Members of the Forest of Dean Area Bands are celebrating this week after learning that two of the three ensembles that represented Gloucestershire Music at the Regional Festival in Cwmbran have been invited to perform at the National Festival of Music for Youth 2008 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in July.

Junior Wind Band

Up first will be the Forest of Dean Area Junior Wind Band who will participate in the Infants and Junior's day on Monday 7th July.

The members of this dynamic young band, who are all under 14, played Chris North's 'Medieval Suite' to a very high standard at the Regional Festival and are looking forward to performing it again on Symphony Hall's magnificent stage.

The band is delighted to have been selected as 1 of only 9 brass bands in the whole of the UK to participate in the music centre category at the Brass Band Festival which will take place on Thursday 10th July4BR

Area Youth Band

Also representing Gloucestershire Music will be the Forest of Dean Area Youth Brass Band, directed by Kristyann Symonds.

The band is delighted to have been selected as 1 of only 9 brass bands in the whole of the UK to participate in the music centre category at the Brass Band Festival which will take place on Thursday 10th July.

FODAYBB was created in September 2007 to help pave the way for the Forest of Dean Area Wind Band's brass section and other young brass players in the area into the Gloucestershire Youth Brass Band, the Gloucestershire Youth Training Brass Band and local brass bands.

Stunning debut

The band's stunning debut at the regional festival certainly caught the adjudicator's eyes and ears and even had them clapping their hands along with the rest of the audience to Alan Fernie's 'African Funk'.

Unlucky

GM's third ensemble at this year's regional event, the Forest of Dean's flagship band (Forest of Dean Area Wind Band) also played extremely well and were desperately unlucky to have missed out this time round as the standard of Wind Bands at the Regional Festival was so extra-ordinarily high. Maybe next year...