News
The Spring Concert, "From Burghfield to Broadway" on Saturday April 21st was a lovely day in St Mary's Church, Burghfield. This was a new venue for most of our band members and we enjoyed playing in the responsive acoustic with a varied programme of music.
We began with pieces we played at the NCBF finals in Manchester, but included all 4 movements of Holst's 2nd Suite in F this time, and followed with Philip Sparke's Barn Dance and Cowboy Hymn. Sf Sax, a group of 6 players from within the band, treated us to pieces in each half of the concert: Summer by Joe Hisaishi and 2 movements from Ron Goodwin's Suite for Brass, arranged for saxophones and percussion by Ray Meads. Other highlights from the pieces played by the full band were selections from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and Lerner and Loewe in Concert, both taking us to Broadway, and Variations on Laudate Dominum by Edward Gregson. We were treated to a beautiful performance of the Theme from Schindler's List from our solo flute, Erica Scott, accompanied by the band.
The audience enjoyed drinks and cakes during the interval in the Parish rooms and were very generous in our retiring collection for the Church.
We began with pieces we played at the NCBF finals in Manchester, but included all 4 movements of Holst's 2nd Suite in F this time, and followed with Philip Sparke's Barn Dance and Cowboy Hymn. Sf Sax, a group of 6 players from within the band, treated us to pieces in each half of the concert: Summer by Joe Hisaishi and 2 movements from Ron Goodwin's Suite for Brass, arranged for saxophones and percussion by Ray Meads. Other highlights from the pieces played by the full band were selections from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and Lerner and Loewe in Concert, both taking us to Broadway, and Variations on Laudate Dominum by Edward Gregson. We were treated to a beautiful performance of the Theme from Schindler's List from our solo flute, Erica Scott, accompanied by the band.
The audience enjoyed drinks and cakes during the interval in the Parish rooms and were very generous in our retiring collection for the Church.
GOLD at the National Finals of NCBF
The band had an emotional and exciting day travelling up to Manchester for the Finals of the National Concert Band Festival. After a long coach journey we finally entered the Royal Northern College of Music just after 2pm. A few members headed off to the concert hall to watch 3 other bands perform, and then it was all action. First a warm up, then off to the rehearsal room, and suddenly the ushers told us that it was our time to go on stage, and we were taken off to the concert hall. We could feel the excitement and the tension amongst the band members! After being introduced to the audience, we gave a cheery group wave to our adjudicators before we started to play. Reality dawned then that we had less than 20 mins to impress, and we concentrated hard as we performed our pieces: Maple Leaf Overture by Philip Sparke, Canterbury Chorale by Jan van der Roost, and Movements 3 & 4 (Song of the Blacksmith and Fantasia on the Dargason) from the 2nd Suite in F by Gustav Holst. After some excellent feedback we were delighted to be presented with a Gold Award. As one of only 6 community wind bands performing from across the UK this was such a proud moment for us.
The band had an emotional and exciting day travelling up to Manchester for the Finals of the National Concert Band Festival. After a long coach journey we finally entered the Royal Northern College of Music just after 2pm. A few members headed off to the concert hall to watch 3 other bands perform, and then it was all action. First a warm up, then off to the rehearsal room, and suddenly the ushers told us that it was our time to go on stage, and we were taken off to the concert hall. We could feel the excitement and the tension amongst the band members! After being introduced to the audience, we gave a cheery group wave to our adjudicators before we started to play. Reality dawned then that we had less than 20 mins to impress, and we concentrated hard as we performed our pieces: Maple Leaf Overture by Philip Sparke, Canterbury Chorale by Jan van der Roost, and Movements 3 & 4 (Song of the Blacksmith and Fantasia on the Dargason) from the 2nd Suite in F by Gustav Holst. After some excellent feedback we were delighted to be presented with a Gold Award. As one of only 6 community wind bands performing from across the UK this was such a proud moment for us.
Band Workshop & Repertoire Day
Band members had a fantastic day at a workshop led by Duncan Stubbs, former Principal Director of Music of the RAF Music Services. As well as playing some of our current music he also stretched our musical skills with several tricky pieces that he had brought with him: Alfred Reed's Armenian Dances, 3 Russian Folk Songs by Andrew Pearce, The Blackpool Tram from Ghosts by Stephen McNeff, and one movement (Igneous - Born of Fire) from one of Duncan's own pieces, From the Depths of Time. Everyone went home feeling both exhausted and exhilarated from the day, and can't wait for the next one to be organised!
Band members had a fantastic day at a workshop led by Duncan Stubbs, former Principal Director of Music of the RAF Music Services. As well as playing some of our current music he also stretched our musical skills with several tricky pieces that he had brought with him: Alfred Reed's Armenian Dances, 3 Russian Folk Songs by Andrew Pearce, The Blackpool Tram from Ghosts by Stephen McNeff, and one movement (Igneous - Born of Fire) from one of Duncan's own pieces, From the Depths of Time. Everyone went home feeling both exhausted and exhilarated from the day, and can't wait for the next one to be organised!
Recording Studio
The band went to the Institute of Sound Recording at The University of Surrey's Stag Hill campus in Guildford for our third time in a recording studio, where a current Tonmeister student recorded the band's performance of a few pieces chosen by our Director of Music. It was a very tiring but fulfilling day for the band, where we recorded 3 new pieces of music to add to our previous 2 studio recordings. We look forward to seeing and hearing the results in the next few months.
The band went to the Institute of Sound Recording at The University of Surrey's Stag Hill campus in Guildford for our third time in a recording studio, where a current Tonmeister student recorded the band's performance of a few pieces chosen by our Director of Music. It was a very tiring but fulfilling day for the band, where we recorded 3 new pieces of music to add to our previous 2 studio recordings. We look forward to seeing and hearing the results in the next few months.
