Conductor Dr Keith Wilkinson has maintained his active connection with the brass band movement despite recently bringing to a close 30 years of banding day to day banding activities in the USA.

1000 mile trip

He made the 1000 mile round trip to from his home to travel to Chattanooga in Tennessee to work with Jericho Brass on a weekend of rehearsal activity.

It saw Keith work on repertoire that the band is preparing to perform at the Huntsville (Alabama) Brass Band Festival at the end of the month and included two of his all time favourite pieces in 'Variations on Laudate Dominum' by Edward Gregson and Eric Ball's famous 'Star Lake' march.

Ball link

The latter provided Keith the opportunity to talk briefly about his time as a conductor at Star Lake Music Camp and, going back several years, reminiscing about the privilege he enjoyed of performing under Eric Ball's baton as principal euphonium of both the Yorkshire Schools' Brass Band and the National Youth Band of Great Britain.

The weekend also saw Jericho Brass invite members of other local bands to join them, providing the opportunity to work together on pieces such as 'A Malvern Suite' (Philip Sparke) and 'The Dark Side of the Moon' (Paul Lovatt-Cooper), as well as some of Keith's own arrangements of the marches 'Chicago Tribune' (William Paris Chambers) and 'Americans We' (Henry Fillmore).

Wonderful

Speaking about the trip, Keith told 4BR: "It was a wonderful way to spend a weekend with wonderful musicians and friends.

The music making was inclusive and so enjoyable and proved once again that brass banding is very much alive and enjoyed in Tennessee, USA."