News from the World of Brass Bands

Federation Appoints New Part Time Officer

The British Federation of Brass Bands is delighted to announce the appointment of Mrs Carole Salter to the new part-time post of BFBB Administration Officer. This post will been funded by the BFBB, initially for two years, as part of its commitment to Arts Council England to support their funding of the new Liaison Officer's post. Carol will be working with Philip Watson and Terry Luddington to deliver support and advice to the BFBB membership and the wider brass band sector.

Ms Salter will be running the BFBB advice-line and she can be contacted at the National Office on 01226 771015 every weekday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. or via e-mail. She will assist with queries regarding membership, CRB checks, BFBB information packs, Insurance savings (FEDSURE), BFBB's small grants scheme and much more.

Carole Slater

16/12/10

Excellence in the Community Award

The award within the specific category of Achievement was presented to the band by Councillor Robin Baldry, Chairman of the Derbyshire County Council, at a prestigious awards ceremony held at The Devonshire Dome in Buxton on Tuesday 12th October. Martyn Johnson (Solo Trombone) pictured below at the awards was handed an engraved glass trophy and certificate.

Councillor Andrew Lewer, Leader of the Derbyshire County Council said, "We celebrate these worthy winners to thank them for the tremendous work they are doing and for the great lengths they go to."

Band manager of Derwent Brass, Rob Stew commented, "It is with great delight that we accept this award, kindly presented to us by the Derbyshire County Council. Receiving an award from the community means as much, if not more to us, than being successful at a brass band competition as it means we are acknowledged within the area for our continued efforts with music and the arts.

"The band prides itself on a grounding of solid membership and regular quality concerts which are always a hit with the public; it is our stability which makes us different to many other ensembles and it is warming to see that this has once again paid off."

Chris Leonard

5/11/10

U.S. Open Championships 2010

The list of bands attending the 8^th Annual US Open Brass Band Championships, hosted by the Prairie Brass Band, has been sent to The Brass Band Portal. This year"s competitors, consisting of eight bands from the U.S. and Canada, will take the stage at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles, Illinois on Saturday, November 6, 2010. Doors will open at 9:00 AM, the first band begins at 9:30 AM and the contest will run until 4:15 PM.

The draw includes following brass bands: Madison Brass Band, Fountain City Brass Band, Eastern Iowa Brass Band, James Madison University Brass Band, Prairie Brass Band, Weston Silver Band, Brass Band of Central Florida, Ohio Brass Band.

The bands will be competing for trophies and cash prizes, including Grand Champion, 2^nd place, Best Performance of a March, Most Entertaining Band, Best New Composition or arrangement for brass band, most outstanding percussion section, the Best Soloist of the Day and a specially engraved cornet for the Best Cornet Player of the day.

Clark Niermeyer

26/10/10

Ocean Brass Appoints New Musical Director

The appointment comes after a long period of trials which came about as a result of the decision by their previous MD, Lt. Col. Nick Grace RM, to step down from the position due to his extensive work commitments. Camps told The Brass Band Portal, "I am very pleased to be appointed as new conductor of Ocean Brass and I look forward to leading them to further success in the future."

Jonathan has wide experience of playing with and conducting bands in the area around Hampshire and Dorset and the band members are looking forward to a long and successful partnership with him, which starts straight away with a series of concerts in October and November followed by the Wessex Brass Band Association contest in Weymouth at the end of November.

Wayne Landen

21/9/10

BFBB appoint new Liaison Officer

The British Federation of Brass Bands has appointed Terry Luddington as its Liaison Officer. This post has been funded initially for two years by a Grant for the Arts award from Arts Council England and is designed to work across the brass band sector to join with creative partners to develop artistically strong and innovative projects that will help develop and support brass bands and engage new audiences.

BFBB's chair, Robert Morgan, told us, "This appointment is a major step forward for the Federation in terms of providing the capacity needed to deliver against our key strategic objectives of increased participation in the brass band sector and for supporting brass bands on new creative projects and collaborations across the UK."

Mr Luddington is due to start full-time with BFBB from the 8th November and explained his approach, "My intention is to make a real and lasting difference to the Brass Band sector! There is already a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm for brass banding in this country and we have a great opportunity during the Cultural Olympiad to showcase our music and creativity to audiences throughout the UK and worldwide. You will find I am a strong advocate of the power of social networking technologies and very soon we will be launching a new service from BFBB designed to explore how we can all make a difference by working creatively with brass bands in our local communities."

Mr Luddington was born in Littleport, Cambridgeshire and was first introduced to playing music through the peripatetic teaching service available at his local Secondary School. Academically he graduated with a first class degree in Mathematics and Information Technology from the Open University and a Diploma in Management from the Open Business School.

Philip Watson

21/9/10

Sabrina Brass Makes a Dream Come True

Sabrina Brass (Andrew Maher) of Shrewsbury, in Shropshire UK, will be making the dreams of one local brass fan come true this week. The band, based at the Agricultural Showground in Shrewsbury will be welcoming Graham Howells, who is partially sighted, to their rehearsal on Tuesday evening to play the instantly recognisable cymbal crash from Rule Britannia. Sabrina Brass and Sabrina Training Band recently provided daytime concerts and music for the opening and closing ceremonies to visitors to the 2010 Shropshire Show.

Andrew Maher told The Brass Band Portal, “it was great fun to help Graham realize his life’s ambition. We all looked forward to the event and loved seeing the joy on his face when he heard the band strike up!”

Linda Handley, Graham"s fiancée, contacted the band as she was keen to organise a rehearsal for Graham to take part in. Sabrina Brass were delighted to be able to provide this surprise experience and is looking forward to helping to fulfil a lifelong dream.

The band, who have recently moved to new premises and acquired new timpani through local grant, is sponsored by Shropshire and West Midland Agricultural Society and have been supported by Grassroots Grants funding delivered locally by the Community Council of Shropshire.

Sally Berry

1/7/10

New Address for Torbay Brass Band

The Torbay Brass Band (Devon, GB) has moved to a new band-room. Its new address is:
Chelston Methodist Church,
Old Mill Road,
Cheslton,
Torquay,
TQ2 6HJ

Rehearsals remain Monday and Friday evenings 8.00 - 10.00 except during the summer when on Monday nights the band is on sea front, weather permitting.

David Wilkinson

1/6/10

New Brass Ensemble in West Sussex

Brass Fusion is a group of experienced musicians who bring innovation to the world of brass music and, although the members are steeped in the tradition of brass bands, they are looking to extend the experience of the audience by providing a wide variety of musical styles.

Their logo and uniform have been designed to create an eye-catching impression on stage. The members are rehearsing toward their inaugural concert will be at the Chapel Royal, North Street, Brighton, Sussex, UK on Sunday June 13 at 4pm.

Sussex has a rich tradition of brass bands and Brass Fusion not only continues that tradition but also adds to it with recognisable and also original music.

Sian Buss

4/5/10

Ocean Brass MD Marches On

Nick was appointed Musical Director in July 2004. During his 6 years with the band his leadership and direction has allowed them to flourish and raise the standard of performance to the highest level. His enthusiasm and motivation has been the key to the band’s development contributing to many successes including becoming West of England Second Section Regional Champions in 2007, qualifying for the National Finals and gaining promotion to the First Section.

His long and distinguished career in the Royal Marines reached its pinnacle last year when he was promoted to Lt. Col. and appointed Principal Director of Music, Royal Marine Band Service. His duties and responsibilities in this post have meant that he has found it increasingly difficult to give the necessary time to Ocean Brass so reluctantly he has decided to relinquish his position as MD.

His association with the band will not end - he will continue to help the band wherever and whenever he can.

The band wish to take this opportunity to thank Nick for all his years of service with the band and wish him well in his future career.

The band will now begin the hard task of finding a replacement for him, for further details see the advertisement on The Brass Band Portal.

Wayne Landen

3/4/10