Tendring Brass are pleased to announce that Chase Lane School Choir will again be joining the Band on stage at the “Memories” Concert on Sunday 10th November 2019 at the Westcliff Theatre Clacton.
Tickets for the event are available from the Westcliff Theatre, Tower Road, Clacton-on-Sea CO15 1LE
Tendring Brass were invited by L&K funeral Services for Clacton Road, St Osyth, to perform in a Memorial concert on 29th September.
The Band were well received by a large audience, who enjoyed a variety of well known pieces, some of which were performed as solos or duets by band members. It was good to see some of our regular supporters, as well as a good number of new attendees, some of which signed up to our Friends of Tendring Brass, so that they could be kept updated about future Band events.
We have heard that the event raised £1256 for the CTC Cardio Ward at Basildon Hospital, a fantastic achievement by all involved.
After much preparation and a lot of hard work the Band, together with some supporters, headed off to Cheltenham for the Second Section National Finals of the Brass Band Championships of Great Britain.
Following an overnight stay in Stroud, and one last rehearsal on the Sunday morning, everyone headed off to Cheltenham Racecourse, the venue for the finals.
There were 18 bands from all areas of the country in the second section , and Tendring Brass drew to play 12th, so that meant a few hours of waiting before taking to the stage.
By 7.30pm, the Band had been on stage and performed, now came the long wait for the results. Everyone felt that the performance went well, but perhaps not their best.
Our final position was 10th, which although was not where would have liked toi have finished, the Band were proud to have represented London and Southern Counties in their first year in the second section, and at the highest level that the Band have ever reached.
It was a great experience for everyone involved, particularly for those who had never contested at such a high level, and this will no doubt be of benefit for the future.
Particular thanks to the Band’s Musical Director Antony Sanders for his planning and hard work to get the Band to this level.
Training weekend with David Johnson
On 16th August Tendring Brass were delighted to welcome David Johnson back for a weekend of band training in preparation for their finials appearance at Cheltenham this September 2019.
The Finals test piece this year is called “Occasion” by Edward Gregson, therefore the band have been looking at various Edward Gregson pieces since their regional success in March and the Friday evening was devoted to two of his compositions – “March Prelude” and “Connotations” – giving the players a flavour of Edward Gregson’s musical style.
During Saturday and Sunday rehearsals, David worked extensively with Tendring Brass contest Band, hi –lighting various areas of further practice within the test piece for both players and conductor to fine tune over the next few weeks towards the contest on 15th September at Cheltenham.
The weekend wasn’t all concentration and rehearsals however. On the Saturday evening Tendring Brass held another enjoyable quiz night, which was well attended and raised further funding to help towards the overall costs of taking the band to the finals.
Thanks must go to all players who were able to attend this training during the summer holiday period and special thanks, as always, go to David Johnson who always adds inspiration and motivation to Tendring Brass members.
Tendring Brass seeks a first class cornet player to join our front row team. We are a second section band with a sensible concert- contest balance. We rehearse on a Monday evening in Wix, Essex.
Please contact us for an informal, confidential chat.
We had the great pleasure of playing for the opening night of Frinton Mission 2019, and wow, what a great night.
This was the third year running that we have been asked to perform at such a fantastic event, and each year it gets better and better. Despite the inclement weather, the marquee was packed, with an audience estimated at 250+ who were treated to a very complex repertoire of music entitled ” Broadway meets Hollywood”
Included in the programme were Breezing Down Broadway, Queen Symphonic Highlights, The Greatest Showman, and A Disney Spectacular, to name but a few.
The audience were also treated to the vocal talent of band member, Chloe Jay singing Over The Rainbow and Straighten-up and Flyright, well done Chloe.
Thank-you to Frinton Mission for inviting us, your warm welcome , and post-concert positive feedback. We enjoyed playing, probably just as much as you enjoyed listening.
As part of our fundraising towards costs associated with our trip to Cheltenham for the Second Section Finals of the Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, we held a Quiz night at our Band room in Wix.
Thanks go to Ron Scutcher, one of our long standing support team members for putting the evening together, quizmaster Robbie Bliss, Antony & Caroline for running the bar, and Emma & Chloe for the Bus stop and Raffle.
After an evening of head scratching questions, two of the teams – ‘Team gin + Dave & Charlotte” and “Hot Stuff” tied for first place, and shared the prizes! Well done to both teams.
Thankyou to everyone who attended the evening and made it such a success.
We are pleased to announce that the evening raised a total of £279
Tuesday 2nd July marked the end of year for our Academy.
Friends and family were invited to come along and see apresentation of what students had achieved during the year.
They were treated to melodies from the Beginners Band, which involved some audience participation, some singing items, a percussion ensemble and finished with the intermediate, more advanced players performing.
The Declan Memorial Shield presented to the student who shows an all round musical ability and commitment throughout the year, was awarded to Maisy Brookes..
The Academy has now closed for a summer break and will start up again in September. Details will be posted nearer the time. Should anyone wishing to join the Academy in September contact us on the Academy email address.
We are pleased to announce that on 11th July 2019, we will be hosting a Brass Bands England Bandsafe Training event at our Bandroom in Wix. (Wix Ex-Services Club, Harwich Road, Wix, Essex.)
BBE BandSafe Training, developed in partnership with NSPCC, is aimed at all band safeguarding officers. Certification from the course is valid for two years and contributes to your band being able to use the BBE BOPA for Child Performance Licensing.
BandSafe is our accredited training for all band safeguarding officers. The training is a companion to the BandSafe online toolkit, which provides support for users to develop their own policies and procedures based on national guidance given by BBE.
This three-hour workshop, developed in partnership with the NSPCC, has been designed to work alongside the BandSafe tool and will help bands to ensure that they have adequate safeguarding and child protection arrangements in place. All participants will be issued with a certificate of attendance, which will be valid for two years.
The training makes up one of the qualifying elements that bands need to complete to use the BBE BOPA, alongside membership and completion of the BandSafe self-assessment tool. Bands wishing to use the BOPA must have TWO members who have completed the training course.
Full details of this day and how to book on the course can be found on the Brass bands England website, using the link below.
Early on Saturday morning (1st June) the ferry arrived into Parkeston, from Holland carrying our Dutch friends from ‘Muziekvereniging Rotterdam ann Zee’ (RaZ Band)
Waiting to meet them were volunteers from our Band, with minibuses and a double decker bus to transport our guests into Harwich for breakfast provided by our hard working weekend catering team.
The weekend had began.
With full stomachs, our guests were transported over to the seaside town of Clacton for a period of free time to explore the town, seafront and pier.
After lunch and a change, a playing area was set up in Clacton town centre for a concert by the Marching Section of the Band, and the Concert Band.
Crowds out enjoying the sunshine, were treated to a great selection of music – and probably not something that was expected in the town centre!
During the concert, our accompanying Band members were busy handing out flyers for the Columbine centre Concert the following day.
RaZ were then transported back to Harwich to collect baggage and on to their accommodation for the night.
The evenings activities commenced with RaZ being transported to Birch Hall Adventures, Kirby le Soken, where the activity barn had been transformed into a staged concert hall with seating and tables, + bar.
Then followed an evening of music, with each band performing, enthusiastically enjoyed by the audience who sand along and danced (& drank!)
Following a delicious BBQ provided by RaZ and their travelling butcher and assistant(!) our other guests from Austria “die Lungauer” continued with their infectious style of music, which added to the atmosphere of singing and dancing.
Thanks to everyone involved with making the evening a success.
The following morning both Tendring Brass and Raz gathered for a pre-concert rehearsal in Dovercourt, lunch and transport over to Walton -on -the -Naze to the Columbine Centre.
RaZ marching band gave a pre- concert marching display for onlookers and early concert arrivals on the grass area in front of the Columbine, then a quick change ready for the main event, a combined concert entitled ‘Bands Across the Sea’
As you can see, a really good mix from the Bands in the first half, culminating in the Massed Bands performing the second half, enjoyed by a large, appreciative audience.
A great weekend was concluded with a ‘Fish & Chip Supper’, socialising and ‘Thankyou’s’ before RaZ were taken back to Parkeston for their evening crossing home.
Thankyou to the weekend planners, the catering team, the drivers, the cleaners, and the general helpers from Tendring Brass and Friends , for making the weekend a success.
