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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.
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We are delighted to announce that we have appointed Dave Howard as our new Conductor. We have been working together over the last couple of months during which the Band have very much enjoyed his rehearsals. Dave has already shown that he is very encouraging and supportive as a conductor, making the players feel at ease, allowing him to draw the best out of each and every one, whilst also ensuring that we all have fun and improve. Our Christmas Concert was the main focus and this was very successful. We have received a lot of positive feedback from those who attended both in terms of the programme choice but also what a thoroughly enjoyable evening it was. There was no doubt in our mind that we would like Dave to continue with the Band so we were extremely pleased when he agreed to do so.
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A good turnout from the Brackley community joined us on a wet Monday evening to enjoy a warm welcome and a festive programme of music and carols. Dave Howard, conducting the Band for the first time at a formal concert, opened with a rousing rendition of Christmas Joy, a popular March amongst brass bands at this time of year. The first half of the concert featured our flugel player Julie Jakeman with a lovely arrangement by Alan Fernie of the very well-known Away in a Manger before continuing with more traditional items such as Candlelight Carol by John Rutter and A Christmas Overture by John Golland.
Whilst our normal Band jackets had been substituted in favour of Christmas jumpers in the first half, the second half saw the Band adding further festive accessories such as hats and tinsel, as the music choices were intended to give the feel of a Christmas party. We opened with Merry Christmas Everyone, our solo cornet player Steve Utley followed this with a delightful performance of A Winter’s Tale. The party really kicked off with A Christmas Pop Collection, which as you can imagine was a medley of Christmas tunes and the audience were invited to see how many they could spot. The party then relaxed a little for Walking in the Air from ‘The Snowman’ before picking up again with I Believe in Father Christmas and finishing with Merry Christmas Everybody.
We very much enjoyed the evening and it was over all too quickly. Hopefully, those in the audience who enjoyed themselves will seek out our performances in 2023, our 50th Anniversary year.
We would like to thank St Peter’s Church for hosting us, all those who helped to make the concert happen and to everyone who came along. If you enjoyed the evening, please tell friends and family and bring them along to the next one. Details will be posted here on our website (www.brackleyband.org.uk) and on our Facebook page. If you haven’t already, please do like our Facebook page and leave us a review, telling us what you particularly enjoyed or perhaps suggesting what you’d like to see in our future concerts.
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We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded £2,000 to fund the refurbishment of as many of our stock of instruments as possible to ensure that they are in excellent condition for when you come along and give them a blow.
Yes, that's right. If you are a brass player but don't have access to an instrument then do get in touch. We have a large collection of instruments that are available to members of the band and we'd really like to attract some new faces to come and give them a go. Our collection includes cornets, trombones, baritone horns, flugel and basses.
The work is planned to take place over the coming months and we'll update you as the work progresses.
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After the success of the 'Songs of Praise' concert a few months prior our 'Summer Concert' took the same format with audience members able to enjoy a delicious Afternoon Tea in between the musical entertainment.
The band performed a diverse programme including music from film and TV such as 'Happy Days' and 'No Time To Die', pop tunes such as 'Karma Chameleon' and 'Uptown Girl', closing with 'Sweet Caroline' which the audience enjoyed so much we played it again as an encore. A couple of hymns were thrown in as these had proven popular at the last concert, giving the audience a chance to to get their singing voices in gear.
Brackley & District Band are always grateful for the wonderful welcome that they get at St Peter’s and our thanks once again goes to those responsible for organising this concert.