The last brass band concert to be held at the Adrian Boult Hall at Birmingham Conservatoire takes place this week.
With its new location due to be opened in 2017, a final series of high-profile concert events are currently taking place, with 'Reflections in Brass and Boult' seeing the Conservatoire Brass Band and Symphonic Brass joined by current Welsh Champion and Band in Residence, Tredegar, for an eclectic programme of repertoire.
World premiere
The concert on Wednesday evening (22nd June at 7.30pm) will also include the world premiere of a new arrangement of a short work by the celebrated organist and composer William Lloyd Webber — father of Birmingham Conservatoire Principal, Julian Lloyd Webber.
'Festal March' comes from his 'Aria' of thirteen pieces for organ, and has been arranged by Ceri John, whose talents will also be heard in his sparkling arrangement of 'Gypsy Dance' by Dargonyzhsky, which was used by Tredegar in winning the recent televised Band Cymru title.
Ball, Britten, Holst
Also being performed under the twin batons of Chris Houlding and Ian Porthouse will be works by Shostakovich, Holst and Britten as well as Eric Ball, Arthur Bliss, Pat Metheny, Arturo Sandoval and Philip Wilby.
Featured soloists will include Tredegar's award winning principal cornet Dewi Griffiths and the Conservatoire's rising euphonium star Tzu-Hsaing Lin.
Contribution
The Conservatoire's Head of Brass, Chris Houlding told 4BR: "The concert will be a wonderful way to mark the contribution of brass to the history of this fine hall. The works reflect the diverse nature of brass repertoire — from the boldness of Shostakovich to the elegance of Britten with wonderful musical detours from 'The Planets' to 'Kenilworth' in-between.
It also reflects the Conservatoire's renowned reputation for extending boundaries, so works by Pat Metheny and Philip Wilby fit perfectly into the evening.
Given that we will soon enjoy a brand new state of the art complex in the heart of the city for further events such as this, Eric Ball's 'Resurgam' was also a perfect inclusion."
Honoured
Director of Brass Band Studies, Ian Porthouse added: "We enjoyed a great joint rehearsal on Monday evening in Tredegar and both ensembles and band are looking forward to the event.
We are also honoured to be able to give the world premiere of a work by William Lloyd Webber that could provide the key to opening the door to a wonderful new avenue of compositions for brass bands."
We are also honoured to be able to give the world premiere of a work by William Lloyd Webber that could provide the key to opening the door to a wonderful new avenue of compositions for brass bandsIan Porthouse
Time, place and information
Reflection in Brass and Boult takes place at the Adrian Boult Hall on Wednesday 22nd June at 7.30pm
For more information and tickets go to:
