Players from Lydney Town Band and Lydney Training Band came together this morning to take part in the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph, St Mary's Church.
Lydney Town Band returned to the Wychavon Festival of Brass following our success at last year's contest. This time, we came with a nautical themed set of original music composed and arranged by our Musical Director, Thomas Dunne and Malcolm Hannaford-Waddingham. The audience's voyage aboard 'The Good Ship Lydney Town' started with Out of Portsmouth, a new march composed by Malcolm and dedicated to Clare Rawlyk. Our Solo Horn, Samantha Ford performed a wonderful solo as part of Ar Lan y Môr, a traditional Welsh love song, before there was swashbuckling drama in A Lofty Ship to Lee - featuring Herbie on telescope and Louise on pirate flag! Next, Thomas' arrangement of Felix Mendelssohn's Calm Sea brought some music needed peace to proceedings before we ended our set with a rip-roaring arrangement of the sea shanty Johnny Come Down Hilo - drunken sailor/trombonist included!
We were really pleased with our performance and absolutely thrilled to get third place! In addition to this our Principal Cornet, Kerry Ford, received the Dave Hodgetts Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Contribution - a well deserved recognition! We had an absolutely incredible time on Saturday evening at our 2023 Celebration Concert. Lydney Town Hall once again played host to this fabulous event which brought together both the Lydney Town Band and Lydney Training Band.
The Town Band's opening set featured the world premiere of five brand new pieces written by our Musical Director, Thomas Dunne, and local composer, Malcolm Hannaford-Waddington. This nautically themed set included a lovely arrangement of Felix Mendelsohn's Calm Sea and the toe-tapping, fun-filled sea shanty Johnny Come Down to Hilo (drunken sailor included!) Next up, the Training Band featured a number of the upcoming talents within their ranks, including Emma and Ruth performing the Whitney Houston hit One Moment in Time, and George and Sadie with Sunshine of your Smile, before the band closed their set with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody! During the second half, the Town Band entertained the audience with a range of highlights from their summer concert programme including the manic Baggy Trousers, the sublime Hymn to the Fallen and the majestic finale of Kingdom of Dragons. The bands then came together for their massed band finale closing the show with The Proclaimer's 500 miles! We'd like to say a massive thank you everyone who was involved in the organisation of the show both in preparation and on the day, and a thank you to everyone who came along - there's something very special about playing to a home audience! This afternoon we've started putting the finishing touches to the programme for this year's Celebration Concert! We're going to be celebrating the successes and progress of the last twelve months at a very special concert in Lydney Town Hall on Saturday 14th October!
It'll be an opportunity to see both Lydney Town Band and Lydney Training Band perform a range of pieces, including several world premieres and some old favourites, before we finish the evening with a massed band finale! Doors open at 6:30pm, for a 7:00pm start. Entry is free, with a retiring collection - the Town Hall bar will be open for refreshments and we'll have a raffle with a range of fabulous prizes on offer! We had a great time at St Mary’s Church last night! It’s such a fabulous venue to have the opportunity to play in and we received a very warm welcome at yesterday’s fundraiser.
Thank you to everyone who came along, got involved with the activities and enjoyed the music! All in all, £280 was raised for the Forest Food Bank and Lydney Training Band - an incredible amount! We’d like to thank the organisers for inviting us along, the volunteers who were on hand at the interval with tea and some lovely cakes, and to Tom and David for this brilliant photo of us! We've got a new addition to this autumn's concert schedule! On Sunday 8th October, Lydney Training Band will performing at the Forest Showcase Food Festival at the Speech House, right in the middle of the Forest! This is a really vibrant event that we've had great fun performing at in the past, with loads of food and crafts stalls available - perfect for a well earned post-concert snack!
Last year, Lydney Town Band and Lydney Training Band came together for a very special concert to celebrate the band's 130th Anniversary and it was an incredible night. It was an absolute thrill to perform in Lydney Town Hall to a full house!
On Saturday 14th October, we're returning to the Town Hall with a special Celebration Concert. We'll be looking back and celebrating the successes of the last twelve months including our second place finish at the Wychavon Brass Festival and the ongoing work of Lydney Training Band to develop the next generation of brass players! This year, entry is free with a retiring collection! The concert starts at 7:00pm with doors open from 6:30pm. There will be a raffle and the Town Hall bar will be open for refreshments! It is with great pleasure that we welcome Neil Crowe as a member of Lydney Town Band on Bb Bass. Neil, a previous member of the band, was part of the team that helped build the successful Lydney Training Band. It's great to have him back in the Lydney Band family.
(L-R: Thomas Dunne, Musical Director, Neil Crowe and Kevin Ford, Chairman) This weekend, we're packing up our instruments and taking a trip over to Stroud! Lydney Town Band will be performing at Stratford Park Bandstand on Sunday from 2:30pm! Bring a picnic and a blanket and settle in for an afternoon of music and entertainment! If you get there early, you can take the opportunity to visit the Stratford Park Arboretum - said to rival the nearby Westonbirt!
Enormous congratulations to our team who all successfully finished the Severn Bridge 10k! Thanks to all the marshalls and stewards who helped out along the way .
We also managed to hit our fundraising target of £1,000!!! Thank you so much to everyone who donated to our fundraiser! Big thanks also to everyone who shared it online on our behalf! Your help means that the Band is one step closer to getting a storage unit which will allow us to better utilise our facilities to continue the brilliant work of Lydney Training Band in developing the next generation of brass players! This Sunday, our team of intrepid runners from the band will be taking on the Severn Bridge 10k!
For two members of the team - Kerry and Louise, our Principal Cornet and Flugelhorn player respectively, this will be their very first 10k race and a massive achievement after months of training! We’re over 60% of the way to our fundraising target of £1,000 to help fund a new storage unit at the bandroom, which will help us make better use of our tuition spaces for the benefit of our aspiring musicians in our Starter Group and Training Band! If you’d like to sponsor the team, head on over to:https://www.justgiving.com/.../lydneytownbandcontainerfund Summer is nearly over but Lydney Town Band have got a great season of events planned to keep you entertained as the leaves turn brown and the evenings start to draw in!
Our Autumn 2023 programme kicks off on Sunday 3rd September with a bandstand concert in Stratford Park, Stroud - a rare trip to the other side of the river for us! On Saturday 23rd, we'll be supporting a fundraising event for the Forest Foodbank at St Mary's Church, Lydney. Following on from the success of last year's 130th Anniversary Concert, Lydney Town Band and Lydney Training Band will be returning to Lydney Town Hall to celebrate all the successes of the last twelve months! And finally, in November, the Town Band will be competing in the Wychavon Brass Festival and the GBBA Own Choice Contest, where Lydney Training Band will also be returning for the first time since 2019! Next month, we'll be bidding a fond farewell to our first trombone player, Alasdair, who is heading off to university. We've got a really exciting autumn programme of concerts and contests coming up, including our 2023 Celebration Concert at Lydney Town Hall!
If you or someone you know might be interested in joining us, please get in touch! We'd love to hear from you. There's just two weeks to go until the Severn Bridge 10k, where a team from the Band will be amongst the throngs of runners!
As part of the challenge, they're looking to raise money for a shipping container for the Band which will help us make better use of our bandroom and facilities. Anything you can give in sponsorship would be greatly appreciated! If you've already donated - thank you so much! If you'd like to give but maybe can't at the moment, you can still help out by sharing this link: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lydneytownbandcontainerfund We had a fantastic time opening Scarr Brass Fest in the wonderful environs of Scarr Bandstand, this afternoon! It was great to see this event as well supported as ever! It was also lovely to be able to settle down afterwards with a cream tea and hear some cracking pieces from Severn Tunnel Band and Cinderford Band.
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March 2024
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