On Monday 18th March, the ladies and gentlemen at Rodley House, Lydney, were treated to a brilliant springtime showcase of talent by the Lydney Starter Group. The group of 16, including new starters and three adult learners, performed a range of solos, duets and ensemble performances including Abide with Me and Peppermint Tango! Five of the players: Autumn, Shiann, Kaiesha, Cora and Kip made their solo debuts. Kip on his red Trombone looked like he was really enjoying himself.
The band was led by Kerry Ford, with support from tutors Roger and Ken Powell. There was a fun rendition of Wonka’s welcome played by Rhys and Sadie (a brother and sister team) and a wonderful version of the Floral Dance by adult learner Lisa. Our young trombonist Edith played a beautiful rendition of ‘Jupiter’, and there were many more to enjoy. Youth Development Officer Kerry Ford said, “With 15 soloists there was an amazing variety of music and the audience at Rodley House sang along to Daisy Bell and The Pink Panther. It was just great to see some new brass talent in the making”. The Starter Group are appearing at two other residential venues this spring as part of their performance tour. Their next concert will be at Goode Court on Monday 15 April. The tour is a great way to build confidence and develop team working skills, enabling the new players to move on into the Training Band as quickly as possible with their new found skills. Our development programme for young players is thriving and reaping many rewards for the individuals involved. In the last fortnight, six Training Band members took exams ranging from grade one to five! We're happy to report that all six passed with flying colours! Well done to Wren and Jonah (both: grade 1), Sadie (grade 3), Millie (grade 4), and Herbie and George (both: grade 5). We're very proud of you all!
Looking forward to the next few months, Youth Development Officer, Kerry Ford, said: "The place to start is with ‘learners’ and this spring we are taking our Starter Group out three times to perform concerts at our local residential homes. Here they play their solos and ensembles to willing ears, learning essential life skills about preparation, self discipline, confidence and team work." Our grateful thanks to Ken & Roger Powell, Kevin & Kerry Ford for their dedication and patience to make the magic happen. We're very happy to report that Lydney Town Band came third in the WEBBA Regional Championships held in Torquay yesterday!!! This means that the Band have also qualified for the National Championships for the first time in eight years. We would like to pass on our congratulations to Verwood Town and Nailsworth Silver Band who took first and second place respectively.
Enormous thanks to our Musical Director, Thomas Dunne, for all his hard work and dedication over the last few months to get us here. Shout out to our brilliant Contest Secretary, Julie, for all her work on securing rehearsal venues and making sure everyone knew where they had to be at various times! Also, massive thanks to our fellow banders, and the families and friends who’ve supported us as we prepared for this weekend! Our thanks also to WEBBA for another well organised, well-run contest. In addition, we would like to note that the Town Band included nine members who initially started with Lydney Training Band! Today marks International Women's Day! Lydney Town Band is immensely proud of having so many wonderful and committed women who contribute to our organisation, particularly in Lydney Training Band and the Starter Group, where they continue to set a superb example for the next generation of musicians who are coming through the ranks.
The Lydney Town Band Monthly Prize Draw has been a key fundraising tool for the band for many years. In recent times it has contributed funds towards the purchase of the Band's storage unit and its new band jackets, which we were able to debut at the 2023 WEBBA Regional Finals. The draw enjoys support from band members, their families, as well as friends and supporters of the band (even a cat...) and has a guaranteed prize of at least £30/month (see below for last year's winners).
New entrants are always welcome and can join at any time of the year from as little as £1/month. For further details of how to join, please contact Kerry Ford (Band Secretary) We had a busy Monday evening in the Lydney Band Room. The Starter Group had a rehearsal then presented a wonderful 'Mini Concert'. Under the guidance of Kerry Ford, ten of the fourteen players played short solos, some after just a few weeks of joining the group. The supportive audience were also treated to some band pieces to add to the superb evening. The future continues to look very bright for Lydney Band.
With only three weeks to go until the WEBBA Regional Contests, Lydney have been busy getting ready for them! Alongside our regular rehearsal schedule, we've also been holding sectionals across the band!
Enormous congratulations from everyone at Lydney Town Band to David and Tom from our percussion team who got married this week!
Last night we celebrated an incredible twelve months of progress and success at our Annual Achievement Awards, held at Watney Hall, Lydney. Band Chairman, Kevin Ford, opened proceedings welcoming members of the Starter Group, Training Band and Town Band with a recap of what each ensemble had achieved over the last year before moving onto the awards!
The band's newest members in the Starter Group and Training Band received achievement certificates recognising the hard work and progress before we moved onto the Training Band awards. The winners were:
This weekend we hosted the second rehearsal of the Forest of Dean Youth Band (18yo and under) at Lydney Bandroom. Players of all skill layers were invited and it was a great opportunity to meet other young brass players from across the Forest. Thank you to the band's conductor, Anri Adachi, for her expertise and time!
We started back at rehearsals on Friday, taking our first look at this year's test piece for the WEBBA Regional Champinships: Corineus by Christopher Bond.
Enormous congratulations to Jess and Idris who achieved a Merit at Grade 4 and Distinction at Grade 7 respectively in their recent ABRSM exams! We’re so incredibly proud of their progress, even more so when considering that their exams were the day after the bands’ prizewinning turn at the GBBA Contest!
We would like to wish you Merry Christmas from everyone at Lydney Town Band and Lydney Training Band! Enormous thanks to everyone who has come out and supported the band over the festive period. We hope you enjoy this video.
In September, Lydney Town Band in collaboration with Churches Together in Lydney performed at a fundraising event for The Forest Foodbank, all coordinated by the brilliant Jon Harris!
We recently received a lovely thank you letter from the Chair of Trustees at the Foodbank! We would just like to add our thanks to everyone who came along and helped support the event. |
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March 2024
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