Following the tragic road accident death of one of their band members, Joan Price in January this year, Dunaskin Doon held this memorial concert to celebrate her life.
The concert brought together the three Ayrshire bands with which Joan was associated over the years, with the funds raised going towards the road safety charity, Brake.
Played their hearts out
There was barely a dry eye in the house as almost 100 musicians played their hearts out for popular trombonist who had enjoyed a long and illustrious banding career, beginning at the age of 11, when she first picked up an instrument at Kilmarnock Academy.
The concert brought together Kilmarnock Concert Brass (of which Joan was a founder member), Irvine & Dreghorn Brass Band and Dunaskin Doon
There was barely a dry eye in the house as almost 100 musicians played their hearts out for popular trombonist who had enjoyed a long and illustrious banding career, beginning at the age of 11, when she first picked up an instrument at Kilmarnock Academy.
Diverse set
Kilmarnock led by MD Scott Walker provided a diverse set; featuring everything from movie themes and the beautiful ‘Manchester Hymn’ to the Guns ‘n’ Roses classic ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, with principal cornet, Tracy Calderwood, delighting with ‘Where is Love?’ from film, ‘Oliver!’
Refreshed by ice cream, generously donated by Varani’s Forum Café in Kilmarnock, Irvine & Dreghorn led by MD Helen Douthwaite-Teasdale then took to the stage.
The national finalists also offered wonderful entertainment with a rousing rendition of ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’, followed by the gorgeous ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind’, before some geographical musical detours and a cracking whip-through ‘Flight of the Bumblebee' featuring young percussionist, Zach Mitchell.
Enthralled
A second interval allowed the audience to stretch their legs while the stage was set for Dunaskin Doon. Under Chris Bradley, they opened with ‘When Thunder Calls’ followed by Dan Price’s ‘Starburst’ - taking the audience on a journey into space with its multi-media presentation.
Emma McTaggart, enthralled with her lyrical horn playing on ‘Rainforest’ before a big band finale of Peter Graham’s ‘To Boldly Go’, which featured images of Joan laughing, dancing and larking around with her band mates over the years. It was a wonderful tribute.
Wonderful event
The massed band finale with all three bands together for the first time saw over 100 musicians perform ’76 Trombones’ a heartfelt ‘I Will Follow Him’ and ‘Hootenanny’ - which was one of Joan’s concert favourites. It was so well-received that it was played twice.
It rounded off a wonderful event for a wonderful person with over £2,500 raised for the Brake charity.
As one person said; “Joan was a very special individual, to whom family and friends meant the world. And what was evident on the night was that Joan meant the world to everyone too.”
