Fulham Brass Band has certainly been staying active during the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown by replacing its rehearsals with online masterclasses given by special guests.

Zoom sessions

In the last two weeks the band has enjoyed 'Zoom' visits by Roger Webster and Sheona White, both giving expert advice on subjects such as practice regimes and conquering psychological barriers.

Two forthcoming session will be given by Peter Graham (Monday 20th April) and Bramwell Tovey (Monday 11th May) giving talks on their major works, 'Harrison's Dream' and 'The Night to Sing' respectively.

20 years have passed since Peter's work was the set-test at the National Championships at the Royal Albert Hall, whilst Bram's work was used at the British Open in 2005.

'Harrison's Dream' was inspired by the search for the nautical answer of measuring longitude, whilst 'The Night to Sing' recalls the 60th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. Bram's presentation will take place three days after the 75th anniversary of that historic day in 1945.

No one knows when we'll be able to meet as a band again and after the understandable decision to cancel the Area contest we wanted to try and keep momentum and use the downtime to grow as a groupJohn Ward

Keep momentum

Fulham MD John Ward told 4BR: "No one knows when we'll be able to meet as a band again and after the understandable decision to cancel the Area contest we wanted to try and keep momentum and use the downtime to grow as a group."

He added: "Sheona and Roger were both fantastic and we'll learn so much from our new friends in the next month or so."

Other Zoom guests in the coming weeks include Zana O'Connell of The Hot Room (Leeds) leading the band in a yoga session, and session trombonist, Carol Jarvis sharing her professional playing experience.

Image: Ian Clowes