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# 25   Member: Ian Carpenter No of Posts: 2 Time Of Post: 16/05/2010 14:48:51 Last Modified: This thread has not yet been Authorised for public viewing (it may be made available soon). Please Sign In to view the thread content. # 24   Member: Alex Stevens No of Posts: 351 Time Of Post: 16/05/2010 12:20:39 Last Modified: 16/05/2010 12:22:46 This thread has not yet been Authorised for public viewing (it may be made available soon). Please Sign In to view the thread content. # 23   Member: Alex Stevens No of Posts: 351 Time Of Post: 22/03/2010 08:54:27 Last Modified: This weekend the band made their annual trip to Stevenage and the Londern & Southern Counties Regional qualifying contest for the National Brass Band Championships. This morning we're waking up as Champions, having acheived first place, qualification to the finals and promotion to the Championship section from January 2011 (and a few hangovers after last night's celebrations!). Congratulations everyone! And Huge thanks must go to Chris King for his hard work, former member Dave Moon who came back to fill a vacancy at late notice, and Pete May filling in on euph in his second contest with the band. Special thanks also to Frank Renton for his input. Adjudicators comments: A MOORSIDE SUITE - Gustav Holst I. Stylish opening statements – so much continuity; fugal statements balanced. Trio – not all the quavers speak in Bar 2 – Enjoyable sonorities in the melody with effective balance at all times. DC continuity to the link. Horn? A. Controlled final section. II. Pleasing cornet melody – with entries controlled and balanced. Secure Tutti cornets. Quaver length is consistent throughout the ensemble – lower cornets balanced. Cornet link – well controlled – Euph too! Detail is commendable. C. Cornets struggle then settle - this is well paced – rall too. D. Sound expands effectively and contracts too. E. Melody line is well held by all contributors to F. This has style, MD! Troms untuneful final chord before G. So much expression to H. Well judged Euph! Parts integrate smoothly – quite effective final chord. III. Fanfare – well judged – Bright tempo but all is mostly controlled. Contrasts in style & rhythm well judged. C. This moves with conviction and is suitably legato in style. Cor/trom 8va well judged. F. This has tension in the music not the playing. Orchestral in style certainly. All is so exhilarating to listen to – Troms tight to J. trom – a tiny blemish? L. Too much Sop (vibrato) – well controlled to end. So much to admire and enjoy. Just a few blemishes that you will be aware of too! Well read by MD. C. Brian Buckley 1st Place. # 22   Member: Alex Stevens No of Posts: 351 Time Of Post: 14/02/2010 21:58:12 Last Modified: A small group from the band took a break from area preparations today and entered the SCABA solo, quartet and ensemble competition in Ringmer. A quartet made up of Richard Straker, Lauren Cave, Nigel Stevens & Alex Stevens played Peter Graham's Timepiece, and we were joined in the ensemble class by Ian Stewart and Nigel Simmons for a unique (!) rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody specially arranged for us by David Howell. The level of entries was disappointing, with only one other quartet and no other ensembles playing, but we put in two pretty decent performances, had fun and brought home two first prizes so it was still worth the trip! The solo classes were much more competitive, with 5 entries in the Air Varie class and 7 in the Slow melody, including 4 Friary players. Open slow melody: 4. Nigel Stevens, horn - The Swan 3. Ian Stewart, trombone - In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning 2. Rhys Cave (Aveley & Newham)(sorry, cant remember the piece!) 1. LAUREN CAVE, flugel - My Ain Folk Open Air Varied: 3. Ian Stewart, trombone - Carnival of Venice 2. Rhys Cave, cornet - Russian Fantasia 1. RICHARD STRAKER, cornet - Zelda WELL DONE GUYS!! And big thanks to Nigel Simmons and David Howell for conducting and to David for providing the soloists with piano accompaniment. # 21   Member: Ian Carpenter No of Posts: 2 Time Of Post: 12/02/2010 17:28:13 Last Modified: Dear all in Frairy, How are the preparations going for the nationals are you getting bored with Mooreside suite yet. I am expecting nothing less that 1st this year and a return to the top flight. # 20   Member: Wayne Filer No of Posts: 3 Time Of Post: 21/12/2009 20:17:19 Last Modified: £1000 that is so amazing was worth getting frost bite for ! Well done to everyone who was out there (living the dream). Its a shame about tonight but the roads are fair dodgy out there to say the least. Wayne and I wish all of you the very bestest Christmas and look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year -- be good take care and love to all x # 19   Member: Alex Stevens No of Posts: 351 Time Of Post: 21/12/2009 17:47:12 Last Modified: December has been a very busy month for the band with Christmas concerts helping to raise money for the Ruislip Lions, Shooting Stars Hospice and British Heart Foundation; the annual Radio Lion carol service at the Royal Surrey Hospital; and 3 carolling sessions in Guildford Town centre which saw us raise over £1000 for the Surrey Air Ambulance Fund. Tonight's carol concert at the Guildford Clinic has unfortunately been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, but we hope to be out once more this year (weather permitting!) at the Hogs Back Brewery in Tongham on Christmas Eve. We wish all of our supporters and friends a very Happy Christmas. # 18   Member: Kathy Filer No of Posts: 1 Time Of Post: 16/11/2009 18:51:06 Last Modified: Thanks Alex. Wayne and I are both really proud to be new members of Friary Guildford band and hope to do many more contests with you # 17   Member: Alex Stevens No of Posts: 351 Time Of Post: 04/11/2009 13:12:14 Last Modified: Monday 2nd November saw us welcome 3 new players who applied to join the band after helping out in the cornet section for the past few months, including at the recent Wychavon and Folkestone contests. Wayne and Kathy Filer join us from Alder Valley Brass, and Joan Barker from Sandhurst Silver. Its good to have you on board guys! # 16   Member: Alex Stevens No of Posts: 351 Time Of Post: 12/10/2009 01:57:59 Last Modified: Its far too late at night (or early in the morning?!) to write anything sensible, and I'm sure someone more articulate than me will make a proper entry tomorrow.... but for now, here's our result and adjudicator's remarks from Fokestone today :-) DEEP HARMONY Doesn’t start together but is a nice rich sound, well blended from the bass up and true in intonation – need to be careful at upper dynamics though. Thanks. 192 points BURLESQUE Busy start with lots of impact and cornets excellent at 54 – troms too. Basses a little less accurate. Very commanding euph at 114 with great musical awareness (as well as technique!). Almost convinces at 122, does so with bells on at 128 – go troms! Solo cornet also demonstrates a steady nerve. Excellent into 168. Cornet, lovely – horns could have more sympathy. Good dynamic effects here. Flugel doesn’t flinch under pressure – another star performer, impressive. Trombone also excellent. The mercurial passages such as at 221 are effective, if sometimes a little loose in fanfare figures. Cornet jumps rather successfully through the hoop again – there’s some great players around the stand! 267 devastatingly impressive. 356 Troms continue to lead middle of the band with great style and the sound is superb (wow sop!). Just time for tuba to leave his/her calling card before the end is mightily impressive. What a performance, thanks! Philip Harper. 196 points 1st prize Best Hymn Tune Best Bass Section Best Instrumentalist – Richard Straker Best Euphonium – Andy Porter Best Percussion Section SCABA Band of the Year 2009 # 15   Member: Tanya Winter No of Posts: 1 Time Of Post: 18/09/2009 13:52:28 Last Modified: Good Luck to you all on Sunday. I think the program should be well received as it is new and exciting. I think you can always tell when the band really likes certain pieces they seem to come alive with so much energy! I'll be thinking of you all as I wait nervously at home for the results phone call. The only third third cornet with her own dep! # 14   Member: Richard Marley No of Posts: 24 Time Of Post: 17/09/2009 18:04:19 Last Modified: -Thursday 17th September 2009 Last night we took a breather from the enjoyable preparations for the Wychavon contest with Chris King putting the band through the technically demanding test piece for the Folkestone contest instead (well not strictly true, he did whizz through the contest program to keep our ‘eye in’ and to try a few different tempo’s – just for fun). This year the Championship competition looks quite interesting with the Aveley and Newham Band making an appearance and I think we’ll need to be at our best. Chris made some nice comments about the bands developing sound quality during his absence, maybe it’s because he could hear the rest of the band due to the lack of cornets? ;) Tim was on form, in more ways than one, and led a wonderful sound from the back row. Thanks also to our debs for their continued support while Chris recovers. This last week as been an interesting banding experience for me, having retired from the ‘hot seat’ a few months ago I’m now to be found relaxing in the ‘4th man down’ seat. This ‘comfortable’ feeling soon vanished as work and holiday commitments meant I was covering the Solo Cornet chairs on my own. The thrill of playing unfamiliar and musically demanding parts in front of the rest of the band always fills me with joy and the many ‘encouraging’ remarks are always gratefully received. Thanks! ;). One practice to go until Wychavon, I’m really quite excited. The band is on good form and has a confidant feel about it. The program notes produced by Steph look incredible too! Good Luck Friary. Richard ‘old-boy’ Marley # 13   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 14/09/2009 17:45:12 Last Modified: 14/09/2009 17:45:30 - Monday 14th September 2009 - With less than a week left until Wychavon, Andy is putting the finishing touches on the band’s programme, which I’m still not going to give away… You can see how Andy thinks we’re getting on by following his Facebook status, which was finally a little more positive after last night’s extra rehearsal! The rehearsal itself was held at Alder Valley’s band room which, you’ll know if you’ve ever been there, is excellent for working on detail (although pretty painful in the upper dynamics!). In fact, this was the band’s 3rd different acoustic in the last week or so, which can’t be a bad thing seeing as nobody seems to know what the Norbury Theatre will be like on Sunday. Anywho, we have rehearsals for Wychavon with Andy tonight and Friday, with Chris taking us on Wednesday in preparation for Folkestone. I’ll try to pester someone else, possibly old-boy Marley, to write something here later this week, but no promises. # 12   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 10/09/2009 14:20:24 Last Modified: 10/09/2009 14:20:38 - Thursday 10th September 2009 - Well, we’ve got a really busy period coming up, what with two contests and a concert coming up over the next month. First up we’re defending our 1st Section victory at the Wychavon Festival of Brass on 20th September 2009, which sees bandmaster Andy Porter take us for the second time (at a contest). Andy is currently taking 75% of the rehearsal in preparations for this, with Chris King taking the rest in preparation for Folkestone contest on 11th October. Chris will also be taking us for the concert at St. Andrews Church in Farnham the day before Folkestone. Rehearsals are going well (although a little manic at times!), but at this point in time I’m not giving any clues as to the pieces we’re playing at either contest… # 11   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 24/08/2009 11:04:32 Last Modified: - Monday 24th August - OK, this is a little late, but a couple of weekends ago we played on the bandstand at St James’ Park in London in glorious weather to an appreciative audience. This is the first time (at least in my memory) the band has played at one of the Royal Parks, but hopefully not the last. The band played two hour and a quarter sessions of varied music – see the set list below: Set 1 Barnard Castle Goff Richards Mack and Mabel arr. Wilkinson Passing By arr. Philip Sparke Watch Your Step Ray Premru My Funny Valentine arr. Adrian Drover Suite from Porgy and Bess arr. Alan Fernie Country Scene Goff Richards The Dambusters Eric Coates Night Flight to Madrid arr. Denzil Stephens Amazing Grace arr. Himes I wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free arr. Alan Fernie Ticket to Ride arr Alan Fernie Famous British Marches arr. Langford Set 2 Ravenswood William Rimmer? Concert Prelude Philip Sparke Mr Jums Chris Hazell Evergreen arr. Derek Ashmore The Children of Sanchez arr. Reid Gilje Moon River arr. Alan Fernie Frolic For Trombones Reginald Heath Don’t Stop Me Now arr. Philip Harper Gaelforce Peter Graham Serenade Derek Bourgeois Sweet Georgia Brown arr. Richards French Military March arr. Hargreaves Clog Dance arr. Charleston Someone to Watch Over Me arr. Alan Fernie Somewhere from West Side Story arr. Eric Crees As is tradition at the Royal Parks, the band finished by playing the National Anthem. # 10   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 19/08/2009 14:09:33 Last Modified: - Wednesday 19th August - Well, I’ve been on holiday for a while, so haven’t written anything for a while – it’s great to see that other people have (ehem!). Whilst I was away the band played in the Guildford Castle grounds and last weekend we also played at St. James’ Park near Buckingham Palace, which was nice! I’ll put a few words up about this soon. I just wanted to mention that unfortunately the last few weeks have seen us loose a couple of cornet players; Ian Carpenter has just left to emigrate with his family to Canada (where he has already lined up a brass band!) and Steve Thornes has emigrated (sort of) back home to Leeds. On a positive note, Chris Powell has had his neck brace removed and is looking forward to returning to the cornet section soon… Obviously, this means that we have a couple of cornet vacancies at the moment, so we’ve had a number of our friends helping us to cover some summer gigs – thanks to all for your help. Also, it sounds like Emma Stoffer will be returning to the band on percussion in early September - yay! # 9   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 29/07/2009 17:59:47 Last Modified: - Wednesday 29th July 2009 - Saturday evening saw the band give a formal concert at Hastings Citadel, with proceeds from ticket sales going to the Salvation Army. As Chris mention (several times!), the programme included a lot of music that has been originally scored for brass band, including pieces such as Resurgam, Shine as the Light and Procession to Covenant. Along with a few congregational hymns and some Salvation Army numbers, we also featured some excellent soloists. Richard Straker wowed the audience with his dexterity in his debut performance of ‘Concertpiece for Cornet’, whilst Ian Stewart gave a stirring performance of jazz standard ‘My funny Valentine’, and Mark Yarham got feet tapping during his energetic flugel solo, ‘Children of Sanchez’. The final solo of the day came from former Hastings Salvation Army boy, Nigel Stevens, who was largely responsible for our trip to Hastings at the weekend. Nigel received the warmest round of applause of the night after impressing friends and family with his silky sounds in horn solo ‘Evergreen’. All in all a good day’s blowing/hitting/wagging. For me, the highlight of the day was everyone getting through the scary shot note/silent passages in Resurgam without having any panic attacks - if you saw us play it I’m sure you’ll have been entertained by the look of concentration/sheer terror on everybody’s faces as every single band member madly counted the rests! Also, excellent value for money was given towards the end of the piece as the tamtam solo gave an encore as part of the percussion section’s ‘buy one – get one free’ policy for the night! Next up, Guildford Castle grounds on Sunday 2nd August. # 8   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 27/07/2009 18:51:51 Last Modified: - Monday 27th July 2009 – Saturday saw the band putting on two concerts in the town of Hastings in East Sussex. In the afternoon the band played a light programme in the beautiful Alexandra Park’s square bandstand. Whilst Chris dashed to Hastings straight from parade in London, bandmaster Andy Porter, made a welcome return (after a few weeks off being a swine flu buddy for misses) by taking the reins for the first half before moving onto euphonium. Andy entertained the audience with some absolute bandstand classics and with his wicked sense of humour, which was only surpassed by the arrival of Chris’ barby-pink tie… suit you sir! Chris carried on as Andy started, with the band playing in the warm, but blustery conditions for around an hour and a half in total. After packing away, band members, WAGs and a number of the local Salvation Army drove back to Hastings Citadel, where the band were treated to refreshments, including the best egg sandwiches man has ever tasted! Well, I’ve gotta dash to rehearsal now, so the evening’s performance will have to wait until tomorrow… # 7   Member: Lauren Cave No of Posts: 36 Time Of Post: 23/07/2009 09:58:41 Last Modified: 23/07/2009 09:58:59 - Thursday 23rd July - So, it was our last rehearsal before we make the long trip down to the sea side town of Hastings. The soloists for the evening concert, Mark, Ian, Rich and Nigel were given a break last night after running all their solos in Monday’s rehearsal. So this gave us a chance to do some final prep work on the more technical pieces on the programme, such as Shine as the Light and Masque. We also ran through the two congregational hymns, Rachie and Cwm Rhondda, so we are hoping that our audience brings their best singing voices with them on Saturday evening. After the break, Nigel Stevens spoken passionately to the band about the plans and arrangements for the concerts on Saturday. Hastings is where Nigel grew up and the concert in the evening is being held at the Salvation Army that he used to attend as a child. Chris King let us get our teeth into the test piece Year of the Dragon for the last half an hour of the rehearsal. There are a few people in the band that aren’t so keen on this piece, but personally I love it. We ran all three movements, including the beautiful 2nd movement which features Ian Stewart on trombone, who played the solo superbly. Fingers crossed that the weather will be kind to us on Saturday so we can have a great day out in Hastings. # 6   Member: Valerie Larue No of Posts: 13 Time Of Post: 21/07/2009 16:39:50 Last Modified: - Tuesday 21st July 2009 - A most enjoyable rehearsal last night with a good atmosphere. It was nice to have an almost full band and great to see the calibre of deps! And that includes Jane there in the percussion section. I will have to have a chat with her (as a fellow horn player) to ascertain if all that kit is actually used! I am perpetually intrigued by the amount of equipment set up there ready for use. I know I used all 3 of my valves last night, (not necessarily in the right order!), but did the percussionists really use all that stuff?? What goes on at the back there is a constant source of wonder and amazement not to mention how it all gets packed away. It must be said though that the bongos in Children of Sanchez were magnificent! # 5   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 16/07/2009 21:12:17 Last Modified: - Thursday 16th July 2009 - On 25th July we’re heading down to Hastings for a double header; first we play in Alexandra Park (1.30-3pm), then we’re off to give a concert at Hastings Citadel (7pm). So the last couple of rehearsals have seen us focusing on two (different-ish) sets for each of these. The plan is to use a slightly lighter set of ‘bandstand’ music for the park job, which will include favourites such as Clog Dance, Famous British Marches and Someone to watch over me, then play a more challenging concert set in the evening. Apparently the cornets won’t cope with Resurgum or Shine as the Light in the evening if we go at it full tilt in the afternoon! As ever, we’ve also been doing some sight-reading and exercises to improve stamina etc, although I still haven’t worked out why the band warmed up by playing hymns from the bottom to the top! # 4   Member: Alex Stevens No of Posts: 351 Time Of Post: 13/07/2009 12:20:22 Last Modified: - Monday 13th July – Our concert at Hampton Hill was (as predicted) a cracker last night with the band showcasing a range of show and movie music. As well as some old favourties including Harry Potter and Mark's solo the Children of Sanchez, we showed off two stylish new solos – ‘Evergreen’ for Nigel Stevens on horn and ‘My Funny Valentine’ for Ian Stewart on trombone, and displayed some seriously dodgy vocals in Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. Guest vocalist Justine Balmer demonstrated how it should be done and stole the show with her beautiful voice and engaging style, performing a wide variety of songs from O Mio Babino Caro to A Spoonful of Sugar. The band always appreciates our regular supporters and it was great to see so many make the trip to Hampton last night. We enjoy playing for different audiences too though and it was great to welcome some new faces last night, including a new heckler to keep Mr King on his toes! Between work, holidays and illness very few concerts go by where we don’t need a friend or two from other bands to fill the odd gap. Last night our American visitor Don joined us on stage, along with Joan Barker on cornet, Roger Burke & James Kelloway (at ridiculously short notice, sorry mate!) on euphonium and Gwyn Press on BBb bass. Thank you all. Special thanks also need to go to Lauren Cave, the event organiser and one-woman box office, without whom the concert simply wouldn’t have happened. She’s a real a star! # 3   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 09/07/2009 14:25:47 Last Modified: - Thursday 9th July 2009 - Not sure anyone at band has noticed this thread yet, so I’m afraid it’s me again. Justine came to rehearsal last night, so most of the rehearsal was spent going through the half dozen or so pieces she will be singing with us. Although the band has played with a singer before, this is the first time we’d met Justine and so we weren’t totally sure what to expect. However, after hearing her sing and seeing her bubbly personality there is no question that Sunday will be a cracker! You can check out Justine’s website at www.justinebalmer.com. Rehearsal also saw us run through Nigel Steven’s horn solo and do a few bits and pieces for this weekend’s concert. It was good to see Nigel Simmons, who has been off with a dodgy back for the past couple of weeks, back on Bb bass. Also, Roger Burke, who is depping for Andy Porter on Sunday (currently off with lurgy), was at rehearsal – cheers again Roger. So, we have a rehearsal and sound check at the playhouse on Sunday in the afternoon, then the concert in the evening – make sure you have your tickets booked! We’ll put another update here after the concert on Sunday. # 2   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 07/07/2009 12:45:47 Last Modified: - Tuesday 7th July 2009 - Last night’s rehearsal again focussed on music for this weekend’s concert at Hampton Hill, so we topped and tailed a few pieces in preparation for the rehearsal with the singer on Wednesday and did some detailed work on others, such as the Porgy and Bess Suite. Ian Stewart (trombone) and Mark Yarham (flugel) are both being featured in Sunday’s concert and both played well last night. In preparation for our concert in Hastings, we had a run though of a (different) arrangement of ‘Deep Harmony’ to check that it had no gremlins…………. it didn’t!. Chris (King) then put us through our paces for the last half an hour or so with some sight-reading of Rob Goorhuis’ modern test piece ‘Burlesque’. The band managed to get to the bottom of the piece (after missing a few of the more scary cadenzas out!!), although we did have to stop a few times to correct a number of errors from the publishers – no doubt there’s an errata out there we need to find! For a number of reasons we had a few gaps to fill last night, so we had a couple of our regular friends along at rehearsal. Jane Stewart (Ian’s wife) played second euph, with Steph bumping up to solo; Joan Barker sat in for Chris Powell on second cornet, who was actually at rehearsal, but still has a neck brace on after his hard-core cycling accident; we rehearsed with two reps - Rich Marley will be playing rep on Sunday while Tim is being tempted by the dark side (an orchestral residential weekend); and Don sat in Rich’s usual seat on front row; finally, our utility player(!!) Jane, who’ll be hitting stuff at the back of the band in Hastings in a couple of weeks, made a welcome return on horn. # 1   Member: Matt Tallamy No of Posts: 583 Time Of Post: 06/07/2009 13:02:53 Last Modified: I thought I’d start a thread to let people know what we’re up to in rehearsals at the moment – a short blog from the band room if you will… I’m going to try to pester band members to write something so we have something on this blog once or twice a week – hopefully it won’t end up just being a blog from Steph, Alex, Lauren and me!! - Monday 6th July 2009 - I’ll start by saying that we’re currently preparing for our concert with singer Justine Balmer at the Hampton Hill Playhouse on Sunday. Chris (King) has done a number of arrangements of show tunes for singer and band, and we’ve been running some other show and film favourites as well as doing some manic test piece sight reading! Lauren (Cave) was strangely keen to keep ‘Year of the Dragon’ in the pad after we gave it a quick run though, and we played ‘Country Scene’ at my request after hearing Horsham Borough band playing it recently. One of our good friends, Don Cornelius, is once again over from Chicago, so we have been comparing and contrasting banding in the UK and America over a pint at the Jolly Farmer. The percussion section are missing Emma (Stoffer) and are looking forward to her returning in September (hopefully!!). They need someone to show them how the glock works. I think it might be broken because no matter how many sheddies look at it, it still doesn’t seem to make any/the right noise! I’ll try to say a few more words after tonight’s rehearsal tomorrow and then will stitch someone else up to write something after Wednesday’s rehearsal…

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