Silver Award for the Training Band
On Sunday 3 February 2008 the Training Band took part in its first ever contest, the GBBA Entertainment Contest at the Royal Forest of Dean College near Berry Hill. The Training Band drew 5th to play and so had some time to explore the venue and listen to the first band before they had to go and prepare themselves to take the stage.

We opened our performance in sparkling style with Francis Clifford's 'Concert Overture' and there were no obvious nerves, despite several of the adult learners having been nervous before taking to the stage. After that we played three movements from Klas Vleek's 'Real Pop', the opening Yokahama Rock, the mellow Wintertime and the fast and furious Super-Ski.

These were followed by the popular tune 'I Will Follow Him' from the movie Sister Act. After this our two soloists Cameron Purveur and Megan Taylor stood up and switched their trombones for hosaphones to show off their skills with the novelty piece 'One Note Bugler'! After that we performed the tricky 'Indian Rondo' by Hummel before moving onto one of the favourite pieces from 2007, the effervescent 'Schnappi, Das Kleine Krokodil'. To close we returned to the classical world with an upbeat arrangement of Bach's 'Toccata in D Minor'.

AGM

The Training Band once again welcomed everyone to our AGM in Tewkesbury Town Hall on Wednesday 2^nd April with another impressive concert. The Intermediate Band opened the concert with Harold T. Scull’s ‘One Note Bugler’ introduced by William Norman. This rousing March like piece got everyone’s feet tapping before the Beginner Band slowed things down with a beautiful performance of Gary Young’s ‘First Tune’. Hannah Williams then introduced the next Intermediate Band piece which was the ‘Indian Rondo’ from Hummel’s Noble Savage.

Training Band Cabaret Concert - Friday 11th July
The Training Band will be hosting its annual Cabaret Evening on Friday 11th July at the Gupshill Manor Function Room. Don't miss this opportunity to hear the talented young (and old) members of our Training Band perform a number of solo and ensemble items for you. You could be the one in many years time when they are famous, saying 'I remember the first time I heard them perform!'.

Come along and enjoy a fun evening of music making.
 

The youngest member of the Windsor family, Lucy, provided one of the highlights of the evening with a moving performance of another Andrew Lloyd Webber piece ‘Love Changes Everything’ on her horn.

The soloists were given a rest as the Beginner Band played an arrangement of ‘Drunken Sailor’. The youngest member of the Norman family, Hannah, then gave a confident performance of ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ on her euphonium despite not feeling too well. The amazing Von Windsor Family made their annual appearance to give us a thrilling rendition of ‘March in May’….no lederhosen this year though!
 

Next up in an explorer outfit came trombonist Cameron Purveur to give us a thrilling rendition of the theme from ‘Indiana Jones’. This was followed by one of the funniest sights I have ever seen, trombonist Matthew Lee took the stage dressed in a monkey costume including mask to play the Jungle Book classic ‘I Wanna Be Like You’.

This was followed the popular TV theme ‘Dad’s Army’ played by Alex Blencowe on his cornet dressed as a soldier.

Another of our cornet stars, Grace Windsor, then gave a beautiful rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘All I Ask of You’. The tallest trombonist, Jonathan Petticrew then ably took on the challenge of the popular trombone solo ‘The Acrobat’ with collapsing keyboard accompaniment by Kim Benbow! The final solo of the night came from another duel instrumentalist (Soprano Cornet/Bb Cornet), Hannah Williams, who gave an amazingly musical and moving rendition of the Frank Sinatra song ‘My Way’ on her Bb Cornet.

Training Band in Dorchester
On Friday 8th August 2008 members of the Training Band (and a few senior band members!) met outside Tewkesbury School to load the coach with their instruments and tents for a weekend of fun on our annual camping weekend. This is our 4th camp having previously been to Sidmouth in 2005 & 2006 and Dorchester in 2007 as shown on the back of our blue and yellow tour t-shirts.
 

Once everything was loaded on to the coach (and the driver had recovered from the shock of how much stuff was to be loaded in!) then the Band headed down the motorway to Dorset and to the Lyon’s Gate Camping and Caravan Park near Cerne Abbas. A few members of the Band had gone down to the camp site early and were there to great us as the coach made the tight manoeuvre into the campsite! Everything was unloaded and the task of putting the tents up began. Everyone had been encouraged to make a sign for tent to show who was inside which was later judged by the camp site owner and his family. The Lee family were the winners with the Stephenson family as runners up. Once the tents were up, it was time for our picnic lunches in the deer glade whilst a few others continued to try and work out how to put up the gazebo!
 

There was a change to the schedule for the afternoon as the band had been asked at the last minute to play at the local pub in the evening and the Cerne Abbas Giant had become overgrown so could hardly be seen. This meant that instead of going for a walk the band stayed on the site and had a short rehearsal followed by the start of The Big Band Camp Quiz 2008 (which will be continued at some point as we only managed to get through 3 rounds!). The Quiz started with a pre-team-selection balloon game and then the chaotic team selection process! Then the teams needed to know information such as how many baked beans would need to be placed end to end to reach the moon for the initial Estimations round before heading off in search of weird and wonderful items for the ‘Find the List’ round. The ‘Whatdyamacallits’ team won the Scales round with a full set of C,D,E,F,G,A and B major scales from Alex Blencowe which gave them the overall lead.
 

The quiz was interrupted by the smell of chips as 56 portions of chips (and fish and sausages and fishcakes…etc) were brought from the local chip shop for our tea which was again enjoyed in the deer glade. It is quite a sight to see over 50 people eating fish and chips in a forest clearing! Following dinner, the Band headed to the Hunter’s Moon pub (under new management!) for our first concert of the tour. The appreciative audience were treated to delights such as our Grease Selection, Drunken Sailor, Tranquillity and Tromba Tango. The Band then enjoyed a drink or two before heading back to snuggle into our tents! As the cockerel welcomed in the new day at 4:10am, the Band began to wake and were drawn out of their tents by the smell of bacon cooking for breakfast (by about 8am!).
 

Once we had all enjoyed a sausage or bacon roll then it was time for band practise before heading off for a day at the beach. However…the weather had other things in mind! The rain started just as we were about to get the instruments out and didn’t stop until about 4am the following morning. Instead of practise, we boarded the coach for an earlier start and headed to Bournemouth. Unfortunately the rain followed us for the day but it didn’t stop the band having a photo on the beach and quite a few had a paddle in the surprisingly warm sea!
 

On the way back, a few of our party who were ahead of the coach in a car were unfortunate to witness a car accident and kindly stopped to help and ensure everyone was ok. We were pleased to hear later that all involved had returned safely from the hospital with only minor injuries. Back at the campsite, we had our own task of clearing out and moving tents which had become flooded or were just about to disappear into a puddle! This went on for some time, as did the task of lighting the BBQ under several umbrellas! Eventually it got going though and a production team went into action in the gazebo buttering rolls etc for tea!

As the cockerel crowed again on Sunday morning after a wild night, things were more peaceful and the sun came out! Again the band was drawn out of its tents by the smell of breakfast cooking and then headed to the deer glade for a short informal concert to make up for the one we had to cancel the night before due to the weather. Although it was informal, some players took it to the extreme and came still in their pyjamas!

The Band then got on the coach and headed in to Dorchester where most families found the Weatherspoons (as there was very little open in Dorchester on a Sunday!) for lunch before a fantastic afternoon concert in Dorchester’s Borough Gardens as the big finale for the tour. Although we all got a little wet over the weekend it just added to the fun which was had and left people planning for next year. It surely wont rain like that again….will it?!!

Mop Fair
The Band and many of its Training Band members led the evening procession of the Mayor and other dignitaries for the opening of the annual Mop Fair in Tewkesbury on Thursday 9th October. The Band led the parade from Gander Lane to the fair at The Cross playing the march 'New Recruit' before enjoying an evening at the fair!

Festive Sounds at Christmas Lights Switch On!
Our Training Band’s second Christmas performance was playing carols outside the Town Hall at the switching on of the Christmas Lights in Tewkesbury on Sunday 30th November 2008. The Band played a selection of carols and Christmas tunes to entertain the crowds as they gathered throughout the afternoon to see Father Christmas switch the lights on. Many people commented on how well the Band was playing and how it really got them in the Christmas mood!

Training Band Concert - Sunday 21st December 2008 at 2.30pm
The Training Band are busy preparing for their on concert on Sunday 21st December in the Watson Hall, Tewkesbury. The concert will feature many pieces that the Bands have been rehearsing this year including Grease, The New Recruit, Funkaphobia and Grease. The second half will be filled with festive favourites. Entry to the concert is free so why not come along and support our Training Band whilst enjoying a lovely afternoon concert!