New Player Vacancies

Chalford Band

Due to departures to university in September, the Senior Band is looking for new players to join its very experienced ranks; in particular: solo cornet and principal euphonium. If you’re an experienced brass player and interested in joining the band please email vacancies@chalfordband.co.uk

Summer Concert 2019 Review

Chalford Band

“Wooooooosh…..Woooooooosh…”

And to the sound of players blowing air through their instruments the Chalford Bands’ summer concert was off to an upbeat start, with “A Ticket to Ride” performed by the combined bands.  MD Steve Tubb then took the microphone and explained the theme for the evening – a whistle stop tour around the globe and beyond, with 15 stops en route, all to be measured on a huge map.  The tickets on the table said that the next destination was “Real Slime”, an anagram of where one might hear “Chanson d’Amour”. Then off to the Satsuma province in Japan, with imposing “The Last Samurai”.   The first set closed by bringing everyone back to Switzerland, as the “Berne Patrol” entered and then left the hall.

The sombrero construction started as the band rearranged the stage, and then the combined band whisked us off to Russia – “Glasnost” by Dizzy Stratford.  The next destination was Madagascar, the clever clue being “Out of Africa”.  The next stop was New Zealand (“Lady Stewart’s Air”) before the band took us out of this world with “Fly Me To The Moon”.

More sombrero building as the stage was moved again for the senior band.  Derrick Witts on Solo Eb bass was once again being disruptive (he’s got previous!): eating cheese and biscuits instead of being on stage.  After a quick putting down by MD Steve, Derrick playing a haunting solo sitting in the audience to start “Scarborough Fair”, an intricate and elegant arrangement by Eric Crease.  Another soloist followed: Stephen Parker took centre stage for “A Night in Havanna” by Goff Richards.  Then “a bit of culture for a sophisticated audience” as described by Steve: a rip roaring Philip Harper arrangement of “The Four Seasons”.  Staying in Europe the band then played Steve’s favourite piece of the evening (despite the band’s singing!) – “Balkan Dance” by Etienne Crausaz.  And finally we went “Somewhere” from “West Side Story”, another Philip Harper arrangement.

On the home straight now: the sombreros were nearly done as the combined band took the stage for the final set.  Off to the Americas for “Manhattan Skyline” from Saturday Night Fever.


(Click Image for video)

Steve then introduced a mariachi band he’d hired, complete with a “ringer from USA Chicken”. The sombreros were judged: the winning table sent their representative to the front and he was handed some pink maracas.  Cue “La Danza del Sombrero Mexicano” complete with Mexican encouragement (Cerveza, per favor!) from the sombrero champion.

After all the silliness, the final destination was Australia, with excerpts from “The Greatest Showman”.

The competition for the total distance measured was very close – the winning table were within 0.7cm of the correct answer – amazing!!!!.

“Back to Blighty” for the encore – “Land of Hope and Glory” from Elgar’s march.

A great concert, and once again the band thank the audience for their support.

 



Youth band 3rd at National Championships 2019

Chalford Band

Chalford Youth Band were placed 3rd in the Intermediate section of the national brass band championships at Warwick Arts Centre.

1. Wardle Academy School Band (Lee Rigg) — Gold
2. Elland Silver Training Band (Samantha Harrison) — Silver
3. Chalford Youth Band (Steve Tubb) — Silver

Bronze Awards:
Stockport Schools’ Intermediate Band (Tom Ridgley)
Egglescliffe School Brass Band (Matthew Haworth)

Merit Award:
Tewit Youth Intermediate Band (Martin Tromans)

Best Soloist: Adam Warburton (trombone) — Wardle Academy School Band

Pulsar
Opening confident and a lovely band sound = some great detail in articulatioin and dynamics not overdone. Perhaps try to find more contrast throughout the full range of dynamics. Nice way to start!
Eyes of a Child
Lovely sound from the flugel soloist – Bravo! Band are supportive throughout and accompanying figures are effective. Well done.
Stantonbury Festival
Clear rhythmic work from the outset. Excellent Basses at [D]! Largando at the end of movement I effective – watch intonation on sustained sounds. Movement II has great shape and style – lovely sounds. Bravo Euphonium – lovely solo to close the movement! Variation III presents some challenging rhythms, mostly well executed. Percussion section add some lovely texture and the rhythmns well! A great scherzando feel to this movement.
Brassed off
A real foot-tapper to finish, once again featuring some excellent work from the percussion section. Dynamic contrasts are more effective in this piece. Great energy overall, finishing with some great drum fills!
SAM FISHER

Pulsar
What a great start! Full of energy from start to finish.
Eyes of a Child
Oh wow! What a wonderful sound! the soloist has such a beautiful tone and vibrato. I loved it.
Stantonbury Festival
This brought excellent contrast with a fine change of mood. Great balance an bass line [F] maybe a bigger ff would add more impact? Bravo Euph. Excellent detail – this is all so comfortable.
Brassed Off
great drive! This is so well rehearsed. What a great percussion section!
You were all a joy to listen to!
Thank you
OWEN FARR

Iwan chats with a few members of the Chalford Youth Band from 4barsrest.com

WEBBA Regionals 2019 Results and Report

Chalford Band

A long weekend in Torquay led to a roller coaster ride of emotions almost as choppy as the waves in Torbay.  The Academy band rehearsal was so early on Saturday morning I’m sure some people thought it was on Friday night!  The band were drawn 6th, and the band came off stage having played Stantonbury Festival as well as ever.  4 Bars Rest (and the adjudicators) were very impressed, especially with the basses: “The trio is rounded off by a super account from Chalford Academy — all the more so as it was built on a brace of tremendous young tuba players. The overall band sound was so well constructed though — and the flowing musicality was a treat.”.  This led to a 4BR predicted podium finish, Although the official placing of 11th wasn’t quite as high as the prediction, it’s a fantastic result for a band whose average age (excluding one player) is 15.5!

Steve’s long weekend continued as he worked the senior band hard to put some final tweaks in place during the Saturday afternoon rehearsal.  They returned on Sunday morning, and played to an unofficial audience from Woodfalls band, seemingly intent on getting into the practice room early!  A long wait then ensued, as the band were drawn 10th, on stage over six hours after the end of the rehearsal. The band left the stage a little bewildered and definitely disappointed – the performance hadn’t been quite what was expected.  Nevertheless, it says a lot about the effort put into practice and rehearsal that even though they were newly promoted and did beat two bands, they’d expected more.

Many thanks to all the supporters, particularly those who spent most of their weekend on the M5!

Senior Band – Championship Section

Test Piece: Seascapes (Ray Steadman-Allen)
Adjudicators: Major David Barringer MBE and Ludovic Neurohr

1. Flowers (Paul Holland)
2. Aldbourne (David Thornton)
3. Filton Concert Brass (Tom Davoren)
4. Woodfalls (Dr Robert Childs)
5. Camborne Town (Kevin Mackenzie)
6. St Dennis (Darren R Hawken)
7. Verwood Concert Brass (Kevin Smith)
8. Lydbrook (Glyn Williams)
9. St Austell Town (Iain McKnight)
10. Lanner & District Silver (David Hamilton)
11. Chalford (Steve Tubb)
12. Bournemouth Concert Brass (Dr Howard Evans)
13. Hyde (Garry Cutt)

I. Opening is well balanced. Occasional slip and we lose sop for a while. Settles well. Furioso has energy but the balance is not clear here. We lose the quaver pulse at times and this introduces untidiness in the ensemble -> Maestoso. Andante is better but tuning drifts to close.
II. Untidy opening – this needs to flow for me. [3] feels rushed. Nice troms before [4] [5] is better and [6] settles nicely. Duet/Trios not always tidy. You make a nice sound at [10] but ensemble is not always tidy [11] stutters and tuning drift again.
III. Never really settles in opening and feels a bit frantic until [5] (nice flug) [6] intonation detracts. Tempo is not established at Allegro and we lose a few entries as a result. [11] is unitdy and Quietamente doesn’t quite come off. Tempo builds consistently but it is too quick to allow you to play semis.
This felt right at the edge of your capabilities and never really got to the heart of the music. Thank you.
MAJOR DAVID BARRINGER MBE

I. It could be more subtle with articulations and dynamics. But the flow is quite ok. From [7] it misses a good clarity in the details between sections. In the quiet parts it misses a bit of confidence to really enjoy the music
II. From [1] Please be careful with intonation at Eb bass. This is the base of the harmony. Lovely moments! [6] Articulation for soloists can be more subtle to reach this funny vibe needed by the composer [10] The general sound needs to be well supported by the low instruments to be solid. Overall: (!) Intonation put low the quality of your performance
III. [3] Well done flugel horn. Intonation is not your strong side in this movement. [7] Soloist miss confidence to be really enjoyable. [10] A great mix of sounds deserve a better understanding.
Overall: Some good moments of music but a few mistake (tune, balance, reading of score) do not allow to say it is a really good performance. Anyway, thx for your job!
LUDVIC NEUROHR

Academy Band – Fourth Section

Test Piece: Stantonbury Festival (Ray Steadman-Allen)
Adjudicators: Ludovic Neurohr & Brian Rostron

1. Redruth Town (Andrew Craze)
2. Woughton Silver (Neil Webb)
3. Nailsworth Silver (Steve Ruck)
4. Shaftesbury Town Silver (Martin Hill)
5. Exeter Railway (Graham Eaton)
6. Bideford Town (Mark Durham)
7. Saltash Town (Ross Farr-Semmens)
8. Tewkesbury Town (Nigel Morgan)
9. Okehampton Excelsior Silver (Robert Julian)
10. Great Western Youth (Ben Halstead)
11. Chalford Academy (Steve Tubb)
12. Tiverton Town (John Fitton)
13. Test Valley Brass (John Heritage)
14. Shanklin Town Brass (IoW) (Malcolm Lewis)
15. Illogan Sparnon Silver (Shaun Marsden)
16. Torbay Brass (Joe Lowlands)
17. Launceston Town (Alan Iles)

Andante: has a good feel at the opening [A] intonation problems [C] Good euph & bari [D]basses good if a tad loud! [E] Grazioso please [F] has terrible tonguing problems????? [J] all the detail is heard,  but needs to be more legato. A fine close.
Moderato: A good style is chosen here. Thank your MD! [C] poor balance here [E] what a good bass sound! More shape at [F] [G] the general intonation suffers in the quieter passages
Allegro: This has a better feel to the music! [B] pp could have been better [C] nice and playful. Basses a tad heavy before [G] [I] lovely sounds here. Has just the right feel to it [L] More shape [N] Better playing here! [O] More shape [P] Good solid basses [Q] Accel could have been more exciting.  You bring the piece to a fine close
This performance had some good points but alas also quite a lot of bad ones.  Thank you
BRIAN ROSTRON

Overture: Quite ok even if some of the cornets are a bit stressed with the principal theme Some intonation problems cut the MD’s flow but there are good moments of interpretation. This 1st mov deserves a more “Grazioso” attitude. It’s a bit heavy
II. I found some lovely moments of music but the overall band misses some key point by details (intonation, style)
III. [C] Scherzando could be more funny. Percussion: please think that you are as important as the rest of the band (!) Precision/reading of the indications [M] Intonation on cornets! (!) It misses a more balanced style between dancing and banding. Please be more funny in the music! Enjoy the music! Thx for your job!
LUDVIC NEUROHR