Band News
July 2008 Roger has written a report on the recent production of Brassed Off. Click here to read it. June 2008 Horn Player and Publicity Officer Rachael Faulkner was interviewed by Spire FM during the recent Cuckoo Fair. Listen to her fine words here! April 2008 Thirteen players from the band, as well as Musical Director Roland Wright and guest players Dian Bartlett (Gillingham) and Joanne Prince (Michelmersh) have just finished taking part in the sucessful production of Brassed Off with Studio Theatre in Salisbury. Click here to see the Salisbury Journal Review Daily Echo review: The heart swelling performances from the Studio Theatre and Downton Band made me proud to be a Yorkshire woman. Set in Yorkshire, during the pit closures of the Thatcher years, the Grimesthorpe colliery band and their families see their town and hopes desecrated by the closure of their pit and the loss of their livelihood in this bittersweet drama. Click here to see photos of the production. February 2008 Firstly we would like to thank the village once again for all their support and encouragement during the Christmas playing season. It really is a privilege to have such a warm welcome as we go round the area. We are now busily preparing for the West of England competition in Torquay in mid-March. Our piece is called Four Cities Symphony and leads the listener musically through the different cities of London, Paris, Rome and Moscow. We hope that this piece will allow us to do ourselves justice! Advance warning – The band have been rehearsing for a forthcoming production of Brassed Off in conjunction with the Studio Theatre. This will take place in April in Salisbury. The main actors have been attending band rehearsals and last week the band attended a play rehearsal. We are really looking forward to this new aspect of our banding experience. Click here to see the poster for more details. Urgent plea! December 2007 Some photos from the recent concert with Cor Meibion Cwm Garw (Garw Valley Male Voice Choir) September 2007 THe long awaited report from the New Forest Show! New section of "old" photos. If you have any photos or can fill in missing names, please contact the webmaster. August 2007 As the summer draws to a close we would like to say a big thank you once again to all our supporters throughout our summer playing season. In spite of the maverick weather we have had a very successful summer in and around the local area. Our thoughts now turn to two important dates in our calendar – the return visit of the Cor Meibion Cwm Garw Welsh choir in November and our next contest at the start of December. The Welsh choir and the band will be putting on a joint concert on Saturday 17th November- please come and support us and them! Photos from the recent engagement at the New Forest Show here. Report to follow (David is working on it but is having trouble remembering the evenings in the campsite!). Thanks to all the guest players who helped us over the three days: Mike Ricketts, Dave Shelley, Richard Taylor, Brad Sturgess, Katie Walker, Andy Mitchenall, Mark Pye, John Collar, Martin Easterbrook, Paul Street, Paul Williams, Mike Dunford, Keith Morgan, Malcolm Torrent and anyone I've forgotten! July 2007 Last month we celebrated the christening of the band mascot, Joe Faulkner. The band played in the church before and after the ceremony. Joe enjoyed the music and only cried briefly during the baptism! Afterwards, Joe's parents Fred and Rachael kindly provided a barbecue and drinks at the White Horse afterwards. Lots of photos here. June 2007 This month has been a fairly quiet one for the band but we are now starting to get into our busy summer programme. This started in fine style with the Moot Concert on 9th June.. It was a lovely evening weather wise which meant that a good number of people came out to support both the Senior and Training band and the Friends of the Moot. They were treated to an evening of brass band film and television music by the Senior band, with solos by Gary Robert (solo cornet) and the new band chairman, Andrew Faulkner. In addition the Training band impressed with their ever burgeoning repertoire. Refreshments were also provided by the band and the evening was coordinated very effectively by the Friends of the Moot. A great success on all fronts! See us next at Downton Church Fete! May 2007 A huge thank you to all our supporters for another successful band Cuckoo Fair. The day started with the procession led by the band and then some of our number played in the new Cuckoo Fair princess with a traditional fanfare. After this we moved to our usual place on the Borough to entertain the crowds with our summer playing programme. On the Sunday we played for the Cuckoo Fair service and then in the evening we presented our concert. This went very well and the band attempted some ambitious pieces with success. Report and photos from the Cuckoo Fair now on the site. There will be further opportunities to see the band around Downton within the next month Moot Concert 6.30p.m. Saturday 9th June We hope to see you there !
April 2007 We have a new mascot! Joe Faulkner has kindly volunteered to fill the vacancy. A report of the recent Torquay contest. Thanks Rachael! Photos to follow soon. Also, the long awaited report from the Wessex Contest last year is now on the site. Thanks to Rachel and huge apologies from the webmaster for being four months late. Photos to follow soon. November 2006 More photos from Wales now on the site including the new group photo on the front page. October 2006 A report on the recent visit to the welsh choir Cor Meibion Cwm Garw. Some photos are now on the site, more to follow soon. August 2006 Phew What a Scorcher! "Good day - sunshine" is the song that springs to mind following our busy summer programme this year. The band entertained at Lymington and Warminster Bandstands, our own Church Fete and at the New Forest Show - and each event seemed to get hotter and hotter. 1 of our cornets actually burst in to flame at the Show on the last day! We aren’t quite finished with the summer yet, as we are playing Saturday night (2nd September) at the Moot Gardens - food from 6pm - hoping for a least a final warm and dry evening. A barbecue is planned - so why not meet with us and the Friends of the Moot. A full programme is planned - it would do us good to play some of the new music we are taking with us to Bridgend for a weekend at the end of the month! Report and photos from the New Forest Show. On a sad, banding note, we would like to take this opportunity to remember the life and influence of Don Marlow, who passed away on Monday 7th August. Don was the founder and current conductor of Sandleheath Band. Many of our band have played with Sandleheath, even been trained by Don in his role as a local peripatetic brass teacher and band trainer. We had all supported his band as they worked hard to perform on the contest stage. His enthusiasm and good humour will be fondly remembered. Our thoughts remain with his wife Anne, daughters Juliet and Linda, and their families. 18 May 2006 Another report from the prolific Rachael - this time on the recent Cuckoo Fair weekend. Sorry, we have no photos. Click here for the report. 1 May 2006 Guest soloist at the recent Cuckoo Fair concert, Gemma Wright is one third of the up and coming classical crossover group, "Three". They are working on trying to secure a recording contract and would really appreciate your support on their website (where you can hear two of their songs) - myspace.com/threemusic April 2006 Resident hack Nobby has sadly decided to hang up his keyboard for good so our own Rachael Faulkner, Second Horn extraordinaire has stepped in as publicity officer and will now be writing the reports. Here is her first installment, the long awaited report on the Regional Contest at Torquay. March 2006 Some photos from the recent Torquay contest here. Report to follow. November 2005 That winter is surely here manifests itself in the recent events occupying the band – as we have performed at a real plethora of seasonal events and firmly focussing on more. The band welcomed November in with a bang. Playing a little “background” concert at the Spireworks celebrations on November 5th. The assembled dignitaries, south Wiltshire folk and stuffed “Guys” seemed very appreciative of our efforts and our guest conductor, Alan Dunford (Shrewton Silver) gave us the thumbs up too. Thanks to him and the organisers of the event for a great evening. Also thanks to Martin, Andy, Brian and Richard for filling the empty seats. November also ensures we accept that rare and daunting challenge: Marching up the borough. As a band we consider it a privilege (not solely a duty) to assist at the Remembrance Parade and Service at St Laurence’s – but no honest member of the band would deny that it stretches our multi-tasking skills to breaking point! Perhaps a bit of marching practice on that for 2006… The band is now in the final stages of preparation for the Wessex Area Contest (December 3rd, Weymouth) and then (if you look out your windows) you should spot the band playing under a lamp post near you. We hope for your support as we try to restore our funds following building work ongoing at the band hall! More next time. So in good seasonal style we would like to take this chance to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
October 2005 We apologise for the temporary absence of Mr Todd. He is currently on gardening leave pending his appeal to the committee in respect of his insulting comments in a previous Parish Magazine article. Monsieur D’Onor, a friend of the band for many hours and author of the best seller “Banding Philosophies: Freudian Interpolations of the Straight Mute, Alternative Fingering and Hard Tonguing” has gracefully agreed to “fill in” for the bands latest engagements:
Mon Dieu! Les Jambons Sacre Vertes!! Sometimes a band can get a little fixated with the lesser significances of band life – like gaps on benches, practice (non)attendance and pressures from “committee”, things which though important for a time, should not cloud the more salient and fundamental issues of banding, to whit: Pleasing the audience and developing musical skills ensemble. All bands do it I expect, from Royal Albert Hall veterans to struggling British Legion Bands: However fine the players and leadership, esprit de corps and appreciating what your particular audiences require should be what focuses all other criteria - driving the programme planning and concert preparation of any musical group. It is not easy to achieve and will vary from occasion to occasion. When it goes wrong everyone spots it – from performer to usher, MD to Programme seller – and most distressingly your paying public! When it goes right two important things follow: All will feel lucky to have been involved and present, and its’ memory will remain long into the future. Such will be said of our most recent concert on September 30th 2005, at the Downton (Trafalgar) School – near the end of the inaugural Downton Music week and to celebrate the opening of new dining facilities at the school. With just a small contingent of guest players (thanks Martin, Dan, Paul, Richard and Brad, ed) the band played its’ socks off and heart out to enthral the largely local audience with a programme of familiar, lively and inspiring band, and individual items. All performed in a polished and sensitive musical style. The cornet section - especially the front row and Sop - were featured heavily throughout. Principal Matt Chiverton led by example in the sensitive and relaxed solo “Share my Yoke” which gave the school hall an almost hallowed atmosphere then immediately leading his tutti colleagues Pete Jung and Gary Robert in the trio “Cornet Roundabout”, a vigourous technical trio yet great fun to listen to. Top billing on this occasion was reserved for semi-permanent fourth man down Martin Easterbrook and soprano supremo Andy Whitlock. The reason for their special inclusion, playing immaculately (without music and floating majestically around the auditorium!) the Lloyd-Weber duet “Pie Jesu” (pee-ay (lat.) not pie like in pastry. Ed). The reason for their special inclusion is that both form the site facilities team at Downton’s “big school” and much of the audience was made up of pupils, parents and staff of the school. No pressure, then! Needless to say the performance warranted the long, loud and genuine reward of a standing ovation. There were even some tears shed, I believe. The squeaky league did not take all the soloing honours and long suffering husband (sorry Mrs Faulkner) Fred Faulkner gave a high quality performance of the show tune “Let Me Try Again”. Rumour has it he tried again - but he was sick and his hat blew off ! (V. old gag. Ed). Over all the principles peaked at the right moment, giving the whole band the confidence to really impress – number after number. From “Bohemian Rhapsody” to “Swing Low Fantasy” encompassing delicate hymn-like arrangements like “I Know Thou Art Mine” and swing numbers “Mac the Knife” and the finale “All That Jazz”. An excellent display of hard work and high quality musicianship. Well done band. To enhance the concert two very special performances by the foremost junior bands of the village were central to the evening. Closing the first half the Downton Training Band performed a trio of favourite tunes – “Curtain Up”, “Tequila Sunset”, and “Silver Trumpet” – impressing the audience with their musicality and teamwork, and Mrs Faulkner’s sight-reading, of course. The second half was opened in sparkling style by the newly formed Downton School Wind Band. Led by head of music “Mad” Jonny Cole, the youngsters enthusiastically entertained with a fine selection of diverse numbers. From Strauss to a specially written piece by Jonny himself, the preparation and concentration really paid off. Well done and thanks to School and Downton Training bands. The event was not just a celebration of the musical prowess of our village but also to show it’s compassionate nature. Proceeds from the evening were donated to the ongoing Tsunami Appeal. The new dining room was also in good use as stimulating interval drinks were administered under the auspices of licensee Andy Whitlock. Why do I feel a sense of dark foreboding for the future as I contemplate that concept...? Well of course the energy and adrenalin of such a successful evening was not diminished in the packing up process and a good number of the band and their guests managed a late night meal at the “Sherekhan” restaurant, Redlynch, which despite the strangely high final bill this time, remains our second most regular band meeting place. The following Sunday morning it was up and at ‘em time as a small band pitched in at St Lawrence’s Harvest Festival. Not everyone made it as planned but with a little help from Kevin and his daughter Laura, from Wilton Youth Band (and next door neighbours to Fred and Rachael) the thanksgiving was made in best village style. Later a few players met for “stone soup” or the like at the White Horse and most reflected on a triumphal weekend. A top concert and community spirited endeavours combined – what more could we ask for? Augan D’Onor (MD) September 2005 A Summery Summary August 2005 The band performed their annual marathon engagement at the New Forest show in Brockenhurst. Some pictures can be seen here. Special thanks to guest conductor Dave Wilds and guest players Ian Luxford, Alison Beaumont, Ian Alexander, Paul Williams, Paul Street, Richard Perry, Mike Davis, Richard King, Andy Carter, Andy Verner, Adrian Cleverley, Richard Taylor, Brad Sturgess, Martin Easterbrook, Jo and Carrie Dobson, Claire Elridge, Mike Ricketts, Denis Upson, Matt Plumridge, Guy Heathcote without whom we would not be able to do this event. June 2005 Firstly an apology for one of the band’s events (non-events?)
with our much looked forward to Moot Concert being postponed by the organisers,
due to poor weather, on the day. We hope to see you when the event is
rescheduled. |
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