2010 news

 

New arrival - June 2010

Congratulations from everyone at B&HCB to Heather (front row cornet) and Dave (Eb bass) on the safe arrival of baby Charlotte Hush on 6th June!


L&SC Qualifying Contest - Stevenage, 21 March 2010

With a 9am rehearsal booked, we set off bright and early on a sunny March morning for Stevenage. As there were 17 bands playing Kingdom of Dragons by Philip Harper in our section we were hoping for an early draw and felt buoyed when Band Secretary Jon's famous 'feeling in his water' predicted us drawing 3rd. We actually drew 11th and unfortunately that wasn't the only disappointment of the day.

Once again some player shuffling was required and we were really grateful to have former member Helen Woolley and regular helper Andy Wooler on board as well as Dom Hackett covering the tricky timpani part.
At 1pm we went on stage and both the band and MD came off feeling we had done our best, so even though we were competing against some excellent bands we were very disappointed to be placed 16th.

Adjudicator Simone Rebello made the following comments on our performance:

Watch opening few bars are secure.
A - Better ensemble here
B – Keep brilliance of colour here
C to D – watch intonation
D – Keep rhythm and tight and exact
Keep sound focused to F.
G – well managed.
H – Keep watching conductor to ensure tempo is stable
J – excellent contrast here – good.
K – Better ensemble here. Keep at piano dynamic.
Watch tuning before L
Keep triplet rhythm accurate
Watch tuning before Q
Keep Q at a steady speed and allow all long phrases to sing through
R – Confident work from soloist – Keep sound balanced and supported.
Again some tuning and intonation concerns here in exposed sections e.g. before S) to address.
Use as wide a range of dynamics as possible.
Watch ensemble before T.
T – keep lantano effect and watch articulation is clean.
Keep controlled at V.
W hold tempo in the fugue. Better use of dynamics here.
Y – watch 7/8 does not rush at the end of the bar.
BB – warm full sound from the band here – good.
Keep excitement building through CC to the finale.

A good performance. There are some general tuning and intonation concerns to watch out for. Watch that band follow conductors tempo exactly which will make the start of each entry more secure and watch tempo is established don’t allow rhythms to rush. Soloists play with confidence and good commitment from the band. Thank you.
Simone Rebello.