National Childrens Band of Great Britain

Conductors: Dr Nicholas Childs & Paul Lovatt-Cooper
Guest Soloist: Richard Marshall
The Albert Hall, Nottingham
Saturday 31st July

The major sporting attraction in Nottingham last Saturday was the test match at Trent Bridge.  

And on the same bit of turf that James Anderson skittled out the Pakistanis, over 100 aspiring cricketers copied the skills required to make it to test match level standards by playing ‘kwik-cricket’ – a form of the game that allows raw talent to be honed and developed under the expert eye of high quality mentors.

Same story

It was very much the same story across the city as 56 of the finest young brass players in the UK came together under the guidance of Dr Nicholas Childs and his team of tutors to perform at the Albert Hall – a stage that some pretty great players have also played on over the years.

And it turned out to be just as triumphant a day as that enjoyed by England’s finest white flannelled heroes – with an inspiring concert given by the National Children’s Band of Great Britain at the conclusion of its seventh annual course.

The audience made up predominantly of family and friends made their way home knowing that their loved ones had enjoyed a truly memorable week, found new friends and developed as brass players and individuals.

Fun but serious

The emphasis was on enjoyment, hard work and personal development – especially   for some youngsters who will have experienced their first extended stay away from home.

Brett Baker, David Childs, Paul Lovatt-Cooper, Alex Kerwin, Owen Farr, Richard Marshall and Matthew Routley supported Dr Nicholas Childs on the musical front, whilst the pastoral care was led by Monica and Gary Walczak supported by the house staff  – a team that ensures a warm, family orientated atmosphere that allows the youngsters to flourish.   

Overseeing it all was the paternal presence of Philip Biggs – the organiser supreme.

Competitive

The week is competitive too, not just on the tennis courts or on the football pitches, but with bragging rights for ‘Section of the Week’. Dr Childs took all the attempts at bribery (sweets and well placed cups of tea and coffee) in his stride, and at the conclusion of the concert, announced that it was the cornet section that were worthy of the honour for 2010.

The MD had also devised a well-balanced programme of music that challenged the players in what was a very relaxed stage atmosphere.  

Illiam Quane from the Isle of Man led the band with distinction for the second year in a row, whilst baritone player Ben Stratford was honoured as ‘Student of the Week’.

However, in reality there were 56 ‘stars’ – just ask the proud families who enjoyed every moment of their performance.

Nerves of steel

Any nerves were quickly dispersed after a fine rendition of ‘Semper Fidelis', whilst to celebrate Edward Gregson’s recent 65th birthday, Dr Childs chose the rarely heard 1968 commission by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, entitled, ‘Visions of Youth’.  

Each of the three movements was performed with real control and in the second movement (‘Sadness and Tenderness’) there was some delightful cornet work from Illiam Quayle.

Wall of Sound

The guest soloist was Richard Marshall who performed Curnow’s ‘Concertpiece for Cornet’ with a lovely gentle lyricism and Stanley Black’s ‘People’ that saw him in turbo mode – thrilling the audience and youngsters in the process.

Either side of the interval saw new works from the pen of Paul Lovatt-Cooper (percussion tutor, choir master, composer and developing football coach!).

‘Wall of Sound’, combined a number of high energy styles from jazz and funk to hard core rock with driving percussion throughout (young Keiran Johnson playing a blinder) and which gave the individual players the opportunity to perform solo passages. 

It went down an absolute storm.

After the interval, the band returned to premiere, ‘Home of Legends’ written by PLC to celebrate 30 years of the Brass Band Summer School, with Illiam Quane again being the persuasive cornet voice in the opening bars.

The choir

An integral part of the week is the now traditional choir feature, where all the participants let their hair down and have some real fun.  With the tutor’s adding the accompaniment, the choir performed ‘Under the Sea’, from Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’.

To close, the band reverted to something very traditional indeed and Malcolm Arnold’s ‘Little Suite for Brass’ before an old favourite lollipop and ’76 Trombones’ .

The two hours had flown by and a highly enjoyable week and equally enjoyable concert had come to an end.

If only this lot could go and play Australia for The Ashes!

Malcolm Wood

^back to top