Pembs Brass Fest 09

Conductor: Nigel Seaman
Guest Soloist: Dave Danford
Stackpole
Pembroke
Saturday 5th April

Just as the doom and gloom of inherent difficulties in attracting young people into music making-" a la brass and percussion" is becoming a sharply increasing crescendo, a new initiative to help stem this tide of woe was successfully launched at Stackpole, Pembrokeshire, on Palm Sunday, 5 April.

Brain Child

Cheerfully branded as - PEMBS BRASS FEST '09, this inaugural event is the brainchild of  five of the rapidly rising stars of contemporary brass and percussion playing in Wales, each of whom were former well established section leaders in the National Youth Brass Band of Wales.  

Four of the five are recent Graduates of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff; the fifth being in his third year of study at this seat of learning. 

This initiative was designed to bring together, young (and some not so young) players from the Pembrokeshire area of South West Wales for an intensive week-end of study at a higher level than they normally experience with their community bands.  

Laudable aim

A highly laudable aim that was well and truly achieved by the thirty seven players who took the stage for the end-of-course concert at the compact theatre that is the central feature of the National Trust's Stackpole Centre, near Pembroke on Sunday evening 5 April 2009.

Having assembled on Friday evening 3 April, the focus was to stimulate, challenge and of course, ensure that all enjoyed this new experience.  This was certainly achieved by the inaugural Course Director - the vastly experienced and knowledgeable Nigel Seaman who selected a programme that wisely featured each section of the band as the concert progressed.   

Recently discovered

The opening item, The Roadster, was a march by T.J.Powell that has only recently been discovered.  Many of the audience tapped their feet, responding to the strong rhythmic pulse of the performance. An encouraging start to the concert.

Features for the horns, cornets and trombones followed in quick succession - Hey Jude (arr. D. Broadbent); Buglers Holiday (Leroy Anderson) and I will Follow Him (Stole/Roma).  Each of these showed that the players' awareness of balance and phrasing had been much improved during sectional and full band rehearsals. 

Spirited approach

The first half of the programme ended with a spirited approach to Philip Sparke's Madrigalum.  The percussion section were secure from the outset, and although there was some uneasy moments of tuning and balance - Nigel Seaman's clear direction ensured that the music was also well shaped and brought to a controlled conclusion.

With the audience eager to enjoy the second part of the concert, the band opened with Fanfare and Flourishes (James Curnow). Despite the inexperience of the players, they met the challenge of this deceptively difficult music head-on and achieved a creditable performance.  

Well received

Deep Inside the Sacred Temple (Bizet arr. Wilkinson), featured the euphoniums and was well received by the audience, as was Rock Music 3 (Goff Richards), the band obviously enjoying it’s rhythmic energy and relaying their enjoyment to the audience.  

Bernaert's arrangement of the Toccata from Suite Gothique (Boellmann) allowed the basses to display their sonority before the concert ended exuberantly with the obligatory encore that, for this end of course concert, was Don't Stop Me Now (Freddie Mercury).

Guest soloist

The Guest Soloist for this inaugural event was the rapidly emerging percussion soloist - David Danford. Fresh from the experiences offered by West Glamorgan Music Service, he led the percussion sections of several of the UK's major youth ensembles, gaining recognition following competitive selection.

David was the first percussionist to win the internal annual concerto competition whilst studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama - certainly a significant award to aid his developing solo career!

Accompanied by the band, David played a controlled performance of his arrangement for Marimba of Rossini's La Danza.  He followed this with a scintillating exhibition of “sticks, skins, rims and accessories" entitled A Minute of News.  As with all talented soloists, he kept his best for his final appearance. 

Fully exploited

The mellifluous sonorities of the marimba were fully exploited by him in the emotive Katamiya by Sejourne, where his phrasing and control were an object lesson to all who shared the stage with him.

As one of the group of five, David can be well pleased with the success of this inaugural venture. The bulk of the organization for which had been carried by the "far-sighted four" namely:-
 
Robin Hackett - trombone;
Simon Howell - tuba;
Matthew Jenkins - euphonium;
Gareth Ritter - euphonium and conductor.

Enthusiasm

Their enthusiasm to encourage and improve the playing ability of those living in this rather remote area is timely and most welcome, especially when it is obvious that their recent experience both as students and following graduation has been at true Championship level, mainly with the Cory Band.

The success of the inaugural Pembrokeshire Brass Fest was obvious to all, even to the inspired choice of Nigel Seaman to direct the Course and to present the concert to the audience in such a relaxed and affable style. A task well started - please keep it alive!

C. Brian Buckley

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