2008
June
2008
Weston Super Mare Contest
The family grows......?
The family that is Avonbank has increased by ONE and that one is called Jessica Amanda Shepherd.
Our congratulations go to Cary our bass trombone player, his wife Liz & little Issy on the birth of Jessica born on the 5th June, weighing 6lb 11oz.
May
2008
Weston Super Mare Contest
This year the bands deputy MD, Andy Davidson decided the band would play Laudate Dominum. This piece was chosen because Andy felt it really showed the bands sound off to it’s maximum potential. The piece written by Edward Gregson is based on a hymn tune & has some glorious sounds within it.
The band drew to play 3rd out of 9 bands, a little earlier than we would have liked but last year we came 3rd after drawing the dreaded number one!
Everyone felt the band played extremely well, there were a few clips but overall we felt we had played the piece musically & Andy was very satisfied with the performance. As they did last year, the Brass Band Website ‘The MouthPiece’ gave an open adjudication from the back of the room & they really praised Jen, for her solo euphonium playing. However, in their opinion they placed us in 9th place…. Last!
It was a good job John from the MouthPiece was not the real adjudicator, that was Derek Broadbent & he had a much higher opinion of our performance, he placed us 4th! We’re really not sure how John could have placed us so low after the reaction of the audience & the remarks from listening player from other bands???
Congratulations go to Blaenavon Town Band who came 1st, we’ve met Blaenavon on a number of occasions & know what a good band they are.
4th was not a bad result, especially considering we had only been rehearsing the piece for 4 weeks & when we went on stage it was the FIRST time we had actually had a full band!
April
2008
St Georges Day March.
There was a great turnout by the band for the annual St Georges Day March in Pershore. It was pointed out that the weather forecast was not at all good for the day, but to our surprise the band assembled in sunshine! The band headed the procession to Pershore Abbey where they played a hymn for the service. However, when we re-assembled outside the Abbey for the return march the sunshine had gone, replaced by a cool breeze & clouds. Just as we set off it started to rain, not just a shower, but really heavy rain. To their credit the band kept going applauded by the people of Pershore. By the time we had returned to the car park the rain was a torrent (clean version!). Thank you to all who turned up for the march, just hope the uniforms have dried out???
Asparagus Supper & St Georges Night
23rd April 2008, St George’s night.
Band President Diana Raphael organised an Asparagus Supper & St Georges Day Concert in aid of the bands trip to the U.S.A. The hall was decorated to reflect St George’s day & looked beautiful.
The supper, obviously with an asparagus theme was really well received. Followed by the concert by the band & featuring Soprano Singer, Rebecca Fearnley.
The concert had an English theme for St George’s day ending with a ‘Last Night of the Proms’. The band would like to thank Associate M.D. Gary Smallwood who again conducted the band on the night….. a Welshman! Rebecca started things off with some songs accompanied on the piano by Ken Smith & the audience really found out what a fantastic voice this young lady has. She then joined the band for Jerusalem, Rule Britannia & of course Land of Hope & Glory.
It was a great night with everyone, including the band enjoying themselves. But most of all the band would like to express their thanks to Diana & her team who worked really hard to make this night a success.
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Spring Concert
This years spring concert had a theme of Old Time Music Hall. Obviously a true music hall program is impossible for a brass band as originally the music hall contained comedians, acrobats, singers etc & often the entertainment was rather on the bawdy side!!! So the intent was to provide a program that contained music not only from the late 1800’s but about events from that period in time to provide an entertaining program that captures the essence of the music hall.
Proceedings were amusingly kept in check by our compare Albert Powers who was more than ably assisted by our M.D. Nick Smith. As always our thanks go to Albert who never lets us, or the audience down with his wit & it was a pleasure to see Nick up to his old tricks again! (see photographs!!?)
The Training Band ended the second half to the delight of the audience with a nice set of pieces. For quite a few youngsters playing it was their very first concert & they acquitted them selves very well indeed.
A very special mention must go to the bands special guest for the evening, John Raphael who did two guest spots & had the audience in tears….......... Literally in some cases!
John also provided the narration for the bands final piece ‘Zulu’.
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TV Stars! ?
It was just before 8:00am on a VERY wet St. George’s day morning that the band assembled in the Abbey Gardens to film a T.V. report on the Asparagus Run to the Houses of Parliament. The report was being filmed for both BBC & ITV for their lunchtime & evening news. It was a great turnout by the band considering the conditions. If you missed the report it can be seen again by typing the following into your internet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7363994.stm
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March
2008
New Arrival
The waiting & deliberation is over, our 1st baritone player Mandy Campbell has had a baby boy, Angus. The band sends Mandy & her family their heart felt congratulations.
Midlands
Area Regionals - Bedworth
Adjudicators:
David Lancaster and Malcolm Brownbill
Test
piece:
Dark Side of the Moon - Paul Lovatt-Cooper
A new venue for
this years contest, the Chamberlaine Technology College In Bedworth.
I think everyone agreed that it was a better venue than Belvidere Club
at Burton on Trent?
The band has worked
really hard this year with our 'Associate' MD Gary Smallwood after our
MD, Nick Smith became ill. We have really endeavoured to make the piece
as musical as possible whilst adhering to all the composers directions
on the score. Setting off for Bedworth in a confident mood, we knew
we had the piece under control & we hoped the adjudicators would
recognise our efforts & Gary's musical input.
There were 17 bands
in the contest, and we were drawn to play 15th, a good draw we thought?
A few players listened to a number of bands and this increased our confidence
as the performances were in our opinion rushed and very loud, (especially
the percussion sections).
After playing to
an almost full hall we were happy with our performance, it wasn't perfect
but overall we considered that it had far more plus points than negative,
but most of all we thought we gave a very musical interpretation that
remained true to the composers intentions? A number of people in the
audience rated our performance including our heavily pregnant 1st baritone
player Mandy who had us high up in her top 5!
Congratulations
go to Matlock who won but our 8th place was a disappointment, we all
felt our playing deserved better than that? The adjudicators comments
mentioned a few tuning problems that we were aware of, but they gave
no mention to our interpretation or strict following of the composers
metronome markings. We were not the only band who was left puzzled at
the placings with a number of comments being left on the brass band
Internet site, "The Mouth Piece" referring to bands that adhered
to the score did not feature in the placings. Still, that's contesting
for you, we were proud of our performance regardless of the result and
we'll be back next year even more determined.
Final results were :-
1. Matlock, R. Jepson, 10. 184
2. Wellington (Telford), S. Curtis, 9, 182
3. University of Warwick, S. Hogg, 14, 181
4. Shirebrook MW (Unison), M. Wilcockson, 8, 180
5. WEM Jubilee, R. Thorne, 3, 179
6. Bakewell Silver, M. Wilcockson, 13, 178
7. Kirkby Colliery Welfare, S. Berrill, 2, 177
8. Avonbank (Evesham), G. Smallwood, 15, 176
9. Rushden Windmill, J. Fletcher, 7, 175
10. Newstead Abbey Brass, L. Cooper, 17, 174
11. Stamford, M. Ford, 4, 172
12. City of Birmingham, W. Belshaw, 16, 171
13. Audley Brass, S. Farrington, 5, 169
14. Dronfield CMW, A. Tyler, 12, 168
15. Syston, D. Powell, 1, 167
16. Moulton '77, M. France, 11, 166
17. Cubbington Silver, P. Johnson, 6, 165
January
2008
Our M.D. Nick Smith
has not been too well recently so he's asked Gary Smallwood to be our
Associate Musical Director and Gary will be the 'Man in the Middle'
for the Area contest in Bedworth in March. Gary has helped us out by
taking the baton for a number of our Xmas concerts & he will also
be conducting at our Spring concert on the 26th April. The whole band
sends Nick our best wishes and thanks Gary for his time, effort and
expertise.
Gary is a very
experienced musician and no stranger to success. He lead Bulkington
Silver Band 4th & 3rd Section wins at the area also under his leadership
Bedworth won the 3rd & 2nd Sections. Gary is currently the M.D.
of The District of Dunchurch Brass . Avonbank
wish to thank Dunchurch Brass for the 'loan' of their M.D.
2007
December
2007
December
was an incredibly busy month for the band with four Christmas concerts
in just seven days plus a number of private functions with small groups
of players! It started on Saturday the 8th with our regular Christmas
concert at Badsey Church. The band used our new set of stand lights
for the first time & they proved to be very useful. The band played
a varied concert of tradition carols for the almost capacity audience
to sing & a number of lighter seasonal pieces.
Three
days later on the Tuesday saw the regular Lions concert take place in
a new venue, the Methodist Church. It also saw our first concert of
the season with the Arts Centre Choir. The concert & venue proved
to be a great success so much so the band is already booked for next
year!
Two
days later on the 13th (probably the coldest day of the year?) the band
played at the Rotary Christmas concert at the Bengeworth Church. Another
really good night with the Evesham Ladies Choir & the Evesham Ladies
Barber Shop Choir. A packed audience were really entertained & experienced/participated
in a 'unique' version of "Twelve Days of Christmas"!
Those lucky enough to be there will know what we mean, those who were
not there ….....….will have to wait until next year!!!
On
Saturday the 15th saw the band as guests of the Arts Centre Choir at
their Christmas concert at their home venue, The Evesham Arts centre.
(One of the bands favourite venues) Both choir & band entertained
the audience with carols & seasonal music. The highlight for the
band was a light hearted Bass Quartet called "There is nothing
like a Dame" from the musical South Pacific. Our 4 players were
Allan Robbins, Ken Smith, Tom Cook & Kevin Hamby who were resplendent
in their little sailor hats! (IF THERE IS PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE OF THIS
EVENT PLEASE CONTACT THIS WEBSITE!)
The
Saturday before Christmas saw the band playing carols for shoppers in
Evesham Town centre. Due to various reasons the band has not played
carols in the street at Christmas for a number of years, but this year
we were invited to play once more. We think the people of the town appreciated
the music because they were very generous with their donations. There
are some photographs of the carol playing on the photographs page.
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November
2007
West
Midlands Brass Band Association
Annual
Conest, Leamington Spa
Sunday
25th November 2007
Seven other high quality third section bands arrived
at Leamington for the WMBBA Third Section, Own Choice Test Piece contest.
An Own Choice Contest is where each band picks a test piece that they
feel will show off their best attributes rather than each band playing
the same prescribed test piece.
Playing were Leicestershire Co-op and Arrow Valley Bands, both will
be playing in the second section next year. The current leaders of the
third section, The Matlock Band along with City of Birmingham and Warwick
University ranked 4th and 5th respectively were all there. So this really
was the elite of the Midlands third and in some cases second section
bands.
Avonbank had chosen to play last years third section Regional test
piece 'Prelude and Jubilate', composed by Darrol Barry.
Drawn number three Avonbank took the stage feeling reasonably confident
of putting on a good performance. But, the band and M.D. Nick Smith
left the stage very disappointed feeling the acoustics of the hall had
caught them out causing them to play too quietly and splitting a number
of entries! FAB member Eric Green who was in the audience said he thought
it sounded pretty good but the band was not happy! (Nick Smith was even
less happy!!)
So they awaited the results with more than a little trepidation and
expected to be placed well down the field! The adjudicator, David Horsfield
spoke to the audience telling them that some bands "Over blew,
causing bad tuning"…......…. Could it be…? Surly
not? He then mentioned Prelude & Jubilate saying "What a difficult
piece to play"! Perhaps there was a chance…..??
Then the results : In third place, with 177 points............ Avonbank!!
For a few moments………….. Nothing! Then to coin a
phrase… the crowd went wild!
Second was Leicester Co-op who as mentioned are to be promoted with
179 points and the winners were Rushden Windmill Band with 180 points.
Rushden have been in good form winning their last contest in Leicester
with the same test piece and had won here off a number one draw so real
congratulations go to them.
The remarks from the adjudicator, who coincidently was the adjudicator
at the Area contest in March this year mentioned a few of our slips
but praised the sensitive rendition Avonbank gave him. His criticisms
were constructive and remarkably similar to the remarks he gave us at
the Area! This shows he really knows his music to be so consistent.
So from disappointment to elation. Avonbank were still slightly disappointed
with their performance but appreciate that the adjudicator found qualities
that they had missed.
A great result!
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Autumn
Concert - Evesham Arts Centre.
Saturday
27th October 2007
Anyone
who thought about coming to the Autumn concert at the Evesham Arts Centre
but didn't turn up missed a fantastic night. With the auditorium almost
full there was a great atmosphere. The band was on great form and our
guests The McCarthy-Felton Irish Dancers totally enthralled the audience
with their beautiful dancing. The mix of brass playing & Irish dancing
really worked & made a memorable spectacle especially the finale
when the dancers joined the band on stage for a spectacular performance
of Riverdance.
Another
great night at the Art Centre, check out the Band Diary page to find
our next concert.
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The
Oxfordshire & District Brass Band Association Entertainment Contest
Sunday
6th September 2007
Section
A
1.
Avonbank (Evesham) Brass Band, Nick Smith
2. Hook Norton Brass Band, J Barrie
3. Yarnton, G James
4. Abbey Brass Training Band, R Tomkins
Presentation
/ Deportment Prize - Avonbank (Evesham) Brass
Band
Best
Instumentalist - Stephen Lane - Avonbank (Evesham)
Brass Band
Open
Section
1.
Brackley & District Band, D Richards
2. Avonbank (Evesham) Brass Band, Nick Smith
Presentation
/ Deportment Prize - Avonbank (Evesham) Brass
Band
What
a good day it was for Avonbank in Oxford. We took the first prize in
Section 'A' which was for 3rd, 4th section & unregistered bands.
Stephen Lane took the soloist trophy & the band also took the deportment
prize. Originally there was only one section in the Open Section. Brackley
& District Band who are a 1st section band! Avonbank made a late
entry to make a contest of it & ran Brackley very close. Our performance
was very well received & we were once again awarded the deportment
prize.
Three special mentions here. First for Dave Birch our solo euphonium
player for the day, his Mother was taken ill on the morning of the contest
& he couldn't make it. So Jenny Pritchard shouldered responsibility
of solo euphonium in Section 'A' & did a great job. For the open
Brackley solo Euphonium player offered to step in & play for us.
We would like to thank Eric Young & the Brackley Band for
their fantastic sporting attitude.
The
Wychavon Entertainment Contest - Sunday
6th September 2007
Third
Section - Adjudicator John Berriman
1.Wem Jubilee Band (Roger Thorne) – 184
2. Blaenavon Town (N/K) – 183
3. Arrow Valley Brass (David Stanley) – 182
4. Cubbington Silver (Paul Johnson) – 180
5. Avonbank
(Evesham) Band (Nick Smith) – 179
6. Audley Brass (Clive Fox) – 178
7. AW Parker (Drybrook) Band – (Kevin White) – 177
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The
Weston Super Mare 39th Annual Brass Band Contest Sunday 20th May
Third Section:
Adjudicator: Colin Hardy
1.
Blaenavon Town, Gareth Ritter - 184
2. Avonbank (Evesham) Brass, Nick Smith - 183
3. Leicestershire Co-op, Graham Jacklin - 181
4. Verwood Concert Brass, David Johnson - 180
5. Pillowell Silver, Colin Hogg - 179
6. Severn Tunnel, Andrea Ayres - 177
7. Totnes, Ian Wilkinson - 175
Best
Basses in Section: Avonbank (Evesham) Brass
An excellent
day was had by all. The Band played well and were very happy
to walk away with not only a cup for second place but also a shield
for
the best Bass section in the section!!!!
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2007
Midlands Regionals - Burton on Trent
Adjudicators:
David Horsfield and Steve Pritchard-Jones
Test
piece:
Prelude and Jubilate, Darrol Barry
1
WEM Jubilee R. Thorne 182
2 Matlock R. Jepson 181
3 Wellington (Telford) S. Curtis 180
4 Leicestershire Co-op G. Jacklin 179
5 University of Warwick S. Hogg 178
6 Bakewell Silver M. Wilcockson 177
7 Avonbank (Evesham) N. Smith 176
8 Arrow Valley Brass A. Culshaw 175
9 City of Birmingham W. Belshaw 174
10 Rushden Windmill R. Graves 173
11 Newhall M. Phillips 172
12 Dronfield CMW A. Tyler 171
13 Audley Brass C. Fox 170
14 Kirkby Colliery Welfare S. Berrill 169
15 Moulton ‘77 H. Gibbs 168
16 Malvern Hills District M. West 167
withdrawn - Syston D. Powell - -
Avonbank gave a good account playing the Darrol Barry test piece. The
two adjudicators eventually placed Avonbank in a creditable 7th place.
Congratulations
go to Wem band who came first.
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