Chris Helme
Allan Street - a composer, teacher, college lecturer, conductor and cornet player in his younger days. In addition to his work in various opera and philharmonic orchestras, he had also set up his own octet, which during the Second World War provided a private broadcast via BBC London . After the war he became a music teacher at various schools in the Midlands. In 1977 he retired.
A conductor of the Derby Light orchestra and during the 1960s/70s conducted various brass bands, such as Dalmellington Band and Markham Main Colliery Band. In addition to composing a small work for orchestra he also composed and arrangements for brass bands, These works included: Mancini Magic, Rococo Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, Doon Valley, Embassy Suite and the one featured on this week's show his cornet solo Kim, a very popular solo during the 1970s. Dedicated to the daughter of Brian Mather, principal cornet at Ransome and Marles Works Band.
Enjoy
Various bands and soloists from this contest.
Doyen Label: DOY CD384
Eric Crees was born in London in 1952 and studied at Wandsworth School, where, in the famous boys’ choir, he worked with many distinguished professional orchestras and conductors. Of particular importance was the school’s long association with Benjamin Britten, who wrote a solo part for him in the Children’s Crusade.
While still at school he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and as a student undertook an extensive period of work with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. Having won the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society’s ‘Joyce Dixey Award’ for composition, he graduated from the University of Surrey with first class honours and joined the London Symphony Orchestra, where he spent twenty-seven years, twenty as Co-Principal Trombone. In September 2000 he was appointed Section Principal Trombone at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In addition to the concert and recording work, he has performed on many of the most iconic film soundtracks, including the first four of the Star Wars series, Superman 1 & 2, Raiders of The Lost Ark and many others.
As director of London Symphony Orchestra Brass for many years he regularly conducted them at the Barbican Centre and internationally. He has made five CDs with the ensemble: two originally for Collins Classics, American Brass and Cathedral Brass, featuring many of his arrangements, which are also available on LSO Live and three of a world première recording by Naxos Records of the complete forty-three instrumental ensemble sonatas and canzonas of Giovanni Gabrieli, for which he made a new performing edition, available from Brass Wind Publications.
Since joining Covent Garden, he has directed the Royal Opera House Brass Soloists in concert at the Floral Hall to great critical success and made two recordings for Brass Classics, On The Town and The Twelve days of Christmas, which includes many of his carol arrangements sung by the Chorus of the Royal Opera House.
In this week's show we feature one of his many arrangements for brass. On this track he conducts the Desford Colliery Band
Castlemaine 88FM is a small radio station based in Castlemaine which is about a 90 minute drive from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Sunday Bandstand has been played on the station for malmost 3 years. The feed back from my contacts at the station Ian and John say they receive very nice feedback about the show. I am very grateful that they gave me the opportunity to have the show on their station.
The second issue of my new Brighouse and District Heritage quarterly magazine is now available. Copies can be purchased at the following outlets
Harrison Lord, Bradford Road; Kitson’s Newsagents, Commercial Street; Kershaw’s Garden Centre, Halifax Road; Colin’s Newsagents, Hipperholme; Bailiff Bridge Post office, Cooperative Buildings; The Old Town Hall Dentist, Thornton Square and Woodhouse Stores, Woodhouse Lane.
In 1813 a society in Yorkshire called the Royal Foresters began to open branches that together formed an affiliated friendly society for mutual financial support. Eventually, the Ancient Order of Foresters became one of the two largest affiliated societies in the United Kingdom
Solo Trombone Brett Baker
Black Dyke Band
MD: Professor Nicholas Childs
Doyen Label: DOY CD383
Brass Band Radio and internet radio station is based in Haxby, near York, in North Yorkshire and is run as a not for profit organisation and proceeds from advertising etc. is reinvested back into the website and its output.The owner David Beal has invited Sunday Bandstand to have a weekly show played on his internet radio station
Sunday Bandstand gladly accepted the invitation and the first test running of the show was tried today (August 19, 2018). Having sorted out a few teething problems the show goes on next week and will be played at 2pm (UK time) for two hours every Sunday.
The show can be heard on www.brassbandradio.co.uk and I would recommend having a look at this website as there is a lot more on offer.
Sunday Bandstand is now played on nine community stations here in the UK and five overseas stations (Australia, New Zealand, Cyprus, France and Italy). The programme is now a truly global show.
The Gresford disaster occurred on September 22, 1934, at Gresford Colliery, Gresford, near Wrexham, in North East Wales, when an explosion killed 266 men and boys. Its cause was never proved but an inquiry found that failures in safety procedures and poor mine management were contributory factors. Gresford is one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters. Only eleven bodies were recovered, the rest were left entombed in the colliery's permanently sealed damaged districts.
The good people of Brighouse also did their bit help the families.
