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What a fantastic evening! To a packed and sold out Collingham Memorial Hall, Newark and Sherwood Concert Band, under the direction of its Musical Director, Colum J O'Shea performed a wide ranging programme of Christmas music. The concert opened in style with a rousing "Fanfare for Christmas" before moving on to more gentle music from "The Snowman" and keeping with the wintry theme, some highlights from the Disney film "Frozen". A new piece "Good Swing Wenceslas" (the Good King was the first king of swing according to Colum!) went, as would be expected, swingingly and after some audience involvement (aka carol singing), Rebekah Ackroyd narrated "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" which had the audience in fits of laughter as the band provided musical accompaniment to the tale. The second half opened with "Stars and Stripes for Christmas" and further audience singing. A new piece for the band "Minor Alternations" was performed with all sections having their chance to shine in various solo opportunities. Further audience participation was needed for "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with some even undertaking actions as directed! Colum surprised the band during the second half by presenting some awards. The first award was for the most improved player of 2014 which was presented to a surprised and very delighted Richard Williams, bassoon. Richard only joined the band in February and then only because while dropping his daughter (Victoria, flute) for rehearsal he mentioned that many years ago, whilst at school, he played the bassoon. He has now ended a 30 year "retirement" although he commented, "it is still a matter of work in progress with much, much more to do!" Band person of 2014 was awarded to Tina Pointing for the unstinting efforts she has put in, cajoling players for the numerous concerts performed during the year and in getting equipment to where it should be, when it should be! Finally, the Unsung Heroes of 2014 Award was presented to Caroline Walker and Bob Weall. Bob is the band's librarian and has a garage full of music and organising this to keep Colum happy is no mean feat! Caroline is the band's secretary and has continued to undertake, as she has for some years, much of the backroom organising. The concert closed to rapturous applause following a rousing rendition of "William Tell" and an encore, "Christmas Festival". Next year's concert has already been booked...
 Band Person 2014, Tina Pointing, with Musical Director, Colum J O'Shea We are very pleased to announce that we have invited Geoffrey Foulds and Tony Marriott to be patrons of Newark and Sherwood Concert Band as a gesture to say thank you fore their very generous help and support over the past 12 months and for their promised support in the future. We now have a fabulous piece of music arrived from the US of A! Minor Alterations by David Lovrien - hopefully we can have a go at it on Tuesday! Have a listen by clicking below... Don't forget that we start back with rehearsals this coming week (4 November) and looking forward to seeing you all there.
For those who weren’t able to attend rehearsal last night (really good evening with lots of new music and a new French Horn player!!) our Palace sponsors came to see us in the break and Geoffrey gave a short speech to all before we started the 2nd half - he also gave an envelope with this message inside and a cheque made out to the band. I am sure you all agree that we can’t thank these two wonderful gentlemen enough and are delighted to be associated with them. We would be very happy to perform at the Palace Theatre again next year and will meet up in the New Year to make the necessary arrangements:
Hello everybody, Thanks to a lot of hard work on all our parts, the Concert on 12th September 2014 was a great success and far exceeded our expectations. Congratulations. Apart from the artistic success - 250 people made it very clear that you did play well - there was also a small surplus when all the bills had been paid. Tony and I would like you to accept a cheque for half that surplus - you earned it on and off the stage - we are keeping our share on one side in the hope that you will allow us to promote a similar concert for you at the Palace Theatre next year. We hope that you are enjoying lots of success and we shall see you all at Collingham at Christmas. We are sure that you have a wonderful future and are proud that we have had a small part in your past. Best wishes Geoffrey & Tony Caroline reports...
Looking forward to getting back to rehearsals on Tuesday 30 September after our two week break and welcoming Sarah, Rachel and Henry on alto saxes; it will also be nice to see Rebekah again on bassoon. Only received a few apologies for absence so hopefully there will be well over 40 of us there tomorrow. Don’t be late as there’ll be some equipment shifting to do! If you have any music, make sure you bring it with you please as it has to be handed in ready for our new music.
We are very pleased to announce that Robert Jenrick MP has agreed to be our new President and states that he would be delighted and honoured to take on the position.
We like to convey our thanks and appreciation to Patrick Mercer OBE, the previous holder of this position, for his support over the past years. |
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