I can honestly say that not one member of either band wanted that evening to end – they would gladly have stayed on that expansive stage in that wonderful hall and played all night long. When it did finally end we were all overwhelmed by the standing ovation we received from more than 700 people in the audience. All the hard work and commitment and all the planning and preparation resulted in an evening which could not have been improved upon, and I must once again record my heartfelt thanks to every member of both bands for making the evening such a great success.
With De Montfort out of the way we moved quickly on to our annual Concert of Remembrance, once again ably assisted by the Seaforth Highlanders, and finally to our Christmas Concert. Both concerts were a great success, although we felt somewhat constrained having experienced the spacious De Montfort stage.
Since the beginning of the year we have been working toward our concert in Pithiviers on the 9th June. I am planning a similar format to the concert we gave way back in 2006. The first half will be a programme of music that shows off some of the best of British concert band music with pieces like the Holst 2nd Suite in F, Variations on Scarborough Fair, the beautiful Welsh lullaby Suo Gan, the famous Bourgeois ‘Serenade’ with its complex time signatures (like 11/8 and 13/8), and Elgar’s Pomp & Circumstance March No. 4. In the second half we are going to push back the frontiers and play a programme of music inspired by the American Wild West and battle for Independence, with well known pieces like The Magnificent Seven, Silverado, The Last of the Mohicans and Dances with Wolves, to name but a few.
And just to ensure we are kept busy we will be doing our part to celebrate the 2012 Olympics, the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and of course the Queen’s Jubilee with concerts at Ibstock in May (when they are also celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the opening of The Palace cinema) and Ashby in June (when we will be helping to raise money to repair the roof at Holy Trinity Church). To round things off before our summer break we are going back to Newark on Trent to play in the grounds of the Castle on 8th July. I look forward to seeing you in Ibstock or Ashby – or even Pithiviers! Thank you again for your continued support. |