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Brass The Baton is basically a relay race involving 5 conductor’s batons, each representing one of the 5 Olympic rings and coloured accordingly. Starting in Europe in May at the prestigious European Brass Band Championships each of the 5 batons will be passed by participating Brass Bands / Ensembles across the UK and Internationally, until they reach their final destination:- the London 2012 Festival in July.

All Brass Bands / Ensembles can participate

Brass Bands / Ensembles will be invited to take part and 5 unique routes will be mapped out for each baton before the start. One baton will be dedicated to be passed only by youth / training / beginner bands; another could be assigned to travel through Europe and possibly around the world.

The relay race will last for at least 10 weeks providing 350 potential performance days (i.e. 5 batons x 10 weeks of 7 days) where each Brass Band / Ensemble taking part will be encouraged to find the most innovative way of performing with, and passing on, one of the 5 conductor’s baton.

A special piece of music will be commissioned entitled “Brass The Baton: Going The Distance”, it will comprise 5 parts that can be performed independently along the route of each baton. The world premiere performance of the complete piece will only occur when all 5 parts / batons / massed bands of brass musicians come together for the project finale during the London 2012 Festival in July.

London 2012 Inspire Mark

To date the creative concept has been developed by the British Federation of Brass Bands (BFBB) working in collaboration with Rambling Brass and they are extremely pleased to announce that the project has recently been granted the London 2012 Inspire Mark, the badge of the London 2012 Inspire programme which recognises exceptional and innovative projects inspired by the 2012 Games.

Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games said: ’We want to use the power of the Games to inspire change. The Inspire programme is recognising the work our partners all round the UK are doing to help us achieve this vision now – one year away from the start of the Games. I congratulate everyone involved in Brass The Baton for securing the Inspire mark and wish you every success with your work.’

Partnership & Collaboration

Other project partners across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are now being contacted to ensure that all brass bands throughout the UK have the opportunity to take part in Brass The Baton.

BFBB is also in discussion with the European Brass Band Association regarding the details of the launch event for the start of the relay at the 2012 European Brass Band Championships and with London based partners regarding the staging of the world premier of “Brass The Baton” during the London 2012 Festival.

Terry Luddington, BFBB Liaison Officer, stated “Brass The Baton is designed as a collaborative project where all partners and participants will be encouraged to contribute towards the shared goal of engaging as many brass band musicians, volunteers, audience members, children and young people as possible in order to leave a lasting legacy of increased participation in Brass Band music making for the future.

Invitation

We would now like to hear from all Brass Bands / Brass Ensembles / Festivals / Contests / Venues / Conductors / Volunteers interested in getting involved in Brass The Baton. At this stage please just send an email to brassthebaton@mad4bb.com to record your interest and we’ll be in touch soon with more information.” 

Olympic founder inspires arts

The Festival of the World event – part of celebrations for the London 2012 Games – will open over the Diamond Jubilee weekend at London’s Southbank Centre.

It will run from 1 June 2012 through to the last day of the Paralympics on 9 September.

An artists’ village will be set up at the Queen Elizabeth Hall for creative people from around the world to swap stories and chat.

Major attractions include Welsh bass baritone Bryn Terfel and Senegalese singer and human rights champion Baaba Maal, while Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra headline a four-day Sounds of Venezuela event.

“I’ve always wanted to say I’ve played at Wembley, said band chairman, Nigel Stevens, “And although it wasn’t as part of an international sporting team, it was still a tremendous honour and thrill for everyone to walk up the tunnel onto the pitch.  All the band had a memorable day,” he added.

Commenting on the band’s excellent performance at Wembley, Tabby Clegg, co-Director of Mode for…. who supplies all the bands for Gillette 4 Nations Tournament said: “Friary Guildford did what can only be described as a first-class professional job at Wembley. Not only was the band professional in performance, its conduct was meticulous and very accommodating to all requests. The band and MD Chris King were an absolute delight to work with and made the pre-match entertainment a very special occasion.”

Friary Guildford Band’s next engagement will be leading Guildford’s civic procession to mark Remembrance Sunday.

Please help if you can, it won’t cost anything and will take about 5 minutes of your time today.

Six BFBB member bands have been nominated for a Nat West CommunityForce award:

Deeside Silver Band

Enderby Youth Band

Gloucester Excelsior Training Band

Macclesfield Youth Brass Band

Ouston, Pelton District Community Brass Band

York RI Golden Rail Band 

There are 393 x £6k awards being made so each of our member bands has a chance of winning if we can get them enough votes. As Louise Renshaw has indicated from Macclesfield Youth Brass Band:

“We’ve had over 260 votes so far and are currently in the top 3 projects in Cheshire but with just 5 days to go, the voting is going bananas and we really need more votes to keep us in with a chance of winning one of the three cash prizes.

£6000 is a huge amount of money for any charity and our volunteers could use it wisely to teach even more youngsters to play an instrument and enjoy being able to join a band. It’s sooooo close and every single vote is important.”

Jen Prior from Gloucester Excelsior has explained the voting process below:

“To vote you need to use the following link: http://communityforce.natwest.com/

This will take you to the Nat West Communityforce website and you need to click on ‘register’ at the top right hand side of the screen.  You will then need to put in your email address and a password.  Once you have received an automated email confirming your registration you will be able to go back into the website.  To do this it is best to use the following link as this will take you directly to our cause:

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/4371 - Gloucester Excelsior Training Band”

You are allowed 3 votes but can only vote once for each cause.  So please use all three votes, the links for the other bands are:

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/1574 - Macclesfield Youth Brass Band

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/3933 - York RI Golden Rail Band 

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/2024 - Ouston, Pelton & District Community Brass Band

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/128 - Deeside Silver Band 

http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/4343 - Enderby Youth Band

If you haven’t got time to vote on-line you can vote by phone call 0800 2100 246 Lines open 24/7.

So let’s all go M.A.D. (Make A Difference) and spread the word to vote for these bands, voting closes at midday Monday 24 October.

Terry Luddington

BFBB Liaison Officer

Mobile: 07803 147101

Email: terry@bfbb.co.uk

Twitter: @tlmad4bb

Facebook: Terry Luddington

BFBB Website: www.bfbb.co.uk 

Making A Difference Website: www.mad4bb.com

Friary Guildford Band with ex-champion racehorse Monsignor

As the official supplier of bands for the 2011 QIPCO British Champions Series Race Day held at Ascot on 15 October, Mode for… was delighted to host Friary Guildford Band as it’s band in residence for the day’s event.

The band’s excellent 10-piece entertained crowds all day from the prime location of Ascot’s impressive Victorian Bandstand, playing a variety of music to accompany the most prestigious and lucrative racing event ever held in the British Flat Racing Calendar.

Mode for, which is co-owned and directed by Tabby Clegg and Simon Kerwin, is constantly developing with an ambition to get more brass music performed and listened to, via its own publishing house and as the supplier of brass musicians, ensembles and bands to a wide variety of private, public, corporate and sporting events.

Having recently supplied its own Ottoni Brass to perform the pre-match anthems at Old Trafford for the 2011 Engage Super League Final, the rest of October and November will be dedicated to being the official supplier of bands for the Gillette Rugby League 4 Nations, where Mode for is giving the opportunity to several bands to perform at prestigious venues and sporting occasions.

Commenting on the contribution from Friary Guildford, co-Director of Mode for, Tabby Clegg said: “I was thoroughly impressed and delighted with the level of performance and professionalism offered by the Friary Guildford Band and I am thrilled that the band will be our band to lead the pre-match anthems at Wembley Stadium in November for the Gillette 4 Nations. Mode for is committed to raising the profile of brass bands and brass music and Friary Guildford did that with great aplomb to the crowds at Ascot. I have to particularly and personally thank the band’s secretary Lauren Cave, who has shown such an impressive level of co-operation and efficiency that every band secretary could learn from.”

During the Bands recent annual concert scaba Secretary Ian Carter gave a brief presentation about scaba and its activities and explained how the scaba Community Band of the Year award had been brought about in 2010 through the generous sponsorship of Enigma Air Conditioning who have provided an annual award of a trophy and a prize fund of £500 for the purchase of brass band music.

Eleven scaba member bands had submitted applications for the inaugural award and these had been adjudicated by a panel of judges drawn from the National Association of Brass Band Conductors (NABBC) at their Annual Convention in Whitburn at the beginning of April this year.  The decision of the judges was to award the prize to the Wantage Silver Band and this was announced at the scaba Spring Contest.

scaba was delighted to have been invited to this annual concert of the Wantage Silver Band in order to present the trophy and invited Malcolm Thomson, Managing Director of Enigma Air Conditioning, to make the presentation to  Wantage Silver Band’s Chairman, Eleanor Turner (see photo).

Wantage Silver Band is a large independent brass band organisation.  It promotes brass playing, undertaking concerts, ceremonials, fetes and many other types of engagement.  It also teaches brass and percussion playing to beginners of all ages, providing social as well as musical activities for players of every standard.  In the year from April 2010 to March 2011 the Band played at over 130 engagements. 

The award, sponsored by Enigma Air Conditioning, will provide much-needed funds towards the purchase of new music for all sections of the Band.  In this way both the Band and its audiences will directly benefit from the Brass in the Community Award.

The annual concert featured the six bands from the Wantage Silver Band organisation, ranging from beginners to championship standard and a particular highlight was the massed-band item involving over 100 players – playing an aptly named piece ‘Wall of Sound’ obtained using the Award!

Wantage Silver thanked both scaba and Enigma for their recognition of their organisation and its ethos.

Having been without an MD for a while due to the retirement through ill health of Chris Atkins, the Band was pleasantly surprised when Rodney, who has lived in Whitstable for over 23 years, dropped into a practice evening which subsequently led to discussions over the vacancy.  After a couple of rehearsal sessions and public performances it was agreed that Rodney take over as MD with immediate effect.

He is a very experienced military musician having joined the Royal Marines Band Service in 1956 at the age of 14 and retiring 30 years later as the Corps Bandmaster, senior Warrant Officer Royal Marines Band. 

Rodney was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for 27 years excellent service. 

After a spell as Bandmaster of the Metropolitan Police Band, he then opted to look for employment closer to home, and joined the Kent Association of Local Councils as Parish Councils Adviser..

This work left him little time for hobbies or other interests but now having recently fully retired, he is keen to enjoy making music with a group of musicians who show an obvious enthusiasm, and real potential, and hopes that it won’t be long before Whitstable Brass has a much wider reputation.  

This ambition might be better achieved through the recruitment of a few more players, and the Band would welcome any approach from brass players looking to take part in a very interesting and enjoyable musical activity.

Anyone interested should contact the secretary, Sheila Holness, on 01227 266248 or sheilamholness@yahoo.co.uk

Roy first adjudicated for scaba at the Autumn Contest in October 1981 and then again in October 1985.

In 1989 he returned to award the top prize in the Entertainments ‘B’ section to Genet Group (Chertsey) and the ‘A’ section to Hillingdon.

Roy also led a Workshop in the Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone which was organised by Shepway District Council working in conjunction with scaba.

On all of these occasions Roy was accompanied by Muriel and on so many occasions past members of the NYBB would espy ‘Mrs Newsome’ in the audience and have to go and ‘catch-up’ with her.

Roy gave so much to so many.  He will be a great loss to the banding fraternity and leave a huge void, but we at scaba are blessed with having known and worked with him.

Our thoughts and prayers go to Muriel and the family.