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As Musical Director of Lydney Town Band, I look back on 2022 with a real sense of pride and satisfaction in our achievements as a group. We began the year having only recently recovered from the lockdown periods of the pandemic, but thanks to our proactive only activity had recruited a number of new players to the ranks, setting us up well for the year ahead. Our first challenge was the West of England Regional Championships, for which we prepared Facets of Glass by Gordon Langford. Unexpectedly however the regional was cancelled, and so we entered the Oxford and District Brass Band Association contest, in which the band delivered a fine performance of Olympus by Philip Harper. In the meantime, however, the West of England Regional had been reorganised, and we returned to our work on Facets of Glass, building to a fine performance for which we were awarded 5th place, achieving our goal of a top-six finish, and consolidating our ranking within the 3rd Section.
Our attention then turned to the summer season of outdoor concerts in parks, bandstands, and other community venues. In previous years, Lydney Training Band had been the driving force behind these engagements, but in 2022 the Town Band returned to the summer concert scene for the first time in nearly two decades, sharing the workload with the Training Band. Our concerts provided entertainment to hundreds of people, helping to rebuild awareness of the organisation in the community, as well as being a great source of enjoyment for the players. We then began planning for the two main events of the latter part of 2022, our 130th anniversary concert at Lydney Town Hall, and a week later, our competitive performance at the Wychavon Festival of Brass. Following much hard work from the organising committee, the concert was an outstanding success, with both the Town and Training bands performing together to a sell-out audience. The Town Band featured four world premieres, including a preview of our Wychavon programme, celebrating the history of the band and the local area, alongside some concert favourites. The Town and Training bands also joined forces for the first time ever in a massed bands finale, earning a standing ovation. The following weekend we reprised our programme in the 3rd Section of Wychavon Festival of Brass. The band played splendidly, and were delighted to be awarded 2nd place, while the band’s Solo Horn player Samantha Ford was deservedly awarded the Best Soloist prize, for her beautiful rendition of Over The Rainbow. Following all this excitement, the band enjoyed a quieter end to the year, with a highlight being some well-supported Christmas Carolling around the town, bringing festive cheer to the community. Looking ahead to 2023, we want to build on the progress we made in 2022 in a number of ways. This year we want to aim for a top-three placing at the West of England Regional contest, with an eye on qualifying for the National Championships. We will continue to develop our summer concert series in the community and deliver a diverse and challenging set of new repertoire. Following the success of our 130th anniversary concert in 2022, we hope to be able to feature both the Town and Training bands together in concert once again, and later in the year aim to go one place further at the Wychavon Festival of Brass. Most importantly though, our main goal is to continue to enjoy making music together as we continue to develop into 2023 and beyond. I for one am eagerly looking forward to the future with this fantastic group of musicians. Thomas Dunne Musical Director, Lydney Town Band We absolutely delighted to announce that Ben Hannaford-Waddington will be joining us for this year's WEBBA Regional Finals! Ben is a phemonenal young percussionist who has already acheived an incredible amount. He has played with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Flowers Band (currently the highest ranked band in the West of England region and one of the top ten in the UK), and locally with Forest of Dean Brass. He performed with the NYO at 2022 Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, as well as at Birmingham Symphony Hall and The Barbican. Speaking about his move to Lydney, Ben said “I feel it’s time to give back and support others. I have had the chance to be supported myself in the past, especially during my time at Forest of Dean Brass and by Paul Berrows especially. I believe this opportunity at Lydney allows me to pay my dues.” The WEBBA Regional Finals will be held at the Riviera International Centre in Torquay on 11th and 12th March. (Image: Thomas Dunne, Lydney Town Band conductor and Ben Hannaford Waddington)  We are looking forward to our awards evening on 4th February 2023 where we can all get together, socialize and congratulate ourselves on an amazing year at Lydney. We recognize that young people are vital to our future success and acknowledge our role in the community to provide a musical opportunity for anyone who wants to learn. This is why our Training Band consists of a range of ages from 8 to 80. In order for individuals to develop their skills effectively they need to have an encouraging environment in which to learn and a means to gain pride in what they achieve. Our annual Achievement Awards are an opportunity for us to celebrate our success over the previous year. They recognize different levels of achievement and different attributes that contribute to a successful organization. We reward improvement in playing skills and value commitment, team spirit and personal contribution. The award categories this year are:
 Lydney Training Band welcomes new players of all ages. This was never more true than when Eric joined the Band in 2019 at the age of 80! Eric, pictured here in 2020 when he was awarded Most Improved Starter Band Player, became a stalwart of the Band’s tenor horn team. Sadly, Eric has announced that he decided to step back from banding. He visited the Training Band on Monday 16th January to say farewell in person and paid tribute to the Band and its tutors in a lovely speech. We’d like to thank Eric for all his efforts and work with the Training Band, (not forgetting his duet with himself that he put together for one of our Open Mic sessions in 2020!). He is a sterling example that you’re never too old to give something new a try!  |
