Cory Band completed their innovative Arts Council Wales collaboration with the pupils of Rhymney Comprehensive School with a wonderful concert packed to the rafters with proud family members and parents.

Visits

For three months, players from the world's number 1 ranked band made weekly visits to the school based in the south Wales valley town to teach pupils in Year 7 and Year 8 the basics of brass and percussion playing, as well as how to compose music.

Glyn Williams, Steve Jones and Composer in Residence Chris Bond also enjoyed going back to school for a project that hopes to kick-start a long term legacy of music making within the community.

There was plenty of fun as well as serious work on the Cory curriculum, as over 100 students enjoyed p-buzz lessons, percussion classes and composition tasks, with Glyn telling 4BR: "It was a real eye-opener, both for the students and us in providing a first contact with brass band music making. We enjoyed plenty of great sessions together."

Brilliant

Head of Music at Rhymney Comprehensive School Michelle Diamond certainly found the input valuable for her pupils, as she added: "The weekly sessions were brilliant — expertly delivered with plenty of fun and interest.

The majority of students would never usually have the opportunity to participate on a practical level in this sort of music making. Now the project has finished we will really miss the visits, but we have plenty to build on."

At the outset the students attended a Cory rehearsal for a 'musical taster' session and to come up with ideas that linked brass band music to their town's proud industrial past.

Landscape art

It all culminated in the splendid concert, supported by pupils from the art department who provided landscape-inspired pictures and a quartet of students who were the polished narrators for the evening.

The student percussionists certainly ensured 'Men of Harlech' was heard almost as far as north Wales, whilst the new composition by Christopher Bond especially for this project entitled 'Fanfare Rocks Rhymney' certainly lived up to its name!

He told 4BR: "Every pupil involved got something out of the project. It was particularly refreshing to team the band up with the school brass ensemble for the final performance, who I know were inspired from start to finish!"

It really goes to show allowing students the chance to experience music making in this way is of huge benefit to everyone and especially to their communityPhilip Harper

Fantastic project

Cory completed the evening with their own rendition of 'The World's Greatest Storyteller', with Philip Harper telling 4BR that this was the type of innovative scheme that now forms part of Cory's long term aims at increasing awareness as well as participation in brass banding throughout Wales.

"This has been a fantastic project from start to finish. We are passionate about our music, and so were the pupils. It really goes to show allowing students the chance to experience music making in this way is of huge benefit to everyone and especially to their community.

They showed huge courage to get involved and the end result was a great credit to them and their school."