Charity Gala Concert for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital

West Mercia Police Band, Tredegar Band & various ensembles
Conductor: Steve Pritchard-Jones
Symphony Hall
Birmingham
22nd October

Sunday 22nd October saw the West Mercia Police Band, Tredegar Band area and representatives from 9 different bands from within the WMBBA get together with members of  9 Choirs from within the Midlands and South Wales Area to raise money for the new Burns Centre at the Birmingham Children's Hospital, at the Birmingham Symphony hall.

Bands represented, in addition to West Mercia Constabulary and Tredegar were Alcester Victoria, Avonbank, Black Country Brass, Cleobury Mortimer Concert, Cubbington Silver, Langley, Phoenix (West Midlands), Wellington(Telford) and West Midlands Fellowship Band. Choirs were Abertillery, Beaufort, Cwm and Ebbw Vale from Blaenau Gwent, and Canoldir, Gentlemen Songsters, Shelfield, Warley and the City of Birmingham Young Voices from the Midlands.

The night's entertainment was compered by the Director of Marketing, Communications and Fundraising for the Hospital, Peter Tomlinson who some of you may know from TISWAS and SAGA radio and conducted by the Musical Director of West Mercia, Steve Pritchard - Jones.

The evening started with a minute silence in memory of the victims of the Aberfan disaster which happened 40 years ago almost to the day.

The concert opened with both the English and Welsh National Anthems. The new Burns Centre will not only cover the Midlands area but also the South West and South Wales.  The combined bands of  West Mercia and Tredegar  then accompanied the 400 strong choir in the Soldiers Chorus from Faust.

The first item by the 110 strong Massed Band was Richard Strauss's Fest Musik Der Stadt Wien which was followed by a selection of marches in Sousa on Parade. The massed choirs then took a turn with 2 items immaculately accompanied by Alison Stevens on piano, the first was Joseph Kosma's Autumn Leaves and then the ever popular Rhythm of Life.

The excellent City of Birmingham Young Voices appeared next with 3 wonderful pieces. The first was a traditional Macedonian song called Shoto mi e Milo, followed by the Shoshone Love Song, and finishing with an original song by Debbie Wiseman called No Wars Will Stop Us Singing.

The First half was brought to a close with 2 Massed Band pieces. Disney Fantasy and Saint Saens French Military March and 3 band and choir numbers Llanfair, Speed Your Journey and Finlandia.

The Second half started solely with the Tredegar Band taking to the stage to play a well polished performance of Excerpts from "The Little Russian" Overture.  The rest of the Massed Band and Choirs then joined them to play the second half of the evening's performance, starting with the hymn Cwm Rhondda (band and Choir) followed by the Light Cavalry Overture and Brazil (Massed Band).  The bands then had a well earned rest and enjoyed the City of Birmingham Young Voices singing Castle on a Cloud and Do You Hear the People Sing? and the massed male voice choir singing Myfanwy and Bring Him Home . 

The massed band then struck up the jaunty Army of the Nile followed by the breathtaking Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral and finished the set by playing the combined band/choir pieces Comrades in Arms and Morte Christe.

The Evening finished with the audience getting the chance to join in with the Massed Band and Choirs with a rousing rendition of Jerusalem.

An immense amount of work went in to arranging the event and a big thank you should go firstly to the Secretary of the West Mercia Police Band, Dai Francis, for all his work getting all the players and singers together and the associated logistics such an event entails, not only on the night but for the last 6 months in the run up to the concert. Also a big well done goes to Steve Pritchard – Jones for all his work rehearsing the players and choirs, the smooth running and musical success of the concert is testament to his conducting skills.

Other thanks go to Eddie Barry, Chairman of West Mercia for his work behind the scenes helping Dai with the organising of the event. The players and Singers from the bands and Choirs, for their hard work, in preparing for the event, to the Friends of the band who helped on the night at the front of house selling programmes etc, and most importantly the many members of the audience for supporting the event

Hopefully we have raised a large amount of money for the appeal and, who knows, maybe we will repeat the event in the future

Martin Musto

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