NYBBS has Fantastic Finale
The week-long National Youth Brass Band of Scotland (NYBBS) summer course of tutorials and rehearsals came to an end earlier this month in a blaze of glory and adulation. Not only did the young players put on two captivating concerts in Perth Concert Hall on Saturday afternoon and evening, the more experienced instrumentalists in the Reserve and Senior bands entertained the crowds during the opening events of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.
On Saturday afternoon, the Reserve players joined over a dozen other music organisations to bring a variety of listening experiences to the occasion. Festival director Nicola Benedetti had fused together brass bands and pipers, rappers and choirs in a diverse community of Scotland’s young musicians for an energetic afternoon of music making on a huge stage in the city centre’s Princes Street Gardens.
On Sunday the Senior instrumentalists performed alongside the Grit Orchestra to the acclaim of the assembled crowds – and a special interested onlooker, the Duke of Edinburgh himself, HRH Prince Edward! The Duke spoke to members of the band after their concert (below), much to the delight of the players and their supporters. The whole weekend was the perfect finale to a thoroughly intense, enjoyable and fun-filled five days of music making at Strathallan School. The young musicians have made so many memories that will live with them for years to come.
.gif)
