Great North Brass will shine at Great Exhibition
Three of the North East’s finest brass bands will be performing at Sage Gateshead as part of the Great Exhibition of the North this summer. The Great Exhibition of the North is a free, summer-long celebration of the North of England. Running from June 22 to September 9; an 80-day programme of amazing exhibits, live performances, displays of innovation, artworks and experiences.
The Great North Brass concert will take place in the prestigious Sage One concert hall on Sunday July 8. The Musical Director for the event will be eminent conductor, Dr Robert Childs and star tuba soloist Joe Cook, who is making a return to his native North East especially for the concert, will join him. Showcasing the music and personality of North East bands at their very best will be the Reg Vardy, NASUWT Riverside and Easington Colliery Bands.
Music to suit all tastes will be featured, all of it with connections to the North East of England, either representative of the region or composed and arranged by the region’s musicians.
Included will be music by the North East March King George Allan and arrangements by Reg Vardy Band member Alan Catherall, whose unique style has made him one of the most popular and best-known arrangers of brass music, with his arrangements being played by brass bands all over the world.
The concert will include Alan’s arrangement of the film music from Star Wars (played in homage to world-famous trumpet player Maurice Murphy, who learnt to play cornet as a young boy in North East Salvation Army bands), Three Rivers Fantasy (harking back to the early days of Tyne Tees Television), and his ever-popular arrangement of the Bach/Sky Toccata.
The concert will also feature arrangements of North East folk tunes by Jack Stobbs and Lee Morris, music arranged by North East-born Musical Director of the Central Band of the RAF Wing Commander Eric Banks, Roger Payne’s witty composition ‘Geordie Jack Tar’, Steve Robson’s setting of ‘Hills of the North Rejoice’ and Geoff Richards’ 1980 Brass in Concert test piece ‘Songs of the Quay’ as well as Sunderland-born Edward Gregson’s ‘Variations on Laudate Dominum’. Joe Cook will be playing pieces from his recent CD ‘Debut 2’ to complete a spectacular show of all that is best about North East brass bands.
The concert starts at 2pm and tickets are available from www.sagegateshead.com or Sage Gateshead Ticket Office 0191 443 4661.
