Ballinamallard Silver Band
Present
Championship Brass for 2000
In association with the Northern Ireland Millennium Company
(Pictures and Audio from concert Available in the Gallery and Audio Section)
On Friday 3rd November The 1st Old Boys Association Silver Band played a concert for Ballinamallard Silver Band to a capacity audience, in the Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen. The concert was a great success and the band was very well received.
Although County Fermanagh has a long and widespread brass tradition we seldom have the opportunity to hear brass music played at championship level.
"It gave me great pleasure to welcome the 1st Old Boy's Association Silver Band and their conductor Grenville Moore to the Ardhowen Theatre. This is the first time the band had visited County Fermanagh and I hope they had an enjoyable time playing for us and providing the tuition for our Youth Workshop the next morning in Ballinarnallard.
As many of the young talented brass musicians continue to receive tuition In their schools and in their local bands, perhaps sometime In the future County Fermanagh can produce a band that is capable of playing and competing at the level which you heard at the concert."
Raymond G Armstrong -
Chairman
Under the baton of Grenville Moore the band the band played a varied and interesting program. They opened with Shostakovich’s Exciting ‘Festival Overture’ followed by Robert Brown Hall’s Famous Brass Band March ‘Death or Glory’ which brought the house down. They then introduced the first of their soloist, David Whitside on Soprano cornet who played Demelza with great style and finesse and set a very high standard for the rest of the Soloists. ‘And The Band Played On’ was next followed by the ‘Vivaldi Trumpet Concerto’ arranged by Simon Kerwin, which featured the entire cornet section in three choirs positioned at the sides and back of the band. Then came the Euphonium standard ‘Grandfathers Clock’ played by the Bands' Principal Euph, Alan Howarth. ‘Army of the Nile’ was next and also proved very popular. The first half was concluded with Goff Richard's Trombone Trio ‘I Will Follow Him’. The band left the stage for some well-deserved refreshment.
Cole Porter’s ‘Be A Clown’ opened the second half which preceded their third soloist Principal Cornet Mark Bingham with Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Georgia On My Mind’ arranged by Alan Morrison, played in a jazzy style and finishing on a high D. Then came ‘Exploding Brass’ or should I say Exploding Lips, one of Goff Richards’s earlier pieces. The bands final soloist Jimmy Kitchen on Trombone, was next with the George Formby hit ‘Leanin` on the Lamp-post’ the audience was not disappointed as Jimmy’s performance was immaculate. They continued with Philip Wilby’s arrangement of ‘The Day Thou Gavest’. Sandy Smith’s arrangement of ‘Slaughter on Tenth Avenue’ was next and then their penultimate item was ‘Someone To Watch Over Me’ which featured the Solo Cornet of Morris Cameron. The band concluded with ‘Riverdance’ and played ‘Breakout’ from ‘The Cry of the Celts’ as an encore, which featured the beautiful Flugal sound of John Cooke at the beginning. All in all a very enjoyable concert.