International Brass Band Summer School

Conductors: Dr Robert Childs & Dr Nicholas Childs
Brangwyn Hall
Swansea
Friday, 8th August

After a highly enjoyable week of intensive playing, rehearsal and practice (and plenty of fun and games) the 230 or so delegates of the IBBSS rounded off their 18th course with a rousing old concert in the city’s splendid concert hall. 

Healthy crowd

On occasions such as this there is of course the possibility that the performers outnumber the actual audience. However, the course directors had made sure that they had done the rounds of the local radio stations, newspapers and banding media, so a very healthy crowd of over 400 people were sat in their seats by the stroke of 7.30pm to hear the first item from the York branded ‘Eminence’ Band.

Directed by the Black Dyke MD, they opened with Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s ‘Walking with Heroes’ delivered with plenty of youthful vigour and brio, before settling into an accomplished performance of Peter Graham’s pastiche portrait of four ‘cool’ members of the New York music scene in ‘Cats Tales’.

Eminence

With such disparity in ages and standards, the ‘Eminence’ Band is the junior ensemble of the course, and even though they were helped by some of the course tutors there was plenty of committed playing on show from all sections of the band – especially the percussionists, who were razor sharp throughout.

With the band fully warmed up the cornet section was featured in the Harry James classic ‘Trumpet Blues’, before their individual contribution to the night was rounded off with a well delivered performance of ‘Music for a Festival’ by Philip Sparke.

Logistics

The logistics of moving over 100 young players from the floor of the Brangwyn Hall to the back of the stage and replacing them with a new batch of eager crowd pleasers in the form of the ‘Preference’ Band only took a few minutes, during which time Robert and Nicholas Childs took the opportunity of telling the audience a little bit more about what the delegates had been up to all week.

With over 12 countries represented on the course it was a bit like the Swansea version of a mini musical Olympics, with the numbers swelled this year by the inclusion of the players from the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music, directed by Professor Takeo Yamamoto, who delivered a quite stunning concert on the Wednesday night on the University campus and who were to also play at Llandaff Cathedral on the Saturday night.

Impressive

During the week the delegates had the opportunity to work with the impressive line up of tutors such as Ian Porthouse and Richard Marshall, David Childs, Owen Farr, Joe Cook, Angelo Bearpark, Alun Horgan and David Thornton.

Those with compositional aspirations also had the unique opportunity to work with Professor Philip Wilby too, learning the dark arts of brass band composition, whilst a regular highlight of each day was a series of mini recitals given by the tutors and members of both bands at mealtimes and in the evening. 

Preference

Back to the concert however and with a keen sense of friendly rivalry (even the Mexican waves were choreographed with almost Chinese Olympic precision) the ‘Preference’ Band under Robert Childs opened with Peter Graham’s appropriately entitled ‘Summon the Dragon’.

Brett Baker had thoroughly enjoyed himself all week with his work with the trombones, and he repaid the compliment with a loquacious rendition of ‘DL Blues’ – complete with newly purchased plunger.

With the cornet section already featured in the ‘Eminence’ Band it was the turn of the euphoniums of ‘Preference’ to showcase their abilities with ‘How Great Thou Art’ before the senior ensemble rounded off their individual slot with a old whip through PLC’s ‘Vitae Aeternum’, which was delivered with real vibrancy.

Massed bands

That just left the inevitable massed bands items and another samll interlude as all 230 or so players were crammed into their seats.

Nicholas Childs dipped his toes into the nostalgic waters of his old Tredegar Junior Band days with the great old concert march ‘Bandology’, before the massed ranks admirably reigned in their enthusiasm with a neat run through Mozart’s ‘Barber of Seville’.

It was then Richard Marshall’s turn to wow with an old snorter of a trumpet performance of ‘People’, before a nicely balanced riposte from the massed bands in ‘The Day Thou Gavest’.

Finale

That just left the finale – and a real roof raiser it was too with Robert Child’s new arrangement of ‘March Slav’ complete with all the percussion parts too to compliment the massed ranks of musical Russians as they marched to war. The roof of the Brangwyn Hall certainly creaked a few times when the band was giving it their all! 

Encore

With the applause of the standing ovation still ringing in their ears there was a lovely touch to round the night off when Porfessor Yamamoto was asked to conduct ’76 Trombones’, which he did with a delightful delicacy of baton work and wry smile of joy.

All this and the concert was free too!

The IBBSS lays claim to being the biggest, and now the best, of its type in the banding world – and on the evidence of a fantastic week in Swansea it was hard to disagree. Next year they may have to book the local Swansea City Football Stadium to meet demand.

Iwan Fox

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