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Thursday, 2nd September 2010

Memorable milestone for brass's finest

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Published Date: 24 March 2006
BRIGHOUSE and Rastrick Band are putting the finishing touches to their special anniversary concert on Saturday.

The band will be celebrating 125 years of continuous music-making across the globe with a real night of nostalgia.
Conductor James Gourlay is well versed on the band's history and it is no surprise that arrangements by an illustrious predecessor - Eric Ball - feature in the programme.
In fact, three Ball pieces will be heard -- Fascination Waltz, Cossack Patrol, along with the rousing finale, Suite Gothique. Few evenings would be complete without a Strauss rendition and in total contrast, music by Ellington and Brubeck will also be on the programme.
Star guest soloist and former band member David Childs will display his awesome talent with some popular euphonium classics and both James Gourlay and colleague for the evening, Derek Broadbent, will conduct one of their own arrangements.
Reminders of the past will abound as well as the novelty launch of the new foot-tapping opener 'West Ridings', the winning piece in B. & R.'s recently completed Composing Competition. The young winner, Paul Lovatt-Cooper will be there on the night to collect his award.
l The band received high praise at their recent visit to Manchester when it accompanied all eight soloists in the brass semi-final of the BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year competition. This major commitment involved rehearsing, and finally performing no less than 16 pieces.
Some tickets are still available for Saturday's concert from the usual Kirklees outlets (Tel: 01484-223200).

* OVER the past 125 years the men in purple and gold have promoted Brighouse and Rastrick around the globe with hundreds of musicians, young and old, helping to raise the profile of the world famous brass band.
Although this year officially marks its 125th birthday, there is evidence to show that a band did exist in Brighouse some 23 years earlier in 1858.
The band was originally formed under the banner of 'The Brighouse and Rastrick Temperance Brass Band' and only adopted its current title in the early 20th century.
B & R has won many titles and trophies during its history and these have helped to project it into the world's spotlight. However, it wa sits meteoric rise up the UK Top 40 pop charts to No. 2 in l977 with the Floral Dance that turned the band into a household name.
Its early success came with steady progress culminating in 1929 when B & R won both the July and September Contests at Belle Vue, Manchester, a feat only achieved once before and not equalled since.
The band won The British Open Championship (September), again in 1932-33-34, and was barred in 1935 but regained it in 1936. They have continued to feature in the prize list ever since, but had to wait until 1978 to win the 'Open' once again.
In 1945 the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain began. B & R won this title for the first time in 1946, conducted by a young Eric Ball, one of many famous names to be associated with the band.
When the World Championships were introduced in 1968, B & R were the first World Champions, successfully retaining the title in 1969 to become the only band to win this short lived contest on more than one occasion.
The band became National Champions again in 1973 and 1980, narrowly missing out in their centenary year in 1981 when they were runners up, but carrying off the European Championship the following day.
The Brighouse and Rastrick Band is without a doubt the best and most certainly consistent 'public subscription band' in the world. The people of the villages of Brighouse and Rastrick made donations to establish the band in the late 19th century. Today it still continues to be supported through public subscriptions and its own fund-raising efforts. Traditionally, its amateur members would pride themselves on being financially independent, yet they are still highly regarded as one of the 'elite' on both contest and concert platform.
In 1989 a new competition arose; the All England Masters Brass Band Championships was established in Cambridge. This quickly gained prestige, attracting entries from the top bands in England and in 1993 Brighouse and Rastrick became the first Yorkshire band to win this title.
The B & R men again took the title of Brass Band Championships of Great Britain in 1998 and took the All England Masters Championship in June of that year and were crowned champions of Europe as well as scooping eight prizes in the 106-year-old marching band contest, the Whit Friday March Championships, the competition featured in the smash hit film 'Brassed Off'.
The men in purple have since won many more honours at the Saddleworth event as well as numerous other national and European titles.
But of course, it was 'The Floral Dance' which helped the band become a household name worldwide and it deservedly earned the band the title as "one of Yorkshire's most famous exports".
Its impact on extending brass band music to a much wider audience cannot be underestimated and a special Floral Dance concert was held to mark its 25th anniversary in 2002. It brought together members of the existing B & R band and those who had played in the band of 1977.
Former musical director Derek Broadbent's rhythmic arrangement of the traditional Cornish folk dance has become a band signature tune and is played at virtually every B & R concert.
In 2004, the Brighouse and Rastrick band marked the 60th anniversary of its massed band concerts with a gala evening at Huddersfield Town Hall, when three former bandsmen had the chance to look back with fond memories on six decades of music-making.
The B & R men have been engaged in concerts far and wide, including many countries in Europe and represented England at the European Brass Band Championships in Norway in 2003.
And only last year, the much-travelled bandsmen made their first visit to North America to take part in a short tour to promote their music.
Exiled Tykes flocked to hear the brass band music that reminded them of home when the band gave two concerts in Canada, conducted by Derek Broadbent.
Members performed in Edmonton and Calgary as part of the Brass Explosion Society's project to promote British-style banding in Canada.
As ever, the finest ambassadors for brass -- and for Brighouse.

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