Gwent Brass Bands are back with a Bang
Last weekend the Gwent Youth Brass Band alongside the Gwent Intermediate Brass Band performed at St Gabriel’s Church in Cwmbran. The concert was the conclusion of a successful winter course, the first for the organisation since the pandemic. Featuring with the bands was Besson euphonium star David Childs as guest soloist. David delighted the young performers and audience alike with his incredible renditions of brass band favourites including ‘Varied Mood’, ‘Carrick Fergus’, ‘A Little Prayer’ and ‘Hot Canary’. Commenting on the event David told the audience, “It’s always an enormous pleasure to play solos with the Gwent Youth Band; they’re an incredible group of musicians who have worked tirelessly with their conductor, Chris Turner, to produce such mature performances of some very challenging works. This year was made all the more special as my eldest son Ben was playing trombone in the youth band with my God-daughter Carys on cornet, whilst my youngest son Sam played cornet in the intermediate band alongside my nephew Matthew – it’s been a real family affair this year!”
Lana Tingay, the conductor of the Intermediate band paid tribute to the young members, many of whom were enjoying their very first experience of playing in a brass band. The audience were very appreciative of their efforts as they performed popular classics including ‘Delilah’, ‘The Rose’, ‘Amarillo’ and ‘500 Miles’. The Youth Band performed a wide range of challenging and entertaining works including a selection from the movies as well as an extremely effective and evocative performance of ‘Haunted Halls’. The two bands also combined to magnificent effect in ‘African Funk’, ‘Big Top’ and ‘Lord of the Dance’ as the grand finale item. Head of Wind, Brass and Percussion for Gwent Music Chris Turner was effusive in his praise for the talented youngsters stating, “It is such a pleasure to have these bands back on the stage again following such a successful course. Only eight players in the Youth Band were actually in the band pre-pandemic, so with relatively little experience they have done absolutely brilliantly. We are all extremely proud of their achievements and are already looking forward to the next one!”
