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June 2004
Training Band Concert and
Picnic
After the downpours the day
before, my hopes were not too high for the weather being fine for our outdoor
concert and picnic on the lawns of the vicarage to Tewkesbury Abbey on Sunday
27th June 2004. Perhaps it was something to do with the venue, but someone was
looking after us as it was a fine day and the rain held off until the last few
were packing their picnic things away at the end! It was a beautiful setting for
the concert and a very enjoyable afternoon. The Beginner Band took the first
half, playing nearly all the pieces in their repertoire starting of course, with
'Rat-A-Tat' by Gary Young. In fact it was a bit of a Gary Young collection as
they continued with his 'First Tune' and Peppermint Tango' and later played
their new piece, 'Shaker Song'. Also in their programme was my arrangement of
'If You're Happy and You Know It' and David Beal's 'Wild West Yonder'. I
received many comments after the concert about how impressed people were by the
Beginner Band. Well done!
The second was then given over to the
Intermediate Band who opened in style with my arrangement of 'Tragedy'. They
then took the audience on a Little tour of Europe, this time
visiting Italy, Greece and Norway, before playing 'Inspector Gadget'. Following
this we went to the zoo with Allan Bullard's Zoological Band meeting the 'Sad
Sea-Lion' and the 'Prickly Porcupine', before dancing to a 'Calypso' by
Nick Mills and finally marching home with 'Festival March'.
Following the concert we all sat down
to our picnics before games of football and badminton took over and all the
children disappeared behind the hedge playing until they were called to go home!
Thanks must go to the Williams' for
letting us invade their garden - it really was a great afternoon. Thank you.
Second Fete Performance -
and it's still wet!
Yep, unfortunately Saturday
26th June 2004 was a rainy day too as the Intermediate Band performed at the
Lakeside School fete in Hatherley, Cheltenham. It started off well though as we
were privileged to play inside on a nice stage in the school hall. Crowds
gathered as we played favourites such as Harry Potter, Inspector Gadget,
Tragedy, Star Wars and more. The interesting part came when we were due to play
our second slot outside. The organisers had kindly put up two patio gazebo's
which we just about fitted under but unfortunately they didn't meet in the
middle and the rain was blowing in from the sides! We eventually got it all
pegged together so that the only rain coming through the gap was on to me, and
with the support of some parents and their golf umbrellas those on the edge were
better protected (except for Hadrian who looked like he'd been for a swim fully
clothed afterwards!). We were ready to start and wanted to play as we were there
anyway and couldn't go anywhere else as we would have got soaked stepping out
from under the gazebo, but unfortunately the horses who were giving rides on the
other side of the field were supposedly very sensitive and so we had to wait for
them to stop before we could start being noisy! Finally, as the pegs were
getting loose and the rain was getting harder we played a few pieces but
eventually gave in. Hopefully next year it will be a really sunny day to make up
for it!
First Fete
Performance
On Saturday 19th June 2004, our
Training Bands played at a school fete for the first time. It was the Alderman
Knight School fete and the Training Band played to help the senior band out! We
played at 1pm and then the senior band played at 2pm. Unfortunately, it wasn't
the best of the British weather and during our second piece we had to abandon
ship and run inside as the rain was getting quite heavy!! We eventually set up
inside again and managed to entertain the crowds with a few more pieces before
the next act took over. It was an early lesson in the guide to performing in a
brass band!
Bands in the Park: Episode 1
Sunday 13th June
saw the Band play its first park engagement of 2004 at Stratford Park in Stroud.
The crowds gathered on this beautifully sunny day, equipped with their chairs
and cups of tea (they're very sophisticated in Stroud!), ready to be
entertained. This they certainly were with a varied programme of old favourites
and new tunes as well as some stunning solo performances. We opened our
programme with the toe-tapping, 'There's No Business Like Show Business' and
this was followed by the finger-clicking-good Ken Smith arrangement of 'Summer
Nights'. The next piece was a selection from 'My Fair Lady' that had originally
been bought for our wedding concert as it starts with the tune 'We're getting
married in the morning...'! Then it was time for our first soloist, principal
cornet Martin Musto. He chose to play the beautiful and lively 1988 Eurovision
song contest winner, 'Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi'. 'Something Stupid' followed when
he was joined by fellow cornet player Helen Walters for a duet. This was
followed by 'Can't Take My Eyes of You' and then we featured our second soloist,
1st Trombone Hadrian Walters. Hadrian played the beautiful, 'I Made It Through
the Rain'. It was then time for the rousing Can-Can from 'Orpheus in the
Underworld' before we finished our first half with music from the film,
'Gladiator'.
The second half
opened in traditional style with 'Radetsky March'. We then played Happy Birthday
for 4 year Matthew Crowe who's birthday treat was then to stand on a podium and
conduct the band in 'Postman Pat'! This entertained the younger ones while the
next piece was more appreciated by a few older members of the audience! It was
called 'Cliff' and included Summer Holiday, Livin' Doll, Batchelor Boy and The
Young Ones. Our third soloist of the day then took centre stage playing the hit
'He Ain't Heavy - He's My Brother'. This was marvellously played by our solo
horn player, John Jemmett. He was then joined by the rest of the horns section
(Sarah Corwe, Sue Musto and Betty Ellis) to play 'Hey Jude'. Our final soloist
was Jonathan Allen who danced wonderfully with 'The Bass in the Ballroom'. It
was then the final run to the end with a selection from 'Fantasia on British Sea
Songs', the beautiful 'Swedish Folk Song' and our own march, 'Tewkesbury'.
Brass Plays the
Proms
On Saturday 12th June 2004, the
crowds packed in to the Roses Theatre for another evening of fun and frolics at
our annual proms concert. We were joined on stage during the evening by world
renound tuba soloist Steve Sykes, and soprano vocalist Sue Black, but more on
that later.
With the stage decked
with numerous Union Flags, the band opened with the dramatic opening drum roll
and follow up from 'There's No Business Like Show Business'. This woke the
audience up and let them know that they were in for a good night of
entertainment. However, the mood changed slightly for the second, more serious
piece, Offenbach's overture from 'Orpheus in the Underworld'.
The more
light-hearted show business then came back to the fore as we welcomed on to the
stage Steve Sykes. Steve entertained the audience not only with his amazing
playing but also his witty comments between pieces. Steve chose to play two
pieces in his first slot accompanied by the band and the third one with his own
CD backing. First up was Roy Newsome's well known, 'The Bass In The Ballroom',
with a few added twiddly bits. His second piece was the lyrical 'Feelings' in
which he demonstrated the art of circular breathing. Following this the band got
a rest as he played his own arrangement of Rafel Hermandez's, 'El Cumbanchero'.
The band and audience
then got to enjoy two songs by Franz Lehar, dramatically performed by Sue Black.
The first song was titled 'Someday I'll Find Him' and was about a young woman
dreaming of one day falling truly in love. The second song was a little more
flamboyant and I'm sure you can use your imagination with the title, 'On My Lips
Every Kiss Is Like Wine'!
Before the interval,
the band took centre stage again to play our very own march, 'Tewkesbury'. This
was then followed by a selection of music from the film, 'Gladiator'.
After the interval
the Band returned with the rousing, hand-clapping, foot-tapping, 'Radetsky
March'. We then featured our horn section in Derek Broadbent's arrangement of
the popular Lennon and McCartney tune, 'Hey Jude'.
It was then time to
welcome back Steve Sykes and his tuba! His first piece was the jazzy 'Sweet
Georgia Brown' in an arrangement that he had written himself. Following this, he
then got the audience to sing a beautiful rendition of 'Edelweiss'! You had to
be there to know why! He second piece was another slow one, this time it was Don
Morrison's, 'He Wipes the Tear From Every Eye'. Steve's last piece was the
popular Monti's, 'Czardas'. Before he started he made a point of highlighting
the fact that the piece was spelt wrong in the programme, before continuing to
tease the band and conductor by playing never-ending long notes during the
piece!
Then it was on to the
'Last Night of the Proms' section where the audience went crazy as we played
Henry Wood's, 'Fantasia on British Sea Songs', during which we were joined again
by Sue Black to sing Rule Britannia, Parry's 'Jerusalem' and finally Elgar's
'Pomp and Circumstance No.1'. Following several repeats during this, the
audience still called for more and so we sent them out singing the new band
anthem by playing the last refrain from 'Tewkesbury'!
June
Welcome
Back!
Sorry to have deserted all
you enthusiastic Tewkesbury fans recently but we had the small matter of a
wedding to organise! That was on the 24th April, then we had the hard task of
going on our honeymoon, forcing ourselves to stay away for 3 1/2 weeks! We had a
great time visiting Australia and Japan though, stopping at Perth, Sydney and
Tokyo! We even went to a band practise in Sydney! Anyway, keep coming back and
checking below this message as we try and fill in the gaps of all the excitement
in Tewkesbury since February! Bye!
30th Anniversary 'Music on the Move' Tour
This coming weekend,
the band aims to play a series of approximately 30 minute long (for 30 years)
concerts, in and around Tewkesbury. All the concerts will be free to listen to
(although you may have to pay an entrance fee to the fete on the Monday) so
please come to as many as you like! If you are there at 10am on Saturday you
will be privileged to hear the first ever public performance of the bands new
march, Tewkesbury! The itinery will hopefully be as follows:
|
Saturday 29th May 2004
10:00am The
Handy Man Centre, Tewkesbury
(It's their 30th Anniversary too!)
11:30am The
War Memorial, Bishop's Cleeve
13:00 Oak
Hill School, Alderton
14:45
Toddington Garden Centre (by the GWR station)
17:00
Gotherington playing fields (by the Village Hall)
18:30 Hare
and Hounds Pub, Churchdown |
Sunday 30th May 2004
10:30am Winchcombe
Town Centre
12:15pm The Fleet
Inn, Twyning
14:30 Upton upon
Severn (near the Heritage Centre)
16:00 The Green at
Apperley (opposite the school)
17:15 Bredon
Village Hall
18:30 The Queen's
Head Pub, Aston Cross |
Monday 31st May 2004
12:35pm and 3:00pm
Tewkesbury Abbey Fete
The Grand Finale!
Also planned for the
30th Anniversary is a concert at the Roses Theatre on Saturday 4th September
2004 and a special lunch for the Band the following day. Tickets for the
concert will be available from the Roses Theatre shortly so don't miss out! A
reminder for any past players or conductors of the band, that if you would like
to take part in this concert then please contact us as we hope to have as many
past members there as possible. If you have already contacted us about this, it
might be a good idea to contact us again just to make sure that we have you on
our list!!
May
