Seniors and Youth in fine form for their top spot at the Subs.

Stroud district’s best brass band was in fine form for its well—deserved place in the current season of band concerts at Stroud Subscription Rooms.

Such is the local support for Chalford Band and its musical director Steve Tubb that the audience was as large as that for the reigning national and British Open champions Cory who appeared in June.

Fans are used to Chalford’s all-round entertainment at the summer and Christmas concerts in the Subs. but for this special spot (Sunday October 2^nd) Steve put on a no-frills concert of solid brass playing. ‘It is nice to put on more complex music,” he said.

Most of the pieces he chose for the senior and youth bands were new to the extensive repertoire and were as challenging to perform as some of the test pieces for contests. But young and older players upped their game and the result was very satisfying all round.

The senior band’s first part of the programme opened with Peter Graham’s Prelude to a New Age, stylishly played, and there was a faster than usual tempo for the following quick march Jubilee by Paul Drury. Katie Godwin did a grand job in her flugel horn solo Eyes of a Child and after some American TV music Scarecrow and Mrs King, arranged by Steve Sykes, her younger sister Emily Godwin was at the front of the stage to play a solo cornet classic, Rusalka’s Song to the Moon, with apparent ease. The slot was rounded off by a new arrangement of the 15th century tune Ricercata.

As current National Junior Band Champions of Great Britain, Chalford Youth Band lived up to this reputation with a selection of varied pieces confidently and tunefully performed: Prismatic Light, a hymn tune In Perfect Peace, Brassed Up Funk, a lovely flugel horn solo Lady in Red from Libby Vacara, a trombone feature Midnight in Moscow and the foot-tapping Get Happy.

Back with the senior band, we were treated to Phoenix (a movement from Peter Graham’s War of the Worlds), the familiar A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, The Water of Tyne followed by star player Les Pearse’s classy Rhapsody for Euphonium, and A Light Walk. The finale was some stirring John Williams Star Wars music The Force Awakens, arranged by Stephen Bulla.

Well done Chalford and thanks. Keep up the good work.