Saturday 27th November saw the senior band brave a lengthy trip to Cheshire in the cold weather. This was the band's first visit to Alderley Edge and the further trip for a concert this year. We were at Alderley Edge Methodist Church, where the church were celebrating a Christmas Tree Festival. Surprisingly, we were asked not to perform a Christmas, because we were a day too soon for the start of advent.
The band began with the Kenneth Alford march 'The Thin Red Line', which demonstrated the band's full, rich sound and poise. Following this was the first soloist of the evening. Joanne Johnson played a showcase solo written by a former conductor of the band William Rimmer, 'Hailstorm'. As always, the band's principal cornet player stepped up and played with great soloist prowess and impressed her peers in the band as much as the receptive audience.
We then moved into the German Romantic Opera repertoire of Wagner, to play the 'Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin'. It was then time for the band's second soloist of the evening and his first solo as a fully-fledged member of the band, having agreed to join after Perth last weekend. Nick Birch chose to play the Mario Lanza hit 'Be My Love' which displayed his rich sound and musicality beyond his tender years.
There was then a reprise of our novelty item from the Wychavon programme, 'Pizziwato Polka'. The band next moved into the first item, of many, that featured our vocal talents 'Turned Out Nice Again', a medley of Wigan singer, George Formby, songs. A reprise of another Wychavon item 'Jewish Wedding Dance' showcasing the bands technical and virtuosic skill led into our regular concert item 'MacArthur Park' which closed the first half.
We opened the second half with our usual item 'Tico Tico', featuring all sections of the band. Our third soloist of the band then stood up to play 'Children of Sanchez' by Chuck Mangione. Carina Halliwell played this with her usual sweet sound and cool, jazz style. The Harold Arlen number 'Get Happy' then again featured all sections of the band, before our final soloist of the evening Jason Nowell romped through 'Show me the way to go home', with added comic effect.
Our next item was another vocal showcase, 'Bohemian Rhapsody', where the band sang almost half of the song, with a large section sung a capella, i.e. unaccompanied. This is always well received. Our last item was 'Symphonic Dances from West Side Story' which is a real tour de force for the band, demonstrating not only great technical skill, but also the ability to quickly change style between the songs from the musical featured in this selection.
The Alderley Edge were very appreciative of the whole concert, and so we treated them to our usual encore 'You are my sunshine', which features the band's vocal talents yet again. The football/rugby themed scarves also add to this item when we waved them from opposite sides of the band. Our first venture to Alderley Edge was a pleasant one and we hope to return again in the future.
We are now about to begin our series of Christmas concerts, starting this weekend at Trinity United Reformed Church on Saturday and then all three bands will perform at Aspull Civic Hall on Sunday where we would love to see you all there. For more details of these, and all concerts through December, please visit the website, our Facebook Events Page or e-mail the band for more information.
This weekend was the Senior Band's annual pilgrimage to Perth where we have competed in the Scottish Open Brass Band Championships for the last 3 years. This year was little different, because for the first time at a British Contest with a set Test Piece, the adjudicators were in the open and could see exactly who was playing.
The band arrived in Perth early Friday evening after a day on the road. At 7.30 we all arrived at St Ninian's Cathedral for rehearsal. What a rehearsal space! If we could move that acoustic to the bandroom, we would! Mark Bentham put the band through their paces applying the finishing touches to the already strong interpretation of Simon Dobson's new work "...and when the river told...".
A fun filled evening ensued as the contest wasn't due to begin until after lunch the next day. We had already been drawn to play 12th in the 15 band field, so didn't meet for our pre-contest rehearsal until 2.30. The very last touches and we were ready to go!
We took to the stage around 5pm, in an unusual formation. Cornets were split up, with the back row sitting where the front row usually sit, front row and sop opposite and horns in the back row's usual position. Although at first this may have seemed strange, it proved to be an effective setup as the piece went on.
1] ...and so the river flows...
The piece opened with a mixture of muted and open cornets, playing repeated patterns to resemble the sound of a flowing river, with some percussion effects (including bowing a vibraphone!). This becomes the accompaniment to a horn solo, which Lynne Campbell played stood out of the band to ensure it carried and to provide visual interest.
The piece then builds up to the second movement...
2] ...the charter is granted...and a storm rages...
This movement is much more boistrous and depicts a storm and introduces some of the themes that make up the main elements of the piece. There are solos in this section for cornet (Joanne Johnson) and euphonium (Nick Birch). This then builds up to a climax which almost immediately drops away to lead into the third movement...
3] ...and still the river flows...
The cornet and percussion material from the beginning of the piece returns, this time accompanying a melodic trombone solo, ably played by David Chapman, and then a soprano cornet solo, featuring John Atkinson. This makes way for two more melodic solos ably played by Carina Halliwell on flugel and Joanne Johnson on cornet.
4] ...the clan battle of North Inch...
The piece then takes a change of pace when the front row play a fanfare (with dissonant sounds and flutter tonguing effects) before a percussion and back row build up to a full band depiction of the battle. At this point the horns and the cornets simulate the two clans in this battle, and their positions on stage become very effective.
A chorale for the dead
The vibraphone effects are now developed further as the battle is over, and the scene is more desolate.
5] ...and the river flows...
The river themes return and new material is introduced by the cornet (Joanne Johnson) imitated by the flugel (Carina Halliwell).
6] ...from glass and dye to modern times...
This is then developed, with earlier material briefly returning as the piece builds up to a dramatic climax featuring all sections of the band.
After a long wait (the current National Champions of Great Britain, Brighouse & Rastrick Band played a Gala Concert), the results were in. In third place.......... Pemberton Old Wigan DW Band. Although we were disappointed not to have had a top spot we were still pleased to be the best English band at the contest, and were especially pleased to find out that the composer had placed us first because of the way our story was told.
For full results, go to the SBBA Website.
As is typical of the Pem spirit, we celebrate well into the night and enjoyed a leisurely journey home the next day!
Last weekend was very busy for the Pemberton Old Wigan DW Band, with two concerts, a Remembrance Parade, a Trombone Sectional and a full band rehearsal in preparation for our assault on the Scottish Open.
It all began on Friday night when we played the first concert of the weekend, at our local church St Matthew's, Highfield. The concert included many of our typical concert items, such as 'The Thin Red Line', 'Largo al Factotum' (featuring Steve Parfitt on E-flat Bass), 'Prelude to Act III of Lehongrin', 'Nightfall in Camp' (a remembrance item featuring Steve Hyde on Cornet), 'Pizziwato Polka' (our novelty item from our Wychavon programme), 'Jewish Wedding Dance' (also from our Wychavon programme) and finished our first half with 'MacArthur Park'.
The second half had travelling theme, beginning in Brazil with 'Tico Tico', moving to Wales for 'Myfanwy' (featuring Euphonium player Nick Birch), then Ireland for 'Gaelforce'. At this point, we were a little lost and Jason Nowell (Bass Trombone) stood up to 'Show me the way to go home'. We then played our popular version of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' followed by the 'Syphonic Dances from West Side Story'. To finish we performed our ever-popular rendition of 'You are my Sunshine'.
On Saturday, we had our second concert, this time in Rainhill at St Ann's church. We reprised many of the items from the night before, but also included our 'Last Night of the Proms' set. The first half was exactly the same. The second half was a little different. We began with 'Symphonic Dances from West Side Story', followed by 'Show me the way to go home' (again featuring Jason Nowell on Bass Trombone), then 'Bohemian Rhapsody' before our Proms items, 'Fantasia on British Sea Songs', 'Jerusalem' and finally 'Pomp and Circumstance'.
For both of these concerts, our guest principal cornet was Iain Culross, principal of the Fairey Band, because our regular principal, Jo Johnson, was in New York to celebrate a 'fairly big' birthday, with her husband Richard. Many thanks for your help Iain.
Sunday was our busiest day. The senior band were in Hindley parading and providing hymns for the Remembrance service there and the 'B' band were in Atherton for their own duties. It is a privilege for both bands to be able to pay tribute to those people who have given their lives in previous and current conflicts, both abroad and domestic. Regardless of how cold it is, we are honoured to be able to pay our respects for these Heroes.
Immediately after we had finished in Hindley, the trombones had a sectional at the bandroom which was to then be followed by a full band rehearsal of the set test piece '...and when the river told...' by Simon Dobson, which we will be performing in Perth on Saturday to try and 'do one better' than our result last year at the Scottish Open where we were placed second.
Our busy schedule doesn't stop there, we're rehearsing every night this week (except Thursday!) in preparation for the weekend. We will travel up on Friday and rehearse in Perth before our performance at the contest on Saturday. 4barsrest have already previewed the contest and given their prediction. The contest is pioneering this year, with 'open adjudication' with the composer sitting watching the performances, Howard Snell, one of the most respected conductors of previous years and Hannes Buchegger, conductor of Brass Band Oberosterreich.
Last night was the Pemberton Old Wigan DW Band's second concert in our new series of concerts at the DW Stadium. This concert included special guests, The Houghton Weavers.
The concert began at 8pm with the Pemberton Old Wigan DW Band performing Gordon Langford's "Famous British Marches" which is a compilation of well-known marches from around the British Isles. This was the first piece, and was one of only three pieces originating from the Britain.
We then featured our first soloist of the evening, Carina Halliwell, who played music from the film score written by flugelhorn virtuoso Chuck Mangione "The Children of Sanchez", which is set in Mexico. Already, we have 'musically' travelled over 5500 miles! Carina handled this latin, virtuosic solo with great panache and style.
We returned to the British Isles for another British item on the Pemberton Band programme. This was a beautiful arrangement by Denzil Stephens of the Welsh hymn "Myfanwy", which featured our guest solo euphonium player Mike Fox. This stunning music was a great contrast to the other faster items on the programme. Our set ended with the "Prelude to Act III from Lohengrin", the German opera by Richard Wagner.
Before the Houghton Weavers began their set, we did a joint item. For this, we played "Any Dream Will Do" from the musical "Joseph and His Technicolour Dreamcoat" by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The Houghton Weavers then sang two sets, either side of a short interval, where they sang many of their well-known songs, including some of the Pemberton Band's favourite's "Matchstalk Men" and especially "Uncle Joe's Mintballs". We came together for one more number "Bless This House" and then it was Pemberton Band's turn again.
We returned to the British Isles for an Irish mix of music from the pen of Peter Graham, well-known composer and arranger for the Brass Band medium. This piece was "Gaelforce" and is made up of the celtic tunes 'The Rocky Road to Dublin', 'The Minstrel Boy' and 'Tossing the Feathers'.
Following the draw for the raffle, the band's other soloist of the evening took us on an Italian journey through music from Rossini's Opera 'The Barber of Seville' featuring Steve Parfitt on E-flat Bass (Tuba), the baritone aria "Largo al Factotum". There was a suprise contribution from John Don-Duncan, which entertained the audience and band alike.
The band's last item was a return to German opera, Wagner and, in fact, 'Lohengrin'. The band conluded the evening with the beautifully lyrical and rousing "Procession to the Minster". Because of the band's wonderful playing, an encore was needed and so we performed our usual encore "You are my Sunshine", which has to be seen to be believed, as the band's vocal talents are put to good use and the local football and rugby interest even gets a mention!
We are now busy preparing for the Scottish Open on the 20th November, in Perth, as well as concerts (two next weekend, and a Remembrance Sunday parade for the Senior band and the 'B' band, as well as the Christmas season getting into full swing in only a few weeks!) For further details of upcoming concerts to make sure you don't miss us, the 'B' Band or the Youth Band in action, please visit the band website and click on 'Events'.
