There was standing room only for what proved to be a wonderful concert in celebration of the life of Graham MacPhee, a former player and conductor of the Poulton-le-Fylde Band, and the founder of its youth band.

Inspirational musician

His outstanding contribution to the organisation was marked by family, friends alongside the local community in both musical and spoken tributes, with principal cornet player Neil Jones opening the concert with a beautifully written speech describing a truly ‘inspirational musician’.
 
Recently appointed MD Dave Collins was very comfortable in his role as precise conductor and highly entertaining compere, shaping the entertaining performances with contrasting clarity, energy and musicality, as well as leading a witty film music quiz.   
 
Impressive range

The eclectic programme, inspired mostly by Graham’s favourite music, featured an impressive range of styles: Explosive marches, film music, emotive hymn tunes and solos spotlights transported us around the world, back in time and even touched upon the future of banding, with neatly portrayed style and artistic endeavour.
 
‘A Disney Fantasy’ and ‘American Trilogy’ featured fine solo contributions from Martin Scragg (trombone) and Glenn MacPhee (euphonium) both of whom displayed impressive musicality, whilst Caroline Szandurski (horn) and Neil Jones (cornet) delivered excellent renditions of the contrasting showcases of ‘Demelza’ and ‘Virtuosity’.

Train reference

An arrangement of ‘Ticket to Ride’ was a neat musical reference to Graham’s job working with trains which led as an effective segue into music from the ‘Hunger Games’ film trilogy arranged by Dave Collins. 

The innovative ‘War’ closed the first half in authoritative fashion; the fusion of dance and jazz elements highlighted the versatility of a band with the ability to adapt its playing to suit less predictable repertoire.

Reflection

The final pieces adopted a calmer approach, allowing the audience to reflect upon Graham’s fine life; with the delicate chromaticisms and atonal inflections of Adam Taylor’s ‘St Clement’, beautifully executed by the band, providing an opportunity to quietly reflect. 

Finally, to close a wonderfully emotive evening of music and remembrance, Poulton ended with the bold energy of ‘Music’ by John Miles and the very appropriate setting of ‘I’ll Walk with God’.

Hannah Thornton