*
banner

Tredegar Town Band

Conductor: Ian Porthouse
Stroud Subscription Rooms
Sunday 29th March

The Subscription Rooms in the Gloucestershire market town of Stroud continues to be one of the most engaging concert venues in the UK, with its long established brass band series attracting many of the movement’s finest outfits, dawn by the promise of warm welcome and informed audience.

Taste buds

The invited bands invariably tickle the taste buds - providing repertoire that showcases their musical and technical excellence; with Tredegar’s eagerly anticipated return certainly sending home plenty of well satisfied listeners.

Their reputation as innovative concert providers saw Ian Porthouse cleverly mix and match his programme, with reprise items from their 2014 Brass in Concert set such as the bubbling ‘Brassman’s Holiday’ sitting neatly alongside the specially commissioned ‘Colours in Rain’ by Daniel Hall, used at the bands 2014 British Open ‘Eve of Contest’ concert.

Fizzing

It was though a fizzing run through ‘Carnival Romain’ that certainly set the pulses racing of delighted traditionalists - aided by a sublime piece of euphonium oratory by Matthew White in the famous cor anglais solo. 

The impressive quartet of featured soloists were on classy form; Ian Roberts with a delicate ‘La Califfa’ and Danny Winder with a melancholic ‘Eyes of a Child’, contrasting the rampant swagger of Dewi Griffiths on ‘Georgia on My Mind’ and Matthew White displaying the whizz-bang side of his skill set with the breathtaking technique of ‘Cairdeas’.

‘All Night Long’, ‘Bugler’s Holiday’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ were tasty lollipops, whilst the march ‘Call of the Brave’ and the tasteful refinement of ‘Myfanwy’ and ‘Gresford’ were fine examples of stylistic musical substance.

Cruise control

With a keen ear for the compact acoustic and a firm hand on ensemble precision and tempo, it was cruise control playing from start to finish from the Welsh heavyweight, with ‘Glorifico Aeternum’ finally seeing the MD flick the turbo power switch to pin back the ears, and the fun packed choreography of ‘Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus’ to send everyone home with an evangelical skip in their step.

Dave Banwell 

Support us for less than a cup of coffee...

4BR wants to ensure that the brass band movement remains vibrant and relevant. We also want to be able to question, challenge and critically examine those who run and play in it, producing high quality journalism that informs as well as entertains our readers.

So if like us you value a strong, independent perspective on the brass band world - then why not consider becoming a supporter and help make our future and that of a burgeoning brass band movement more secure.

So one less cappuccino then?

Support us    



The Hepworth Band - Hepworth Band New Year Celebration Concert

Sunday 26 January • Christ Church, New Mill, Holmfirth HD97ER


Contest: Norwegian National Brass Band Championships

Friday 7 February • Grieghallen, Bergen, N-5015. N-5015


Contest: Norwegian National Brass Band Championships

Saturday 8 February • Grieghallen, Bergen, N-5015 N-5015


Contest: North West Regional Championships

Sunday 23 February • Winter Gardens Complex, Church Street, Blackpool FY1 1HU


Contest: Yorkshire Regional Championships

Saturday 1 March • Corporation Street, Huddersfield HD1 2TA


Midsomer Norton and Radstock Silver Band

January 11 • The Midsomer Norton and Radstock Silver Brass Band are a friendly 4th Section Band who have recently appointed a new MD and are now looking to fill a few empty seats. In particular we are looking for Cornets, Bb Bass and Percussion.


Crewe Brass

January 11 • Due to relocation after the Northwest Areas Crewe Brass have a vacancy for a FLUGEL player join our highly motivated 4th section band.


Crewe Brass

January 11 • Due to relocation after the Northwest Areas Crewe Brass have a vacancy for a 1ST HORN player join our highly motivated 4th section band.


Lt Col David Barringer MBE

BMus (Hons)
Conductor and adjudicator


               

 © 2025 4barsrest.com Ltd