A summer to look forward to !

Aldbourne Band have once again been very busy preparing for their jam-packed summer season of concerts and contests.

On Sunday 2nd June we kicked off the summer season of Pond Concerts led by Glyn Williams with an exciting and eclectic programme of music including ‘Nordic Polska’ and a beautiful arrangement of John Ireland’s “Love Unknown”. Unfortunately the weather was not kind to us but once again the beautiful village church of St. Michael’s served us well. The concert also featured some outstanding solo performances by ‘2nd man-down’ Shaun Mundy playing Dan Price’s “Dirty Duck” made famous by Tom Hutchinson; Solo Trombonist, Rob Marsh, playing Derek Ashmore’s arrangement of “Bolivar” and 2nd Euphonium, Ed Latham, playing the classic Air and Variations on “Rule Britannia”. 

The Aldbourne Youth Band also joined in the fun wih enthusiastic performances of Bohemian Rhapsody and ‘Grease’ really getting the audience’s toes tapping!  It was also a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the progress the Youth and Training Bands have made over the past year, and Glyn William helped to present the annual awards to players in the band rewarding their progress and commitment.  

We next turn our focus on the 9th of June to supporting the BBC Concert Orchestra as warm up act at the Grange Park Opera  in West Horsley Surrey. This will be a subset of Aldbourne Band (14 piece) known affectionately as the “Paddling Dabchicks” and play an American Song book themed programme.

The pace then does not let up as the Band competes for the first time in its 160-year history in the famous Whit Friday Marches contest up in the villages of Saddleworth Moor on Friday 14th June. This is a very old and famous contest dating back to 1884 where bands play two pieces, one whilst marching and then a contest march which they are judged on.  Aldbourne will be competing against some of the world’s finest brass bands “Brighouse and Rastrick” as well as over 100 amateur bands from around the country (and the world!) in what has been branded ‘the greatest free show on Earth!’.  The band is especially excited to take part in this contest as this is the first time Glyn Williams will be taking us.

Beyond this over the coming months, the band and its supporters have a lot to look forward to with our regular Pond Concerts through the summer season as well as performances at the Marlborough College Summer School. Check out our website and Facebook pages for further details. This builds up to us playing at the British Open Brass Band Championships in September plus the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall in October, which is the first time the Band has qualified for both competitions in the same year in its history.

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