Ian Porthouse has just returned from an intensive 4 days of contest preparation with Brassband Kunst naar Kracht.

The band are a 1st Division outfit and are working on Peter Graham's, 'Essence of Time'.

15 hours

Ian told 4BR: "The weekend began with a full rehearsal on Friday evening, with sectionals and full band on Saturday and Sunday, a total of around 15 hours over the 3 days!

"The band also has a fine youth band and Sunday morning was a real pleasure working with them."

Pleased

The regular conductor of the band is Erik Janssen who Ian have known for many years, and he also conducts the very successful Brassband Schoonhoven, as well as being director of one of the countries professional Military Bands.

Ian was very pleased with the weekend. "The progress the band made over the weekend was tremendous, the test piece still being a very serious challenge for any 1st division band."

I must point out the winning team included myself, clinching the victory with a fine vocal performance! The fact that it happened to be my birthday made the victory even sweeterIan Porthouse

Karaoke victory

On the Saturday evening a social event was organised with the band being split up into teams and competing in a quiz and Karaoke contest, with Ian's knowledge of the brass band scene coming in handy — although not his Karoake skills may have put the end result in doubt!

"I must point out the winning team included myself, clinching the victory with a fine vocal performance! The fact that it happened to be my birthday made the victory even sweeter!"

Regular visits

Ian thoroughly enjoyed his time working with the band, and the plan is to make more visits on a regular basis and build a more long term relationship between them both.

Trip north

Meanwhile, on the Monday evening, Ian took a trip further north to Brassband Britsum, a 3rd Division band working on Paul Lovatt Cooper's, 'The Dark Side of the Moon'.

Their conductor is Thom Zigterman who is also the editor for nearby music publishers De Haske.

Ian added: "I was made very welcome throughout my stay in Holland and hope the hard work from both bands will pay off at the National Championships later this month."