regional Championships last month.

The final addition to our band is George Lee who is joining the bass section. George is a Guildhall School of Music and Drama graduate now working for the London Symphony Orchestra in concert administration. We are delighted to have him as part of the team.

With new players joining the band, we have also seen a change in positions: Sarah Linstead has added considerable experience and beautiful sound to the solo cornet bench,  Matt Pitt  has moved to the repiano and Andy Sladen, our former soprano, has returned after some time off with his newborn son, onto 2nd cornet and finally, Jenny Butterworth has not only moved seats from front row cornet, but has changed instrument, taking up the solo horn seat. The changes took place before the Regionals at Stevenage in March and have made such a difference to the band.

CONTEST

After several weeks of rehearsing and preparing for the annual Regional Championships at Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre, the band presented a fine performance of “Brass Metamorphosis” by James Curnow. The adjudicators commented that we had “some good moments” with “good dynamic contrasts noted”.  After some stiff competition, (and a long wait after being drawn 12th) we landed a 5th place finish (De ja vu after last year!)

ANNUAL AWARDS

In other news, our AGM was held at the end of March. During this, we also held our annual awards. The awards include “Bandsperson of the year,” as voted for by the players, which is given to the person the band feels has made the most contribution to the band in the last year. This year, the award went to Stephen Carney, our Chairman and 2nd horn player. Stephen has worked hard over the year, taking responsibility of contest registrations, events and other important aspects. He has been invaluable to the band and we are so thankful to the work he puts in on a daily basis!

The next awards are the “Player of the Year” and “Most Improved Player” which are chosen by our conductor, John. The Player of the Year was awarded to Jonti Smith. He joined the band in May last year on Solo Euphonium and has since proven to be a fantastic acquisition. He is a fine player but has also shown a huge commitment to the band, having recently been appointed joint Band manager with Jonathan Barker.

The “Most Improved Player” was given to Jenny Butterworth. Jenny moved from Cornwall last Summer and joined the band on solo cornet. After 20 years of playing cornet, and with the band being unable to find someone to take the solo horn seat, Jenny offered to “have a go” at playing horn for a short time until a suitable person was found. Since taking up the horn, her hard work and determination to do well has been noted and for this reason, she was well-deserving of this award.

UPCOMING CONCERT

Finally, the band is currently preparing for their upcoming spring concert, “Firebird” a concert of passion, romance and drama, which will be held at St Etheldreda’s Church, Fulham, on Sunday 13th May at 3pm. We are so pleased to welcome Fraser Graham as our guest soloist. Fraser will be performing the Finale from Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Concerto.

Tickets are now on sale here