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We are delighted to announce the Peter Bassano has agreed to take us to the Midlands Regional Contest on 9 March 2025. Peter was a professional trombone player who has played all over the world with various orchestras and brass ensembles. He has also recorded for TV and film, toured with the Bee Gees and played and sang on the Beatles track 'Hey Jude'. In fact he has played, conducted and adjudicated at the highest levels. We are delighted to have him on board and we have already seen what a difference he will be able to make to the band after spending only a very short time with him to date.
Our next rehearsal is in fact a workshop with Paul Cosh, with whom Peter has worked before, where topics such as breathing, embouchure, articulation, posture and developing an individual effective practice routine will be covered whilst working on our set test-piece for this year's contest which is 'I, Daedalus' by Andrea Price.
There are still one or two seats we need to fill for contest day and we are always on the look out for new players. If you'd like to come and benefit from Peter's knowledge and experience and would consider joining the band then please do get in touch.
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2024 was a busy year for the band with 13 engagements and 3 of our own concerts. Throw in a National Brass Band Championship contest and some Musical Director changes and there was never a dull moment. Now, safely into 2025 and we are able to look back and review.
We were delighted to welcome Graham Blackman into the band on Eb bass at the start of the year. Having come along to our Christmas concert at St Peter’s Church with his wife, Graham had enjoyed the performance and it had got him reminiscing about the many years of brass playing in his past.
“After 18 years without playing my tuba, and with a little nudge from my wife, I joined the band a year ago. I was made to feel very welcome from the start. The Friday rehearsal nights work really well with my shifts and it is great to round off each week with a drink and a catch up in the Band Club. Over the year, I have enjoyed playing a variety of music, traditional and contemporary, the highlight for me being our performance at the Brackley Armed Forces Day. I would recommend anyone who is interested in making music (young/old, beginner/experienced or anywhere in between) to come along and have a blow.“
The beginning of every year starts with preparations for the National Brass Band Championship. We compete in the Fourth Section and are keen to work our way up the rankings and be in with a chance of promotion before too long. The testpiece was “Music for Jock Tamson” by Alan Fernie and some of our members joined The GUS Band for their workshop on the testpiece at the beginning of February, hoping to get some hints and tips on how to impress the adjudicators on the day. We were pleased with our performance though the adjudicators placed us 12th.
This was the last contest that our 2nd baritone player Leonie Walter played with the band. She moved away, so unfortunately we had to wave her goodbye and wished her well. We understand that she has joined Bilsdale Silver Band and is enjoying her continued involvement in banding up north.
Summer saw the band undertake a number of engagements including the Armed Forces Day at the rugby club in Brackley, a number of fetes at local villages including a band favourite at Eydon and a session at Abington Park as part of their “Bands in the Park” series.
David Howard, who took over the role of Musical Director at the beginning of 2023, decided to move on during the summer of 2024. We'd like to thank Dave for all the work he put into the band during his time with us and wish him all the best. We would also like to say that we were immensely grateful to Clive Keech who had recently started coming along to the band to play cornet for being willing to step up and take over.
The Band BBQ, hosted up at our bass player and Chairman Nigel Surman’s farm, signalled the end of the summer engagements where we played games, bounced around on his bouncy castle, got taken for rides in his Ford Model T, ate, drank and enjoyed social time with the band without the instruments. Following a short break, we returned to rehearse for our Autumn Concert, Remembrance Service and a couple of Oktoberfest gigs. One such gig was at The Bell Inn in Adderbury, where we joined Rhys Owens, who now runs the pub and used to play with the band for a fun night of Bavarian Oompah tunes and beer.
Christmas is often a very busy time for the band and this year was no exception. Performing multiple times of a weekend and sometimes twice on the same day we entertained shoppers, visitors to the local supermarkets, residents of Brackley Fields Care Home and those that turned out for the Community Carols, all in addition to our very popular Christmas Concert. One particularly fulfilling aspect of caroling is that it allows us to interact with our audience more and take requests. Once such interaction at Wappenham Farm led to an impromptu rendition of “Away in a Manager” by a young girl, who sang delightfully as we accompanied as quietly as we could. That was certainly a proud mum and dad moment and it was a privilege to have been part of this.
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Always a popular concert and this one was no different. The programme was bursting full of Christmas classics such as Merry Christmas Everyone, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Schneewaltzer and Fairytale of New York amongst many more. We were delighted to see so many turn out to get into the Christmas spirit. We look forward to continuing to entertain you in 2024.
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The band demonstrated their versatility during a Sunday afternoon celebration
Music from across five decades filled a packed St Peter’s Church in Brackley yesterday afternoon (Sunday) as Brackley and District Band celebrated their 50th anniversary with a special concert, proving they are as popular now as when they formed in the 1970s.
The band’s versatility was demonstrated with musical offerings from shows (Les Misérables), films (Back to the Future) and TV (Last Of The Summer Wine). This sat alongside a tune from the Beatles and recent offerings from Meghan Trainor, Pharrell Williams and Taylor Swift.
There was also a performance of a piece which had been composed for the band – the Brackley March.
One of the band’s founding members received a special memento at the start of the concert. Floss Tustain still loves her time playing with them.
She said: “I just enjoyed playing music, but then you get to do the social side as well and it just snowballs from there – you want to do more and more. You are entertaining other people.
“It’s a great hobby. Music is the language of the world. It’s the only one where everybody speaks the same language.”
Dave Howard took over as the Brackley and District Band’s Musical Director at the start of this year and is now looking at moving forward from this special anniversary.
He said: “We really want to build the band up to full strength at the moment – we’re struggling a little bit in some sections. We’re a bit short of players like a lot of bands are after COVID. A lot of people stopped playing, so we’re trying to spread the word and get them back.
“In terms of the music I hope we’re playing music now that’s got wide appeal. People still like to hear the traditional march and perhaps an overture. But we’ve tried to fit in music across the decades, and as modern as we can from Taylor Swift and modern artists to try and attract a younger audience as well.”
The Brackley and District Band’s roots date back to 1972 when Des Stimpson and Floss Tustain found themselves with nowhere to play when they left school. With Pat Carthew – a visiting brass teacher – they started a group which met on Sunday mornings. In September 1973 when Brackley Secondary School became part of the comprehensive system the school’s band was suspended. With nowhere to play the students joined the Sunday sessions, instantly giving the band a full compliment of players.
As Brackley Youth Band they won two cups and £25 prize money at an entertainment contest that year at Aylesbury Civic Centre.
When adult players joined the band the name was changed to Brackley and District Band.
The National Brass Band Championships were entered for the first time in 1974, and every year since.
Rehearsals take place at the band’s premises in Drayman’s Walk – formerly the Royal British Legion’s premises – which the band purchased in 1979.
The Brackley and District Band concluded Sunday’s concert with a performance of The Floral Dance with the audience enthusiastically clapping along. They will be appearing again at Brackley’s Service of Remembrance (November 12) and for Carol’s On The Piazza (December 17), with their Christmas Concert the following day.
Into the future Dave Howard is hoping to keep brass band music alive for future generations. He said: “I’d love to think people will bring their children and make it informal – dancing in the aisles. Let’s get much broader audience and get people even more enthusiastic for brass bands.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam
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We recently enjoyed contest success at the Regional Brass Band Contest held at The Cube in Corby on 4 March 2023. Despite being a few players short, the band delivered an excellent rendition of the test piece “Hungerford Town” and was awarded a creditable 4th place out of a line-up of 15 bands, just one place short of qualifying for the ‘Finals’ later in the year and the Band's best result in recent years.
Each year Bands throughout the country compete against other Bands in their region to determine who performs a set piece of music the best, according to the two adjudicators. The results from the last three contests determine a Band’s place within the league tables, with success leading to silverware, prize money and the opportunity to represent your region at the ‘Finals’. A Band that does well will also be more attractive to potential players looking to join a Band.
Our result this year together with our 7th place in 2022 puts us in a great position going into the 2024 contest with a very realistic chance of gaining promotion from the fourth section to the third section.
Alec Stageman came along to our Open Rehearsal at the beginning of this year and has continued to enjoy playing with the Band over the last few months. The contest was his first and he had this to say about his experience - “The day was an interesting insight into the brass band world. Everyone was very supportive of each other and I was made to feel welcome, like I’d always been there. We did very well considering myself and others were new to the band and the trombone section opened the piece with a solo feature. I also enjoyed the social time after. Can’t wait for next year.”
Recently appointed conductor Dave Howard said “I was delighted with the band's performance on the day. They did everything I asked of them and have come a long way in the few months that we've been working together. This all bodes well for the future as we work to build the band back up to full strength in this, its 50th anniversary year and I'm really looking forward to some exciting concerts and further competition success in the future.”
We would urge any brass or percussion players that are interested in coming to give us a try to get in contact and come along. We would very much like to fill up the remaining positions within the Band and in particular are interested to hear from the following – front row cornet, horn, euphonium, Eb bass, Bb bass and percussion. Instruments can be provided.