NYBBW Concert Tour
Members of the National Youth Brass Band of Wales were working hard at Trinity St David in Carmarthen last week under Guest Musical Director Paul Holland. The successful course culminated in three concerts in the north, west and south of Wales. The first performance was held in the Pritchard-Jones Hall, Bangor on Friday 28th, before travelling to St Davids to perform in the magnificent cathedral the following day and concluding in the Capital at the Dora Stoutzker Hall at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
The concerts featured repertoire that included Eric Ball's classic 'High Peak' as well as Gareth Wood's evocative 'Five Blooms in a Welsh Garden', originally used as the European set test the last time it was held in Cardiff. There was also diverse repertoire from Debussy and Walton to Liz Lane, Paul Lovatt-Cooper, Christian Overhead, Jonathan Bates and Jan van der Roost. The principal players this year (listed below) did a superb job with the solo passages the challenging works provided, but in truth the standard of playing from the entire band was remarkable, particularly given their youth and relative inexperience.
The featured soloist was Lode Violet, the gifted principal cornet of Brass Band Willebroek who will performed major works by Denis Wright and Stan Niewenhuis. The band showed its maturity in the delicate accompaniments as well as sheer joy and amazement at the virtuosity of the soloist.
Principals Principal Cornet: Erin Maloney and Elizabeth Rogers
Solo Horn: Carys Lewis
Baritone: Elliot Harrington
Euphonium: Ellie Carlsen
Trombone: Ioan Jones
Eb Bass: Rhys Michael
Bb Bass: Patrick Miller
Percussion: Samuel Faram
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