Bob Childs, fresh from leading Cory to the Welsh Regional title in Swansea, recently flew to Oslo to play in a concert with the Skui Band.

75th anniversary

The Third Section Norwegian outfit is conducted by one of Bob’s former pupils at the Royal Northern College of Music, Henrik Dalhaug.

With Skui celebrating its 75th anniversary, he wanted to mark the occasion by giving his players the opportunity to hear the man who inspired him as a young euphonium player in Manchester over a decade ago.

Amazement

"I used to sit back in amazement hearing him play," Henrik told 4BR.

"The things he could do with the instrument were incredible. It was such an inspiration, so to be able to conduct him as he played so brilliantly again made the occasion very special."

Lip in shape

Bob took the opportunity to get his lip back into shape and made sure that he was well prepared too.

"I have to thank Owen Farr for letting me try out the solos with his Pontypool Band, before I Ieft. I was quite surprised that my lip was in such good shape, and thoroughly enjoyed myself meeting up with Henrik and performing with the wonderful players at Skui."

I was quite surprised that my lip was in such good shape, and thoroughly enjoyed myself meeting up with Henrik and performing with the wonderful players at SkuiBob Childs

Old favourites

Bob dusted off a few old favourites for his solo appearance, with ‘Varied Mood’, ‘A Little Prayer’, ‘Endearing Young Charms’ and ‘Softly as I Leave You’ being enjoyed by the packed audience in the small local church.

British tour

Henrik now has plans to bring Skui over to the UK in the Summer to try and team up with local bands around his old student area of Manchester.

"We want to come over and enjoy the British banding scene, so if any bands in and around Manchester would like to do a joint concert we would love to join forces with them in June."

As for Bob, he now hopes to keep his lip in for possible future call-ups. "You never know. I really enjoyed playing again, so I think I’ll keep in practice!"

Henrik can be contacted via: henrikjuff@hotmail.com