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The Joseph Rowntree Theatre was once again the venue for the organisation’s sell-out Spring Concert. Brass Roots (conducted by Sally Mansell), Academy Brass (conducted by Richard Wilton), Youth Band (conducted by Craig Brown) and our Concert Band (conducted by Mike Pratt) gave us a scintillating first half of this ever popular event.

Brass Roots opened the show, boasting over 30 members, playing a short classical set as the audience took their seats. At curtain up, our Academy Band took to the stage starting with Rimmer’s ever popular march, Slaidburn, finishing with Stuart Johnson’s test piece, A Circus Suite. Then it was the turn of our award winning Youth Brass Band. The band played a set from their recent contest successes, the highlight surely being Under the Boardwalk, featuring Flugelhorn soloist, Isabel Thompson and rising Tuba star (6 feet 8 inch 17 year old) Sam Flemming. Bringing the first half to its conclusion was the highly entertaining Shepherd Group Concert Band. Mike Pratt was once again in fine form with another high energy set including Tenor Horn soloist, Jenny Mansell, in a stunning performance of The Lark in the Clear Air. The first half was brought to a close with the capacity audience singing along to the classic Abba Gold.

After a well deserved interval it was time for Richard Wilton and the wonderful Shepherd Group Brass Band to take the stage. Resplendent in evening wear, they opened their Strictly Brass themed set with the iconic Strictly Come Dancing TV theme. After a highly choreographed set that saw the band move from tango to paso-doblé and even a cha-cha, bringing the set to a conclusion with Matt Hall’s Nightingale Dances as their finale. Many of our audience members’ highlight though had to be Flugelhorn soloist Paul Stamp’s classy and controlled performance of Bacharach’s Alfie.

The band were then joined on stage by members of all bands and, keeping the dance theme alive, gave an encore of Lord of the Dance, the title dance of the 1996 show of the same name, that even featured a guest appearance by Michael Flatley (Mike Pratt) and Bernadette Flynn (Scott Dawson). This really had to be seen to be believed!

The Shepherd Group Band was very proud to play a part in the wedding of our 1st Horn player Sarah Stones to Rob Hunton over the weekend. Sarah has been a member of the Shepherds Band for many years.

A small group from the band performed in the church as guests arrived and played Highland Cathedral as Sarah was escorted down the aisle by her Dad, Jim. The newly married couple left the church to Simon Dawson’s arrangement of All You Need is Love.

During the signing of the register Sarah’s long time friend and international Tenor Horn soloist, Owen Farr, played solos including a simply breathtaking performance of Autumn Leaves, accompanied by the band.

On behalf of the all the Shepherd Group Bands, we wish Mr and Mrs Hunton a very happy life together.

Founded in 2011, the Shepherd Group Youth Brass Band is an absolute joy to be a part of. It’s wonderful to see how much the band has grown in recent years, winning our first competition in 2016 and continuing to take on new challenges and experiences since. This year is no exception, having just returned from our first tour.

Devizes was the destination for our four days away. We were lucky enough to be hosted by Jemima’s Gift, an incredible charity which provides opportunities for young people to reach their full potential in a range of fields. Set up in memory of Jemima Prees, this charity has allowed many young people to pursue their passions – from providing sporting equipment to funding study in prestigious music schools. Thus it was a real honour to work alongside them, helping to raise money so that they can continue to offer their support.

Of course, we would not have been able to raise this money without the generous people of Wiltshire who watched us playing in Devizes marketplace and, later, came to the joint concert we put on with Strings Incognito. Whilst the combination of a brass band and a string group is not something you see often, it was great to listen to a different type of ensemble and to play alongside them.

We also hosted a workshop, inviting members of the public to play with us as we tried out some new music. This was an excellent opportunity to meet other players – many of whom do not usually play brass instruments – and benefit from the wisdom of other conductors. Whilst somewhat tiring, as we played for much longer than most of us are used to, it was also thoroughly enjoyable.

For our last night in Wiltshire, we enjoyed a ceilidh. It seemed a fitting end to the tour as it reflected the fun that we’d had and, as we all took to the dancefloor, the new friendships we’d made.

This brilliant experience could not have taken place without the support of Craig Brown, our conductor, Richard Wilton, conductor of Shepherd Senior and Academy bands (and honorary youth for the weekend), Bronwyn Tuffen and Mandy Mosses – all of whom gave up their time to accompany us on the tour.

On the 24th February the Shepherd Group Youth Brass Band attended the regional Music for Youth festival held at St. Aidan’s School, Harrogate.

Fresh from their recent tour, the band played superbly and received impressive comments from the music mentors and audience. The ten minute programme included Alan Fernie’s ‘Prismatic Light’, ‘When I Grow Up’ from the musical Matilda and finished with the main theme from ‘Game of Thrones’. 

Whilst the event is not a competition there are certain groups who are invited to perform at the next stage of the festival which takes place at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. The band are now looking forward to performing at the Hive (Manor School) alongside the Shepherd Group Brass Band on the 10th March.

After a year away from the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, the bands were thrilled to be back for another sell out gala concert this Christmas.

Once again Brass Roots, the most recent addition to the bands’ family, entertained the audience before the ever-growing Academy band opened the show. The Academy band have gone from strength to strength, taking on new and more challenging repertoire whilst also developing all round banding technique and this was evident in their impressive start to the show.

The Youth band followed with a set of new music including ‘Blessings in Christmas’, a stunning setting of a Korean carol. This year the Youth band have worked hard to raise funds for various competitions and projects, including their upcoming tour to Wiltshire to support the charity Jemima’s Gift.

Mike Pratt and the Concert band delivered a high energy set which opened with a festive ‘Christmas Calypso’ and included audience participation in ‘Ding Dong Merrily on High’, tenor horn soloist Jenny Mansell, and a tribute to the late Greg Lake ‘I Believe in Father Christmas’.

Following the interval, the Senior band started their set with ‘Gøta’, a brand new piece of Norwegian music played by memory as the band entered the stage. Another set full of new music included tuba soloist Joe Steede, Canadian ‘Huron Carol’, and a mammoth ‘Gaudete’ arranged by Kevin Norbury. The band are becoming familiar with the work of Norbury in his ‘Odyssey’, which has been selected as the 2018 Championship Section Area test piece.

A special encore of Alan Fernie’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ featured images of donated instruments being played by the Mbale band from East Africa. This was an opportunity for the band to show how far instruments and funds donated throughout 2017 had gone. The Mbale band work tirelessly to provide instruments and tuition to communities throughout Uganda and East Africa.

In traditional Shepherd style, the massed band final featured players from all bands being involved in music, choreography and entertainment! The monks of the brethren of Tang Hall returned once more this time armed with hand chimes! A bespoke arrangement by Simon Dawson featured hand chimes, massed band, and guest percussion in ‘The Little Drummer Boy’

2017 has been a hugely successful year for all the bands at Shepherds and we would like to thank all of our supporters and wish all a happy and brass-filled New Year! 

Mike Pratt along with Jericho Keys from BBC Radio York and members of the Shepherd Group Concert Brass Band at Holy Trinity Church Micklegate York. The band played carols to welcome the audience to a special evening of entertainment in aid of BBC Children In Need

With strong winds and beautiful Autumnal skies, the Shepherd Group Brass Band and local girl, vocalist Jessa Liversidge came together at Easingwold’s Galtres Centre for what has now become their annual ‘Last night of the Proms’ concert.

The capacity audience, who were brave enough to face the elements, enjoyed a fantastic evening of music, which kicked off with the the band’s recent award winning Bolsover set and included Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beautiful “I don’t know how to love him” sung with such class by Jessa Liversidge, accompanied by the band. After the interval the Band and Jessa came together to perform the ever-popular ‘Prom Finale’ of Sir Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem, Sir Henry Wood’s ‘Fantasia On British Seasongs’ and bringing the concert to a close for another year, Sir Edward Elgar’s ‘Pomp And Circumstance’.

Our Youth band have had a great start back after the summer break. On Saturday 7th October the band were delighted to perform at All Saints Church in Wistow in aid of their new roof fund. They helped raise a whopping £400 for the cause whilst entertaining a large and supportive audience who have already invited them back!

The band then went on to compete at the Pogson Bray Entertainment Contest where they were very pleased to be awarded the ‘Best Youth Band 2017’ prize. They competed against tough competition and were commended for both their deportment and stage presence by adjudicator David Ashworth.

Shepherd Group Band were very pleased to take third place at the recent Bolsover Festival of Brass. This is an incredibly popular entertainment contest which is streamed live over the internet, reaching audiences in thirty-two countries and over three-hundred and sixty towns and cities.

Competing in the Championship Section, the band’s programme followed a Folk Song inspired set, starting with the beautifully choreographed Norwegian Folk song, Gøta, before bursting into a energetically charged romp through a Russian folk festival. The band’s soloist for the day was principal Cornetist, Andy Novell, who impressed with his lyrical treatment of Pater Noster. The energetic Molly’s Wake was next, before the band’s vocal talents were at the forefront of the wonderful Knut Liten Og Sylvelin finale.

Adjudicator Steven Mead summed up his comments on the performance as, “I like the way your programme has a connected theme, it’s a strong approach to programme building. Thank you for this enjoyable and well conceived programme, your audiences will love it!”

The Shepherd Group of Bands were out in force at the recently held Easingwold March and Hymn Tune competition. The competition centres around the Market Place in Easingwold and this year the competition attracted no less than 13 bands from as far as Newcastle to Dobcross to Barnsley .

This was a first for our group as three of our bands took part in the competition, this is the first time this has ever happened in the history of the bands. The Senior Band , Concert Band and the Youth Band all competed so we had in excess of 100 players out on the night.

The evening saw a mix of fortunes but on the whole a very successful night all round

The Senior band came away with Best Band on the March , Best Hymn Tune overall , Best 1^st Section Band and 2^nd overall in the competition. To achieve this we had to beat a number of championship graded bands so a very commendable nights work, the Senior Band played the Hymn tune Love Unknown followed by the March Knight Templar

The Concert Band were very pleased with winning the best Hymn tune for unregistered bands, they played the Hymn Eventide followed by the march Punchinello

The Youth Band didn’t fare so well however, it was a fantastic experience for the youngsters to get out a play in a competition such as this against all section bands. They played the hymn tune Aurelia followed by the March Old Comrades.

A fantastic night was had by all and we are hoping to be able to compete in the contest again next year and who’s knows we might have four bands out ?