March has been an interesting month with lots of rehearsals and of course the regional contest in Torquay, where we qualified for the National Brass Band Finals of Great Britain. We were competing against 17 other bands from the West of England region and gained third prize from a very early draw - playing number 3. Those of you who are not into brass band contesting wouldn’t know that early draws are a big disadvantage. This is because the adjudicators have to compare you with other bands who may be playing 3 hours later. Anyway, the long and short story is that we were very pleased to qualify and were expertly guided by our musical director Gareth Ritter. The finals will take place at Cheltenham Racecourse on Saturday afternoon 14th September and I’ll post some more details as they become available. Anyone can come along to listen.
But now it’s into a busy season of concerts, and the first one is very special to us. It’s a celebration concert in memory of Brian Howard who conducted the band for 10 years in the nineties and led us to a second place in the 1994 National Finals, as well as leading the band on the tour of a lifetime to South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1999. The concert is at St. Mary’s Church in Lydney on Saturday 13th April starting at 7pm. Entry is free but there will be a retiring collection to support the Athol Evans Hospital in Harare, where Brian’s family is heavily involved.
Much more coming up in the summer as well, so please keep an eye on the band website and click on events to see where and when we’re playing.
Lydbrook Band is a Registered Charity - 1196382
