Culford School – April ‘25
Ellesmere College – August ’25
Culford School – November ’25
April 4th – 6th Culford School
Once again the sun shone for our Easter holiday Symphonic Wind Band Weekend in the stunning surroundings of Culford school. Musicians came from across all corners of the UK to rehearse and perform some challenging music from the wind band repertoire. The music list this time included two pieces by Rossano Galante; the very descriptive ‘The Last Centaur ‘ and the enchanting ‘Wishing Well” . We also tackled two pieces by Philip Sparke ; ‘Songs from Across the Water‘ and ‘Symphonic Metamorphosis‘. In complete contrast the band enjoyed playing Naohiro Iwai’s arrangement entitled ‘Benny Goodman Memories‘ which enabled the considerable talents of clarinetist Barry Parsons to shine through. If you would like to view the videos of our final performance, please visit our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaBKD20rfej5C60i3H6nRlcSgIZph-ZbV&si=Ymh4vA3TtXcx4jJm
Our shed builders in action!
Many musicians participated in small ensemble rehearsals on Saturday evening, some choosing to perform to fellow musicians while socialising in the bar. New for this year was the opportunity to participate in Big Band music.
Wind Ensemble
Clarinet Quartet
Big Band
Many of our musicians are multi-instrumentalists and some took advantage of the fabulous facilities at Culford to practice
with and accompany others outside of our scheduled rehearsal times.
Thanks to our photograher, clarinetist Julie Webb who made the most of the beautiful Spring sunshine to capture some great shots of some of the sections of the band outside.
Happy Birthday to Claire, a regular attender of Captured in Music events. She put her oboe to one side for a moment as husband Matthew presented her with a pyrotechnic cake and the band played a slightly unusal version of ‘Happy Birthday’!
And finally …….. time to relax!
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Ellesmere College, August ’25
The glorious summer continued well in to August and we had a very warm, sunny weekend, allowing everyone to enjoy the beautiful surroundings at Ellesmere College. We met some wonderful new musicians who were experiencing our events for the first time and also caught up with some familiar faces. The highlight of the music this year was the fabulous ‘Ghost Ship‘ by Jose Alberto Pina. After tackling it at Culford in 2023 we thought it was about time it made another appearance and it certainly lived up to expectations! We also played the evocative ‘Mountain Thyme‘ by Samuel Hazo, taking full advantage of the amazing acoustic in ‘Old School’ . Also included in our varied program was ‘Tico Tico‘ arr. Naohiro Iwai, ‘Miss Saigon‘ arr. Warren Barker and ‘Voice of The Vikings‘ by Michael Geisler. As we had a full French Horn section this year we also played ‘Born4Horn‘ by Fritz Neuböck, which also gave our talented photographer and clarinetist, Julie Webb, the opportunity to put her budding French Horn skills to the test! Finally, a lively rendition of ‘Bat Out of Hell‘, Steinman gave everone’s fingers a good work out!
If you would like to view the videos of our final performance, please visit our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaBKD20rfej7AOQX4CsSPauajRimqgT-e&si=wMx3QimyaC3oYwQ_
Full Band Rehearsals
Ensemble Rehearsals
Ensemble Performances
We enjoyed entertainng ourselves in the bar on Saturday evening with some excellent perfomances from our ensembles. A remarkable standard of musicianship was acheived with only an hour and a half of rehearsal. If you would like to listen to them please visit our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaBKD20rfej7AOQX4CsSPauajRimqgT-e&si=wMx3QimyaC3oYwQ_
Some sun, relaxation and a special birthday!
November, Culford School
We enjoyed a challenging weekend of symphonic wind band music this Autumn at Culford. Many musicians returned after enjoying previous events and it was lovely to welcome some new faces too. The repertoire featured two highly emotive pieces of music by Jose Alberto Pina ‘Sendes‘ and ‘Echoes of Valour‘. We also rehearsed another of Rossano Galante’s works; the very descriptive ‘Land of Healing Waters’. For a contrast, the saxophones were able to show off their skills with ‘Sax Amore‘ by Will Larsons and the lively ‘Jitterbug‘ by Robert Buckley got everyone’s toes tapping. If you would like to view the videos of our final performance, please visit our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaBKD20rfej49rIwF7G5Co1PmouZRWWC3&si=IuCHzkA_z8dQGUWl
Full Band Rehearsals
Saturday evening ensembles
Time to relax!
