Chris Helme

public speaking logo

Talk Subjects

Sunday Bandstand 15 January 2023

“Bones Apart represents all that is best about British brass playing”

Highly acclaimed trombone quartet Bones Apart has established itself as one of the world's leading chamber ensembles. With innovative concert programming and unique and inclusive education workshops, Bones Apart has delighted audiences around the world for over twenty years.

The quartet has appeared at many national and international music festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, Cayman Arts Festival, International Belgian Brass Academy, International Trombone Festival, Lieksa Brass Festival, Royal Over-Seas League Arts, Sauerland Herbst Festival, Music In The Round and the Vilnius Festival. This has involved touring much of Europe, the United States, Japan and the Caribbean.

Since forming in 1999, the group went on to win the prestigious Royal Over-Seas League Competition, Rio Tinto Ensemble Prize and Miller Trophy. The quartet has performed at major venues including London's Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Fairfield Halls, Royal Festival Hall, St. James's Palace, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and Symphony Hall in Birmingham. The group has also appeared on television and radio and been featured in articles in Muso Magazine and the Brass Herald among others.

Bones Apart is keenly involved in education work and is regularly invited to give masterclasses and ensemble coaching at a variety of schools and conservatoires; in recent years visiting the Juilliard School of Music in New York, Rutgers State University in New Jersey, Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Each member of Bones Apart brings to the quartet their own unique performing experience; together encompassing musical genres from symphony orchestra, opera, brass band, film score, solo and chamber music, to early music, jazz, pop, big band, west end shows and contemporary music.

Bones Apart has commissioned many new works for trombone quartet from composers such as Gary Carpenter, Matthew Taylor, Christian Lindberg, Dan Jenkins and John Kenny.

Discography includes All We Want For Christmas (2012), ten (2009), four4four (2009) and Enigma (2006).

We are featuring a track from their CD Enigma on this week's show - Enjoy

More…

Bailiff Bridge Silver Lining Club members almost 30 years ago

This was a local club for the retired members of the Bailiff Bridge community. This was taken on December 1, 1994 when a few local school musicians came to entertain them at one their regular Thursday meetings.

More…

Sunday Bandstand 8 January 2023

Neal Paul Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for The Odd Couple movie and TV series and for the Batman TV series.

He began arranging professionally in his teens when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He composed and arranged while working as a trumpeter for Woody Herman providing the bandleader with versions of ‘Woodchopper's Ball’ and ‘Blowin' Up a Storm’ and composing ‘The Good Earth’ and ‘Wild Root’. He left Herman's band in 1946. Now concentrating on writing music only, he began an association with Count Basie in 1950. Hefti occasionally led his own bands.

Outside of his work for Basie, Hefti led a big band of his own during the 1950s. In 1951, one of these bands featured his wife Frances Wayne on vocals. They recorded and toured off and on with this and other incarnations of this band throughout the 1950s. Although his own band did not attain the same level of success as the bands he arranged for, he did receive a Grammy nomination for his own album Jazz Pops (1962), which included recordings of ‘Li'l Darlin,’ ‘Cute,’ and ‘Coral Reef’.

On this week’s show we are featuring ‘Cute’ arranged by Philip Sparke and played by the Cory Band with MD: Philip Harper.

More…

A trip to Chapeltown 50+ Club, Newton Memorial Hall, Chapeltown, Nr Sheffield

A nice trip to Chapeltown just a few miles from Sheffield today. The Chapeltown 50+ Club at the Newton Chambers Memorial Hall. It was estimated there was an audience of 120, and they were given my Superstitions, Resolutions and who was St Valentine and then being early in the New Year I told them about the origins of Auld Lang Syne as, all illustrated as a powerpoint and with segments of music in there as well.
It was very well received with many of the audience coming up to tell me about their superstitions - they would not buy a house that was number 13 and would not lay a table over night with a white table cloth and but would watch out for the single magpie and make efforts to find its partner, this is not a good sign.
Lots of laughs on the way.

More…

Sunday Bandstand 1 January 2023

Hello and welcome to the first Sunday Bandstand show of 2023 which was played out on 15 radio stations on the first day of the New Year. I hope all our listeners had a good Christmas but for many others who are living through difficult times we hope you all had a safe Christmas.
Let us all hope this New Year will bring change and hope for a better year to come for everyone.

Enjoy the show ...

More…

Start
Prev

Page 18 of 89

Talks Available

All the presentations are timed to last up to an hour except where shown - questions are gladly taken after the presentation. All have been presented to male, female and mixed audiences of varying age groups.