This week we have a diverse choice of music for you. We are featuring bands from Switzerland, USA, Belgium, The Netherlands. Australia, Norway and of course some great bands from here in the UK. On top of that we have three great soloists and a trombone trio.

Enjoy the show - we are always open for your requests.

Don't forget my Friday Night Bandstand show that is on www.serenade-radio.com every Friday night between 9pm and 10pm. It is not the same as this show.

Maureen's music started at East Kilbride Borough Silver Band and Clydebank Borough Band. She won the Scottish Championships with the CWS Glasgow Band and competed at the European Championships. At Salford College, she studied under Professor David King, Dr. Roy Newsome, Elgar Howarth and one of the last students to work with Harry Mortimer OBE.

She was a member of the Foden’s Band and has won most major Brass Band titles in Europe and Australia as a player or conductor, she is now a playing member with Sydney City Brass. Recognised as an quality cornet player and musician, her commitment and passion for the education of young musicians and work with community music is inspiring.

Following her award BBC, Teacher of the Year, Secondary School 2003, 2004, she moved to Australia accepting posts as founding Head of Music at St Andrew’s Catholic College and Musical Director of Cairns Brass. Since her move to Australia, Maureen has gone on to win many accolades for her commitment to music.

We are featuring Maureen on this week's show back in 2006 conducting the Cairns Brass Band playing William Rimmer's march The Australasian...

Frederic Curzon was born in London on September 4, 1899, and died at Bournemouth on Dec ember 6, 1973. As a boy he studied violin, cello, piano and organ. He had a life largely associated with music - besides composing, he conducted and was both a pianist and a noted organist.

His early life was largely in the theatre, where he was musical director in several London West End theatres. He was the organist at Shepherd's Bush pavilion. In 1938, he moved to the radio and became a full time composer, the music he wrote was mainly of the English light music genre. He also wrote for films, radio and the theatre.

He became the Head of Light Music at Boosey and Hawkes having been encourage by Sir Dan Godfrey and Ralph Hawkes. Much of his output was for orchestra, but there were also songs of the ballad kind many of these were written in the 1950s. The also composed a march The Boulevardier, this was recorded by Fairey Band in 1972. 

Amongst his works was the Robin Hood Suite which ends with the rousing, indeed noble March of the Bowmen. This work was first performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra on the 18 October 1937.

On this show we feature Frank Wright's arrangement of the March of the Bowmen a very popular brass band concert work during the 1960s and 70s. There are many light orchestral CDs highlighting his music. 

Hello Everyone - Here is today's show. There was a problem last week when the show was not available for a few days until the owners of the software I use had fixed a problem. The show's playlist would not save. If you missed last week's show it will be available later this evening on my website.

Enjoy the show

Chris

Hugo Emil Alfvén - 1 May 1872 – 8 May 1960 was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter.

He was born in Stockholm and studied at the Royal College of Music from 1887 to 1891 with the violin as his main instrument he also took private composition lessons At the same time he played the violin at the Royal Opera in Stockholm 1890-1892.

In 1897 he travelled much of the next ten years in Europe. He studied violin technique in Brussels and learned conducting in Dresden. In 1903-4 he was formally professor of composition at the Royal Conservatory, Stockholm. From 1910 he was  music director at the Universityof Uppsala (a post he held until 1939). There he also directed the male voice choir  until 1947.

He conducted in festivals at Uppsala (1911), Dortmund (1912), Stuttgart (1913), Gothenburg (1915), and Copenhagen (1918–1919). He toured Europe as a conductor throughout his life. He received a Ph.D.  from Uppsala in 1917 and became a member of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm in 1908. Alfvén recorded some of his orchestral music in stereo late in 1954 (the first classical stereo recordings made in Sweden), the recordings were issued on LP in the U.S. by Westminster Records.  A three-CD collection of Alfvén's recordings as a conductor has been issued.

Alfvén became known as one of Sweden's principal composers of his time. His music is in a late  Romantic idiom. His orchestrations are described as skilful and colourful, reminiscent of that of Richard Strauss. Like Strauss, Alfvén wrote a considerable amount of program music. Some of Alfvén's music evokes the landscape of Sweden.

Among his works are a large number of pieces for male voice choir, five symphonies and three orchestral "Swedish Rhapsodies." The first of these rhapsodies is his best known piece.

Kevin Wadsworth started his playing career on cornet at the age of six, retired at seven, came out of retirement at eight and is probably best known for his time as Principal Tenor Horn player for the world-famous Black Dyke Mills Band, joining them at the age of 14, becoming its youngest ever player and in the intervening years secured his reputation as one of the finest horn players of his generation.

Kevin was accepted into the National Youth Brass Band at the age of 12 and was the first recipient of the Pye Records award for the outstanding soloist within that band. He attended King Alfred's College, Winchester from 1970-73 during which time he was a founder member of the City of London Band, and the only member who was not a music student at one of the various London schools of music.

His contest achievements as a player include seven National Championships and six British Open Championships. His final 'National' victory, still playing solo horn, with the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, coming 35 years after his first ' testament to his enduring excellence as a performer at the highest level of banding.

He has played with such eminent musicians as Andre Previn, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Edward Heath, and has also conducted world famous performers such as Nigel Kennedy and Julian Lloyd Webber. He was principal horn with Kings of Brass throughout their ten year existence and co-presented BBC Radio's G.M.R. Brass for five years.

He has tutored international music schools in UK, Norway and Switzerland whilst his conducting career has proved to be highly successful both in the UK and abroad with numerous contest successes to his name with leading bands.

He was an executive member & Vice Chairman of the Association of Brass Band Adjudicators, his adjudication work included numerous solo and band competitions, with many years at the famous Whit Friday March contests in UK, Pontins, Butlins, Wilkinsons Championships, Brass Factor, Brass in Concert, the Scottish Open Championships, BBL Northern Ireland Championships, UK Regional and National Championship Finals, Swiss & British Solo Championships, English National Championships.

Kevin has also contributed to the Black Dyke Heritage Lottery Fund project.

We are featuriung a solo performance with Black Mills Band on this show.

Hector Valera (real name Salustiano Paco Varela) was born on January 29, 1914 – died  January 30, 1987) was an Argentine tango bandleader and composer. He was born and raised in Avellaneda in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, where he trained as an accountant. He played in several bands and from the age of 16, including those of Alberto Gambino and Juan d'Arienzo. In 1929 he was a member  In 1929 he joined Salvador Grupillo and then progressively moved on to other top line bands.

 He went on to form his own tango orchestra in 1939, but never recorded but it did perform on Argentine radio and television in the 1950s and 1960s. He worked with several singers, including Rodolfo Lesica, whom he met in a taxi, and Argentino Ledesma. His orchestra was hired to perform in Rio de Janeiro and other cities in Brazil. From there he brought some compositions that he put into tango rhythm

The decline of tango in the 1960s found him performing on television programmes. It has been written that he was  was a musician who was discussed by the avant-garde but loved by lovers of dance and popular tango. His best artistic period was in the early 1950s,

On this week’s show we are featuring one of his tango compositions which is titled Champagne Tango and was first performed in September 1952. This brass band arrangement is by Svein Henrik Giske and played by the Eikanger Bjorsvik Band conducted by Reid Gilje in 2007.

What wonderful outfits - interestingly Sunwin House is still there and the small green grocers shop next door which was run by the Hall family.