Warringah Concert Brass with Special Guest - David King
17-Aug-200816 August, 2008
Musical Director: John Saunders
Guest Soloist and Conductor: David King
Chatswood Salvation Army
The Warringah Concert Brass conducted by John Saunders played to a near capacity audience at the Chatswood Salvation Army.
The audience was treated to a precise and well balanced portrayal of James Curnow's Fanfare and Flourishes. The band embarked a rendition of the first piece that was commissioned as a purely brass band composition for a major competition – Labour and Love composed by Percy Fletcher. The band featured great work by the tenor horn, Euphonium, Trombone and Cornet soloists as well as very dramatic and tender moments throughout the piece. The basses in some of the quieter sections were very precise and tuneful really adding full tone colour to the band sound.
Now for what the crowd was waiting for – David King taking up the cornet, for the first time as soloist in Sydney in 30 years. David gave us all an unforgettable rendition of the cornet solo classic, The Paragon composed by E. Sutton. With sympathetic band accompaniment, there were such warm and delicately played sections by David which was an absolute delight to listen to. The technical demands, and in particular the triple tonguing and interval work was so precise – the playing standard is world class.
The band then settled in to perform a quiet piece, Reflections in Nature composed by Robert Redhead. While the beginning was a bit tentative and not quite together, the band settled quickly with the bass end laying an awesome quality of sound, providing the rest of the band a great platform the blend into. The last section began to build from very subtle and sensitive percussion playing and warm bass sounds, through to the tutti section which was well balanced and great blending of tone colours and climax to a big full band sound finish.
We all then treated to another solo from David, Over the Rainbow arranged by Ray Farr. Again David showed us such a warm sound filled with much emotion. The band balance was steady with great vertical sounds from the band, however at times a little loud, however the ensemble did show very sensitive and controlled playing.
The band got serious – they gave the audience a by the skin of your teeth performance of the major work it will be performing as its Own Choice in a few weeks time. It was very dramatic and the Euphonium soloist was absolutely awesome in his sections, with the basses again providing amazing colour and texture to the band sound and performance. Well done band. With 3 weeks to the NSW States, the band will be ready and will make an impression with this piece.
With a well earned interval for David King and Band, the Warringah Youth Band under the baton of David King took the stage and we were treated to a very moving rendition of Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus, arranged by Patrick Rivers. The tone colours, balance and maturity of playing and sound quality of this young ensemble was truly amazing. David really worked the young musicians well to give them some self belief by giving them a taste of their unlimited potential.
John Saunders came back to the stage where the band then gave us a very spirited, well balanced, confident and exciting rendition of the piece, Oregan by Jacob de Haan – this young ensemble is firing and is well prepared to take out the NSW Junior B Grade title.
WCB, retook the stage and entertained with a rendition of Cartoon Music by Peter Graham. It was fun stuff where the band seemed to enjoy the shenanigans of the percussion section and the 2nd Euphonium player who killed the nightingale!
David King - the cornet player
David came back on one last time to give a most memorable performance of Concerto for Trumpet, composed by Harry James (arr. Elgar Howarth). The piece was in big band style and David showed such subtle tone and brash panache which astounded the audience with the incredible technique, sound and style of playing throughout this performance.
The band showed the warm sounds and soft dynamics its capable of with a moving rendition of A Little Prayer composed by Evelyn Glennie (arranged by R. Childs). This performance was reflective and peaceful, where the bass sounds were subliminal – a truly gorgeous piece.
And to finish off the program, David King took the Warringah Band through its paces which a rendition of Shine as the Light composed by Peter Graham. The sounds coming from the band are truly special and at times the sound and technical playing absolutely amazing.
I truly enjoyed the performance by the Warringah Bands tonight. David King as guest soloist and guest musical director was absolutely world class and is a very rare and special person that gives and motivates like I've never seen. This was a very special night.
This outing for the band was a great preparation for NSW State Championships coming up on the 6th and 7th September 2008 – A Grade competitors – watch out!
Stephen Kiraly
