Sun 17 Apr 2011
Shouldering the Bass Player's burden
The band would like to wish Gary Beswick (one of our powerhouses in the bass end of the band) a quick and pain free recover from his recent operation on his shoulder.
We hope you'll be back in the bandroom playing soon.
Fri 15 Apr 2011
VBS Band to Record for the BBC
We are pleased to announce that Vernon Building Society (Poynton) Brass Band has been invited to make a recording as part of BBC Radio 3's 'Light Fantastic' festival (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/lightfantastic/). The band will be going into BBC Manchester's famous Studio 7 to record a number of works over the weekend of 25/26 June.
This will be good practice for the band, as just a few weeks later the band hope to be recording their latest CD. More details on both of these projects soon.
Slow Melody Prizes for Jimmy Tew
The band's Principal Eb Bass, Jimmy Tew, has been collecting more Slow-Melody prizes. This time he took home two prizes from the Holme Valley Slow Melody Contest held on Saturday 2nd, claiming second place in both the Open and Veterans sections of the competition.
Well done Jimmy!
Au Revoir Andy...
Last Saturday Andy Lawton, our solo baritone, said farewell to the band at their annual Vice President's concert. Due to the pressures of work and, more importantly, fatherhood Andy has taken the hard decision to step down from the band to spend more time with his young family.
We would like to thank Andy for his many dedicated years of playing with the band and hope that it won't be too long before he feels he has the time to come back to the band where he will be welcomed back with open arms.
Thu 17 Mar 2011
World Premiere Performance
Thursday 7th April will see the band performing at the Anson Engine Museum to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the internal combustion engine, with a specially commissioned World Premiere performance of 'The Anson' by composer Jonathan Taylor.
The band has been rehearsing the piece and thoroughly enjoying some of the more 'unsual' techniques (including tapping of valves and blowing through the instrument without actually playing a note) that help create the imagery of the engine in action.
9th Place at Regional Contest
The band had its annual outing to Blackpool's Winter Garden's last Sunday for the North West Regional Championships.
This year the band was competing in the Championship section with the set test piece being Philip Wilby's Paganini Variations.
The band was drawn to play 10th out of 11 with performances by Foden's and Fairey's sandwiching us on either side! We still put in a great performance, however, and come away with 9th place overall, which should ensure that our position within the Championship section remains safe and gives us another year to carry on improving and become a regular fixture in the Championship section.
4BarsRest had the following to say about VBS's performance:
"Vernon Building Society Poynton’s brave account under Kevin Gibbs was a real baptism of fire, but the MD kept an intelligent lid on the possible excesses and was rewarded with a performance of merit and encouragement."
Thanks to all the band for the many hours of rehearsals put in to this difficult test piece, and special thanks to Kevin for really getting the band ready to perform as well as they could.
Full Results:
Championship Section
Venue: Opera House, Winter Gardens, Blackpool
Adjudicator: John Berryman
Music: Paganini Variations (P. Wilby)
Conductor: Kevin Gibbs
| Position | Band | Conductor | |
| 1 | Fodens | Allan Withington | |
| 2 | Fairey (Geneva) | Russell Gray | |
| 3 | Pemberton Old Wigan | Mark Bentham | |
| 4 | Wingates | Alan Morrison | |
| 5 | Leyland | Philip Harper | |
| 6 | Blackburn & Darwen | Nick Sheppard | |
| 7 | Co-operative (Crewe) | Jef Sparkes | |
| 8 | Ashton-Under-Lyne | Martyn Evans | |
| 9 | Vernon Building Society Poynton | Kevin Gibbs | |
| 10 | Co-operative (Milnrow) | David Evans | |
| 11 | Silk Brass | Paul Andrews |
Wedding Thanks
Adrian & Liz would like to officially thank their friends in the Vernon Building Society (Poynton) Brass Band for playing at their wedding on the 18th December 2010.
The band played Liz down the aisle with an arrangement by Adrian of the Bridal March. They also played Peter Graham's 'Crimond' during the Signing of the Register as well as joining in with the organ for a rousing final carol of Hark the Herald.
Later on in the evening, the band's 'German' counterparts turned up for a boisterous Beer Kellar performance which was loved by all the wedding guests.
Many thanks to you all... the wedding wouldn't have been the same without you all there.
A small selection of photos can be seen on the Gallery page:
http://www.poyntonband.co.uk/gallery/
Christmas Season Starts
VBS Poynton Band started the season of christmas concerts with a charity concert put on by the Vernon Building Society in aid of The Wellspring (Centre for the Disadvantaged and Homeless) and Stockport CP (who support children and adults with physical and learning disabilities).
The concert featured a number of Christmas classics ranging from traditional items, including some very rousing carol singing by the audience, to the more modern items such as David Essex's A Winter's Tale. The band even featured its very own snowman in the guise of our Eb Bass soloist Mr Jimmy Tew who played an up-tempo version of Frosty the Snowman.
The concert raised well in excess of £1000, so a very big thankyou to all who came to the concert.
The band will be working hard of the next 2 or 3 weeks with numerous Festive Concerts (including two this coming weekend). Please view our Concerts page for details and we hope to see you at some of the events!
Mon 22 Nov 2010
Christmas Concert & Rehearsal Diary
Band members:
Please find attached our Christmas Concert & Rehearsal Schedule.
christmas diary 2010.pdf
Sat 13 Nov 2010
New Players Join VBS
VBS Poynton Band would like to welcome Tim Brocklehurst and Emma Smith in to its ranks. Both players have been playing for local rivals Silk Brass for a number of years, but we are delighted that they have decided to join VBS for a new challenge.
Emma has joined on Repiano Cornet and Tim moves into the Soprano chair, replacing Adrian Horn who is temporarily relinquishing the Soprano for the front row as he will not be able to play at the North West Regional Contest at Blackpool in February.... the band have forgiven him this, however, as he will infact be on his Honeymoon!
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