James Fountain - Cornet/Flugel/Trumpet/Piccolo Trumpet   

Accompaniment:  

Tredegar Town Band MD: Ian Porthouse

Pianist - Elliott Laun

Slide Action; Vocalist Lucy Knight; Classical PopUps

Doyen Recording: DOYCD411

Alfred Ashpole was born in 1892 and studied at the Guildhall School and then with such well known figures in the band world as Denis Wright and James Ord Hume, so it is not surprising that his output includes the brass band suites Hinchingbroke and Suite Ancienne. He was an adjudicator and writer on musical subjects, he is probably best known for his correspondence courses. He was particularly successful with examinations for conducting students. He was a key figure in the early days of the National Association of Brass Band Conductors and for a time was in charge of the Association's adjudicators training scheme. His music was published both commercially and he published some himself., He died in 1990 aged 98.

This photo would have been taken just before the first world war; Alfred (top left) was from a musical family as you can tell.

On this show we are featuring his White Heritage March.

Simon Dobson was born in Cornwall in 1981. Having grown up in a brass banding family, he was educated at Launceston College, he moved to London aged 18 on a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music.

While at college, he wrote music for many different ensembles including, wind and string orchestras, percussion ensemble and the RCM symphony orchestra. He received his first commission, from the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2002. In 2004 he was a featured composer at the Three Choirs Festival.

In 2002 he won the European Brass Band composers' competition in Brussels, which led to him being commissioned to write the test work for the 2003 English regional Fourth section brass band competition, Lydian Pictures.

At RCM, he was part of a group of students who formed 'Zone One Brass', a championship section band which he conducted for four years before moving away from London in 2004 after earning his B.Mus.

In 2007, he wrote the set piece for the European Brass band championships 'B' section, and his work The Drop, has been performed several times since.

He has been Composer in Residence with both the Leyland Band, the Brighouse and Rastrick and the Fairey Band.

In this week's show we are featuring his march Wheal Martyn played by the Hebden Bridge Band MD: Ian Craddock.

Brighouse and Rastrick Band 

GMD: Russell Gray

Doyen Recording: DOYCD408

Hello Brass Banders - Another two-hours of music from the world of brass bands produced and presented by Chris Helme. We have some great bands from both overseas and home grown bands from here in the UK as well. As always we also have some fine soloists. I am sure we will have a few tracks which might be new music to some listeners and hopefully these will become new favourites. We have two great contest pieces from from 1956 and a relatively new one from 2014. Enjoy the show.

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 earned a living by playing the violin at the Royal Opera in Stockholm. He also played the violin in the Royal Swedish Orchestra.

Starting in 1897, he travelled much of the next 10 years in Europe. He studied violin technique in Brussels  and learned conducting in Dresden. In 1903-4 he was professor of composition at the Royal Conservatory, Stockholm. From 1910 he was music director at the University of Uppsala (a post he held until 1939). There he also directed the male voice choir until 1947, he also conducted in festivals at Dortmund (1912), Stuttgart (1913), Gothenburg (1915), and Copenhagen (1918–1919). He toured Europe as a conductor throughout his life and received a Ph.D. honoris causa from Uppsala in 1917 and became a member of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm in 1908. He 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.

He became known as one of Sweden's principal composers of his time and his music is in a late Romantic (1800 – 1910) idiom. His orchestration is skilful and colourful, reminiscent of that of Richard Strauss. Some of Alfvén's music evokes the landscape of Sweden.

He was married three times. His first marriage (1912–1936) was to the Danish painter Marie Triepcke (1867–1940). After his divorce from Marie in 1936, he married Carin Wessberg (1891–1956). They were together for two decades (1936–1956) before she died. He married Anna Lund (1891–1990) in 1959. He died on 8 May 1960 in Falun, Sweden, just after his 88th birthday.

His daughter Margita Alfven became a film star in the silent era. His nephew Hannes Alfvén received the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physics.

When Hugo Alfvén died, his musical archive was handed over to the University of Uppsala.

Several his compositions have been arranged for brass bands, including the euphonium solo Vallflickans Dans (Dance of the Herdmaiden) featured on this week’s show.

Grimethorpe Colliery Band 

MD: Dr David Thornton

Doyen Recording: DOYCD409  

Don Jacoby was born in Pennsylvania in 1920. He began studying the trumpet at the age of 6½ being taught by his uncle.
He became a soloist at the age of nine through when he finished High School at 16.

While in High School he was regularly featured on Childrens Hour on radio in Philadelphia. and New York radio.
At the age of 16 he entered music college for three years. He joined a theatre band in Times Square and later joined the Navy. While in the Navy he was chosen as the Star in uniform and performed with Tommy Dorsey.

After the war he moved to Chicago and played with Benny Goodman. Not wanting to leave Chicago he became a soloist with ABC playing shows like Ed Sullivan, also worked for NBC and later CBS.

While with CBS he became a Conn Clinician teaching and playing all over North America. After 10 years of clinics and tours he formed his own band in Dallas. He also spent time teaching. He died in 1992.

His 1956 trumpet trio Carnival Variations is on this week's show played by the cornet trio Derek Garside, Brian Cronshaw and Alan Holmes accompanied by the CWS (Manchester) Band conducted by Alex Mortimer.

Morgan Griffiths was born in Batley, West Yorkshire into a strong brass banding family. He was taught the cornet in his formative years by his father Edward Griffiths himself a very successful brass band conductor. 

After only a short period on cornet Morgan switched to Euphonium and studied with the legendary Black Dyke euphonium player and conductor Geoffrey Whitham, who was to have a major influence on Morgan’s playing style. 

In January 1990, after a brief spell with the Hammonds Sauce Works Band, Morgan was the youngest player ever to be appointed Principal Euphonium of Black Dyke Mills Band where he established an international reputation as one of the finest euphonium players in the world. It was during this time that Morgan first came under the influence of the brilliant Australian conductor, and later mentor, Professor David King.  Whilst at Black Dyke Morgan won two European titles (1990 and 1991) and was a principle soloist in their very successful tour of Japan. 

In 1992 he was invited to join the newly named Yorkshire Building Society Band, again working with David King. During this period Morgan became the most successful euphonium player of his generation, winning five European championships, three British Open titles, Three All England Masters Championships and a English Nationals win along with several Yorkshire area championships.  He also won two soloist awards at the Brass in Concert Championships. 

In 1999 Morgan was awarded the much coveted title of ‘International Euphonium Player of the Year’ and it was also the year that saw him record his debut solo CD titled ‘The Voice of the Euphonium’. 

In 2002-3 Morgan gained two National Championship titles with the Williams Fairey Band under Allan Withington as well as being voted the 4BarsRest outstanding instrumentalist and player of the year. 

2004 saw Morgan return to YBS band where he gained another All England Masters Championship title as well as being a featured soloist on the bands 2005 ‘Kings of Brass’ tour of Australia, where one of the many highlights was performing a solo in the world famous Sydney Opera House. After this Morgan turned his focus to conducting and musical direction. 

In 2007 Morgan was appointed the musical director of the newly named Hammonds Saltaire Band. Morgan has guided the band through a gradual rebuilding process which now sees the band back in top the Prizes at all the countries major competitions including the British open Championships from 2014, qualifying for the National Finals in 2011 (First Section) and 2017 (Championship Section) as well as regular appearances at the Brass in Concert Championships in Gateshead.

Under Morgan’s leadership the band now have many concerts, recordings and cross cultural projects to its name, and are establishing the bands reputation in the wider music world with projects like ‘Just a Vibration’ were Morgan collaborated with the Indian artist and composer Shri Sriram. This has seen the band perform at many international music festivals and has been a featured album on BBC Radio 6 and British Airways flights international flights. In December 2016 the music won the BASCA British composers award in the Brass & Woodwind Music category.

Morgan works for the Bradford Music & Arts Service as a Specialist Brass Tutor where he aims to inspire the next generation of brass players. In 2011 he formed the Bradford Youth Brass Band, which has already competed at National level with critical acclaim.

Morgan was the Music Director of the Bradford Youth Orchestra (BYO) for 8 years up until 2019. This  was extremely rewarding as the orchestra grows in musical stature. During the summer of 2013 the BYO performed its first full Symphony Concert performing Mendelssohn’s Symphony no. 4 “Italian”, and in 2014 won Innovation award for a performance of ‘Celtic Fusion’ at the Music for Youth National Festival, at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham.

In 2020, Morgan took up the position of Senior Lecturer at Leeds Conservatoire,  He has the responsibility of mentoring and guiding the next generation of talented euphonium students.

His debut solo CD titled ‘The Voice of the Euphonium’ is currently for  sale on my website shop £4.00 + £1.50p/p - overseas p/p please ask. .