Champions In Torquay!

The band is celebrating this weekend after being crowned winners of the Third Section at the West of England Regional Championships, booking a place at the National Finals in Harrogate in the process!

Having been promoted in 2008, the band has been working hard over the past couple of years to put in solid performances to secure its position in the Third Section. With the danger of relegation in the back of our minds, we started preparations for this contest knowing that another good performance on stage would not only put us in a safer position, but prove that the band is capable of holding its own in a field with strong competition.

With a win at Torquay last November, confidence was high as the band set to work on Percy Fletcher’s ‘Labour and Love’ – a challenging piece, but one that suited the band well and one we knew we would all enjoy rehearsing. A run of consistent, productive practices in the weeks leading up to the contest meant that we left Sidmouth bright and early on Saturday morning confident that we stood a good chance of improving on our 9th place last year. Drawn to play 6th out of the 15 bands, it was mid-morning by the time it was our turn to play for adjudicators David Horsfield and Peter Bassano. Although a few nerves did creep in, the band left the stage happy that we had put in a good performance.

Come results time, the band gathered in the hall to listen to the top six bands being announced, hopeful – but by no means certain – that our efforts may have just about put us in with a chance of hearing our name read out. With sixth, fifth, fourth, third, and second places each going to other deserved bands, nerves reached a record high. The short pause before the winning band’s name was revealed felt like a lifetime, but it was well worth the wait as the Sidmouth Town Band was announced as the new regional champions! The result, which is the band’s highest since at least the 1920’s, is testament to the time and the hard work put in by both Adrian and the band not only over the past couple of months, but over the last few years.

The win on Saturday will make for a very busy 6 months for the band, as we try and raise the money needed to fund our trip to the National Finals in Harrogate in September. We’re already thinking ahead and coming putting plans in place, so keep an eye out for any fundraising events between now and then. But if anyone has any ideas of how we can raise some money to get us to the Finals, please do let us know – we’d love to hear from you!

The Final Countdown

With only 2 days left to go until the most important date in the band’s calendar, final preparations are being made ahead of the West of England Regional Championships. Bright and early on Saturday morning, the band will set off from Sidmouth to make that familiar journey down to Torquay to compete against 14 other bands in the Third Section.

The band has put in a lot of hard work over the past couple of months, but
ultimately it all comes down to a 10 minute performance on the day and the opinions of the two adjudicators in the box. Whilst it would be nice to get a good result, the band’s priority is just to play as well as we can and put in a performance to be proud of. Findnout how the band got on by checking our news page after the contest.

Charity Concert Goes With A Swing

The band returned to the Manor Pavilion stage last night as it joined forces with local singer Avril Best and pianist Andrew Sturmey in a ‘Swinging and Singing’ charity concert organised by the Lions Club of Sidmouth. The audience enjoyed an evening of great variety, as the band, Avril and Andy each performed a selection of pieces. The band’s programme included both classical and modern numbers, and featured popular solos from Fiona Bell and Christine Sweetapple. The trombone section did their best Tom Jones impression as they performed his number one hit ‘It’s Not Unusual’, although we believe all the women in the audience did leave at the end of the evening with all items of clothing that they arrived in still intact!

The concert provided the band with the opportunity to perform the upcoming test piece ‘Labour and Love’ to an audience for the first time. Although it generally went well, it certainly gave us lots to think about and has reminded us that there is still plenty of work to do in the 7 rehearsals left between now and the 13th March!

Having now played in his first concert with the band, we must officially welcome our newest member - Gareth Davies. Gareth walked through the bandroom door 3 weeks ago, and although a very versatile player, was promptly handed a cornet. With a shortage of players on the back row and with only weeks left until the Areas contest, he has arrived at a very good time for us. Gareth is settling in well, and we hope he enjoys his time as a member of the band.

All Systems Go

February may be the shortest month of the year, but the band is certainly doing its best to cram in as much practice as possible in preparation for its upcoming concert and contest. With only 3 and a half weeks until the Areas (a quick count up in our head makes that a total of 10 practices left), rehearsal of ‘Labour and Love’ is very much in full swing, with progress being made slowly but surely. We have already had the first of our practices with Steve Sykes, and now can’t wait for the next one on Tuesday 23rd.

The band has been juggling practising the test piece with practising for our fast approaching concert in the Manor Pavilion on Saturday 27th February. Organised by the Lions Club of Sidmouth, this year sees the band joining forces with local singer Avril Best and pianist Andrew Sturmey. In aid of two great charities, the ‘Swinging and Singing’ concert promises to be a very entertaining evening. Click here to see our engagements page for more details.

Back To School

It was back to school time for three members of the band last weekend as Fiona, Christine and Hilary headed to West Buckland School near Barnstaple to attend the South West Brass Band Association’s Mid-Winter Workshop. Having navigated their way through some tiny lanes, they arrived bright and early on Saturday morning with instrument in one hand and packed lunch in the other. Even being faced with a scarily large amount of chairs set up for trombones didn’t put them off, and they made themselves comfortable ready for the busy two days ahead. Tutors for the weekend were Steve Sykes, Philip Harper and Brian Menear, who each took turns at both conducting the full band and tutoring each section. It’s always good experience to be taken by different conductors – not only do you learn new things, but it also helps to keep you on your toes!

The band rehearsed nine pieces in total, including a number of pieces composed or arranged by Steve and Philip. Keep an ear out in the future for ‘In This Hour of Soften’d Splendour’; a lovely piece arranged by Steve for quartet and band accompaniment that we are now thinking of buying. An enjoyable yet tiring two days (Hilary still hasn’t quite managed to recover!) came to an end at 5pm on Sunday, after the band had performed the pieces it had been working hard on all weekend to a small but appreciative audience.

A good weekend was definitely had by all. You only need to look around and see 75 other players of all ages and abilities sharing the same desire to learn new music, develop new skills and have fun to be reminded what is so special about being part of the brass band world.

Contest Preparations Underway

With the tinsel and carol books packed away for another year, the band has been busy back in the bandroom. March might not seem that close at the moment, but for us, knowing that it’s only 7 weeks until the Areas contest is actually rather scary! With so many hours of rehearsal going into preparing for a contest, it’s always a relief when the test piece is one we can enjoy playing - and luckily Percy Fletcher’s ‘Labour and Love’ falls into that category.

The band is looking forward to welcoming back renowned bass soloist, conductor and arranger Steve Sykes, who will be taking us for two rehearsals leading up to the contest - the 9th and 23rd of February. The couple of rehearsals that Steve took us for prior to the 2009 Areas not only taught the band a great deal, but were also thoroughly enjoyable. The venue is yet to be confirmed, but anyone interested in coming along to listen to these practices would be very welcome to do so.

In addition to practicing for the contest, the band has been kept entertained by taking it in turns to select a piece of music at random from the library to play. So far, it’s been fairly easy to see why some pieces have been left to gather a thick layer of dust over the years, but we’re bound to uncover some forgotten about classics at some point. In the mean time, Hilary is going to continue to do her best to convince everyone to choose a piece from the ‘Selections’ section of the library, in the hope that Calamity Jane will make that long overdue appearance...

New Website Coming Soon!

In amongst the caroling and eating far too much over the festive season, we have been very busy getting a brand new website ready for 2010. With a few glitches along the way, we couldn't quite manage to get it up and running by 1st January. But, fingers crossed, it will be finished and uploaded within the next week. Keep an eye on http://www.sidmouthtownband.co.uk/.