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Band Profile:
East Yorkshire Motor Services Band
Senior Cup Winners 2002
Formed in 1989, the East Yorkshire Motor Services Band have had
a remarkable climb through the sections until they achieved Championship
Section status in 1996. Not content with this, they went on to claim
a hat trick of North of England Regional titles, and several respectable
placings at major contests. A small lapse saw them fail to qualify
for the National Finals in 2000, but they were back in 2001 and
saw a very deserved 14th place. 2002 saw them qualify for the Royal
Albert Hall for the 6th time (in 7 attempts) with a very good performance
of Whitsun Wakes to finish runners-up to Ever Ready by the smallest
of margins. With these results under their belts, The East Yorkshire
Motor Services bandwagon rolled in Blackpool to tackle Frank Wrights
masterful arrangement of Carnival Romain in the Senior Cup.
Despite an early No.5 draw (I wonder who was responsible for that
Linda?) they gave a tremendous performance of the test piece. A
bold opening from Cornets, and some superbly executed trills from
the Flugel and Horns (pre contest reports about valve problems proving
unfounded) lead in to the famous Euphonium solo. This was excellently
played by Melanie Pattison, and, in a skilfully crafted interpretation
by Gareth Pritchard, the various sections of the band played their
parts in a way that left adjudicators Dr Roy Newsome and Malcolm
Brownbill in no doubt as to the quality of the performance.
15 bands and some 4½ hours later, they were still unanimous, and
the title went to Hull.
This time last year, the band suffered a very poor result in the
Grand Shield and were demoted. Instead of idling away their time
dwelling on Epic Symphony and what might have been, they have shown
true Yorkshire grit and tenacity, strengthening the band to show
that they are now very much a force to be reckoned with once again.
After the contest the band were in celebratory mood, however, the
impending Black Dyke concert meant that the Winter Gardens, and
more importantly the Galleon Bar had to be cleared. This resulted
in many of their band and myself wandering back to our hotels rather
earlier than we may have liked. I quickly discovered that I was
staying only 4 doors away from the East Yorkshire Motor Services
Band hotel. The prospect of a party, free beer (it never materialised),
a curry and the promise of a pizza in the South Kensington branch
of a well known Italian food emporium come October was too much
for me and I found myself in the bar of their hotel amid the celebrations.
Firstly, can I say that the Band are a thoroughly nice group of
people, a mix of youth and experience, and enhanced by the looks
of 9 members of the fairer sex.
After extracting a pint out of Soprano player Pete Wilson (there's
a first!), I set about about the task of finding out what makes
this band tick.
Some of the band are known quantities to me. Solo Trombone Mark
Unsworth, (he played with Ever Ready in the early nineties and was
my roommate for 4 years before he returned to Hull), has lost none
of his razor sharp wit that he was renowned for. Indeed, it appears
that the Joker, and an amazing penchant for loud snoring are also
still very much in evidence from Mark.
Mark, (ably assisted by Band Chairman Tony Newiss), took it upon
themselves to introduce (or was that insult) the various members
of the band to me.
Despite the banter that ultimately goes with this sort of thing
(especially considering my band has stopped them achieving a 4th
area title on 3 occasions) and a drummer that actually insisted
on being called a drummer (another turnup for the books), they welcomed
the opportunity of some good PR that this article will hopefully
produce.
The Band's sponsors were also obviously delighted with the victory,
and all eyes will be on them in 2003 when the compete in the Grand
Shield once more.
Further evidence of the bands continued improvement, was strengthened
by a last minute invitation to the 2002 All England Masters Contest
at Cambridge. Sadly, due to holidays and work difficulties, not
to mention the short timescale, the Band was forced to decline the
invitation but hope to be invited in 2003.
Finally, the band paid tribute to the excellent contribution that
Gareth Pritchard has made to the Band since his appointment as Musical
Director earlier this year.
Band Personnel:
Musical Director: Gareth Pritchard
Soprano Cornet: Pete Wilson
Principal Cornet: Craig Gaskell
Assistant Principal Cornet: Tony Newiss
Solo Cornets: Kathy Newiss, Julia Mathews
Repiano Cornet: Kirsty Fox
2nd Cornets: Stewart Kennedy, Pete Gallagher
3rd Cornets: Danny Hatton, Simon Blow
Flugelhorn: Jo Peacham
Solo Horn: Garry Oglesby
1st Horn: Sally Mansell
2nd Horn: Emily Nichol
1st Baritone: Steve Ornsby
2nd Baritone: Paul Donaghue
Solo Euphonium: Melanie Pattison
2nd Euphonium: Liz Grosvenor
Solo Trombone: Mark Unsworth
2nd Trombone: Rosie Nichol
Bass Trombone: Nick Garside
Eb Basses: Dave Fox, John Mathews
BBb Basses: Tim Atkinson, Tim Priestly
Percussion: Dean Addinell, Kris Wright, Martin King
Secretary: Maurice Metcalfe
Treasurer: Linda Addinell
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