National Childrens Band of Great Britain

Wardle Junior and Healey, Smithy Bridge & St James Primary School Bands
Soloist: David Childs
Conductors: Dr Nicholas Childs, Paul Lovatt-Cooper, Lee Rigg, Gwen Diggle
2008 Great Northern Brass Arts Festival
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
Saturday 6th

If you're looking for a sure way to get bums on seats then engaging youngsters to perform in public is the ultimate solution, and for an hour or so the good folk in  the Bridgewater Hall got to hear some of the best young talent around in the form of the National Childrens Band of Great Britain.

Since its inception in 2004 the NCBBGB has gone from strength to strength, and their annual course down in Bromsgrove is one that all the tutors and house staff enjoy, not too mention those who play in the band where their in house concert's give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they've achieved during that week.

First time away

For the first time however they got the opportunity to perform in public away from Bromsgrove, and they loved every minute of it. In the process they also won the total admiration of those who hadn't heard them before.

The repertoire chosen was a mixture from the past two year's courses. All of the ensemble pieces came from earlier in the summer, whilst guest soloist, David Childs, a tutor on last year's course, opted for the solo items he'd performed with the band too.

Mini -me

The early morning rehearsal certainly paid dividends (and it will have been a very early morning for some as they travelled from various parts of the UK) with the band getting into gear straight away with march, ‘Liberty Bell’ complete with Jack Fisher, a key member of the percussion section as a ‘mini-me’ bell ringer.

Holst's ‘Second Suite in F’ was the band's most substantial contribution, with some excellent ensemble work and balance of sound contributing to the liveliness of the performance. Despite the odd moment, the piece emerged very melodious in the lyrical parts with touches of real vibrancy in the agitated sections.

Lyrical artistry

David Childs simply enjoyed himself in his two contrasting solo's. The enchanting ‘Carrickfergus’, where he demonstrated his wonderful sense of lyrical artistry was matched by the quite stunning pyrotechnics of the comical ‘Hot Canary’.

Of key importance on the NCBBGB courses is to get the participants to sing, and this year was no different. The role of choirmaster and arranger is placed by Dr Childs in the very capable hands of Paul Lovatt-Cooper, whose energy and enthusiasm for what can be a daunting ask, transmits to the players and the audience.

Not atrocious

The chosen choral item this year was ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, where the sound of it was on this occasion nowhere near atrocious, despite some mumbling help from certain members of the audience.

Course tutors Michelle Ibbetson, John Doyle, David Childs, Matthew Routley and Brett Baker also got the opportunity to cut loose for a few bars, and the whole thing went down a storm with the audience. The same could also be said of the bands final item too, Paul’s ‘Solar Eclipse’ written originally for Colin Duxbury and Stockport Schools Band in 2000.

Before you knew it that was it though, no encores unfortunately, but around 50 children exhausted by their excursions on stage. It probably won't be the last you'll see of the NCBBGB at the Great Northern.

Mammoth operation

After a short interlude, the combined forces of Wardle Junior Band, Healey, Smithy Bridge and St James Primary School took to the stage.

With 89 of them, it was a mammoth operation setting up the stage and making sure that everybody was in the right seat, but despite the odd glitch it was all done in admirable fashion as the children (some knee high to a timpani) thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Conducted by Lee Rigg and Gwen Diggle, their programme was light and played with boundless enthusiasm to the delight of their parents, aunties and uncles.

This spot by the youngsters has worked very well in recent years at the end of the 2.15pm concert, but you can't help wondering whether the time has come to look further afield and engage other school bands too.

Still it rounded off a bright and breezy contribution from a host of talented young performers, ably led by their tutors and conductors.

Malcolm Wood

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