October 2015 Newsletter

Being the start of a new academic year, there is not much to report yet, though the Music Marathon at Colerne and Gastard fete have both gone by with our much appreciated attendance.   Our open day was also very useful, with a number of new recruits and much other interest.  Several more instruments have gone out and it was good that not all the new people were total beginners.  Keep spreading the word, there are still plenty more instruments available.

Colerne Music Marathon

“Once again the Youth Concert Band put on a fabulous performance at the Music Marathon in aid of Jemima's Gift.  The whole event raised £2000 and wouldn't have been possible without the Corsham Windband.  Several parents of young children asked me how to get involved in the association so the band obviously did the association proud!  I can't thank you enough for the support you have shown towards Jemima's Gift, my family and I truly appreciate it.  The turn-out was fantastic and the music really captivated the audience.  Thank you for playing, hopefully you will play next year as well!” – Annabel Prees

YCB

“My thanks to Jack Anstee and Julie Bryan for leading YCB during my absence from band at the start of the year, due to a family bereavement.  The sound and level of performance was good to hear when I returned 25^th September.

 We do need brass and percussion players – any friends, family that play would be very welcome.” – Sonia

Professor Sonia Blandford leads the award winning charity Achievement for All and is listed as one of Debrett’s 500 most influential for 2015. In her four new books she looks at how this charity’s programme, delivered in thousands of schools across the UK, is making an extraordinary difference to the progress and wellbeing of children and young people, and to the leaders and teachers who work with them.

TAKE THE LEAD is a book for school leaders. It taps into their ambitions to ensure every pupil on their register makes progress above national expectations and shares the framework Achievement for All offers which enables them to do that. Packed with ideas and experience from Sonia’s team and the leaders she’s working with.

LOVE TO TEACH takes a fresh look at the challenges facing teaching staff today and explores how they can meet them in a way that optimises both their sense of wellbeing and job satisfaction and ensures that every pupil in their class makes progress above national expectations.
MAKE SCHOOL BETTER looks at the pivotal role all parents and carers can have in their child’s experience of education, and the practical things they can do right now to make sure school is a better place to be, no matter what individual challenges children face, and ensures that all children make progress above national expectations. 
DON’T LIKE MONDAYS? is a feast of facts, personal stories and practical ideas from children and young people for children and young people. This book aims to enrich the educational experience for those who find school tough, and to empower them to make a change in the classroom that will not only enable them to progress but which will benefit everyone else in their school too.

Coming Events 2015

• Friday 4^th December – Corsham Christmas lights and busking

• Sunday 13^th December – Christmas Concert.  This will take place in the afternoon, 3.00pm, not evening, details to be confirmed.
• Saturday 19^th December Busking in Corsham Martingate.
• Saturday 28th November - Batheaston School Christmas Fair for Spectrum and YCB – to be confirmed.

Events 2016

The following events are already planned for next year.  Some events are yet to be confirmed but please put all the dates in your diary.

• Friday 13^th March – Mid Somerset Festival
• Saturday 23^th April  – Corsham 10k run
• Saturday 7^th May (to be confirmed) – Colerne May Fair
• Saturday 4^th June – St Barts, Corsham Fete
• Saturday 11^th June – Corsham Town Summer Fete
• Saturday 18^th June – Yatton Keynell fete
• 2^nd or 3^rd July (to be confirmed) – Luckington Fete
• 14^th – 17^th July Harmonie Schiltigheim visit
• 15^th July – Summer concert with Harmonie Schiltigheim
• 17^th July – Bath Parade Gardens concert with Harmonie Schiltigheim
• Saturday 3^rd September (to be confirmed) – Gastard fete
• Saturday 17^th September – Corsham Town Summer Street Fair
• 24^th – 27^th October – visit to Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
• Friday 2^nd December – Corsham Christmas Lights

Moving up

Please note that if you feel you are ready to move up from Training Band to Spectrum or from Spectrum to YCB, you must consult your Musical Director first.  Ideally, you will spend a term in transition, attending both bands, before finally moving up.  We appreciate that this could lead to logistical problems for parents but request that you discuss this sort of issue with your MD first.

Concert Organiser

Kristine Adam has been our concert organiser, arranging front of house and catering/sales/raffle over the last few years.  She is continuing in this post for this year but would welcome a new recruit to help her, with a view to taking on the role next year.  If anyone is able to help in this regard, please let me or one of the committee members know.

Membership

We are still trying to boost the membership of each band.  Training band in particular needs new recruits as this is the entrance point for many.  Please encourage friends and relatives to join, beginners to experienced players.  If you know anyone who already plays or is interested in taking up playing a wind instrument, bring him/her along to a rehearsal.  There is a cupboard full of instruments waiting to be played and we need stronger bass sections, especially in Spectrum.

Remember, if you are moving up from Training to Spectrum Band or from Spectrum to YCB, we would expect you to overlap the transition by about a term.  I know this means attending two rehearsals a week for a while but it ensures the move is smoother and it helps the two bands, especially the one you are leaving, to adjust.  If you do move up you could consider taking up a second instrument in Training Band.

Don’t forget that we offer theory lessons at the Pound on Saturday mornings, the times are below.  If members wish to progress beyond ABRSM Grade 5 practical on their instruments, they must have passed the ABRSM Grade 5 Theory Exam. 

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are going up for next year.  As they have been the same for the last 10 years or so, it seems fair enough.  From next term the subscription will be as below.

It is now possible to pay your subs & instrument hire fees online.  The banking information is:

Account Number: 41394088
Sort code: 40 18 13

Please could you give your child's full name as part of the reference, so that we can tally money received and it would useful if you could email David directly when you have made/initiated the payment so he can check it has cleared, giving the reference you have used, what you are paying for (term subs/annual subs/instrument hire, for example “ this term’s subs and hire of a large instrument for Child A and subs for Child B”) and the total you have transferred.

Please also include the approximate date of transfer (to help locate the payment into the association’s bank account) as an extra help.

 If you wish to pay by cheque then you can either post it to:

David Price, 2 Farthingale Cottages, Academy Drive, Corsham, SN13 0SD or hand it to somebody responsible at band (for example, Martin).  Cash is not a preferred method of payment due to the lack of traceability.

 Fees are:

 £25 per term subscription

£5 large instrument hire per term

£25 small instrument hire per term

 Any queries please let David know (for example if you are unsure exactly how much is owed).

 David Price, 0781 841 8964 or windbandcorsham@djp-solutions.co.uk

Rehearsal Dates 2015 - 2016

These dates are based on the Wiltshire school term dates.  If we decide to make a change, I will try to let you know in good time. 

Rehearsal times:

                                       Friday:        7:00 – 9:00pm – Youth Concert Band practice.

                                       Saturday:   9:15 – 10:15am – YCB and Spectrum Band theory lessons.

                                                           10:15 – 10:45am – Training Band theory lessons.

                                                           9:15 – 10:15am – Training Band practice.

                                                           10:15 – 12:15am – Spectrum Band practice.

End Note

This was a brilliant trip, run by volunteers from the Corsham Windband Association and Schilitigheim Band who devoted their time and expertise to the planning and leadership of the tour – THANK YOU.

Most of all – THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE PLAYERS, YOU WERE GREAT!” – Sonia Blandford

The incomplete diary of an accompanying adult.  By Evi Coulston

A whirl of preparations, shampoo, toothpaste and soap times three; clothes clean; YCB blazer borrowed; black trousers and boots bought; two reeds each, just in case. Nagging the girls to pack only what they were going to actually wear, rather than upending the entire contents of their chest of drawers into their suitcases… end result, they remembered everything and I spent the week sourcing items for me which I had somehow forgotten.  Boarded the bus, a parent checking the passports of each youngster boarding, all in order.  All too excited to be car-sick.  Onwards to the Eurostar, where the bigger instruments – some bigger than we thought - went separately, to join us safely on the other side. The tunnel came and went; we played card games, invented stories, read, chatted and steadily munched through our bulging bag of supplies.

Our walk between the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l´Est in Paris was interesting; we trundled past shops selling refurbished mobile phones, jostling with cafés and small restaurants from which tantalising smells wafted out to us.  The pavements and roads were a rush of people of every nationality.  Our little column progressed smartly without mishap, apart from the minor hiccup of my eldest walking out into traffic after confusing the little red with the little green man.  Happily both she and the CWA tenor wobbling along on its makeshift trolley - affixed with my dressing-gown cord - survived the ordeal.

After exploring the station and shops we boarded a rather nippy train from Paris to Strasbourg, Sonia poring over a hot computer, me chatting with the retired gentleman at our table. He was impressed with the impeccable behaviour of our group, and enjoyed listening to what we had planned.  He loved his music also, his hobby was singing, and he often travelled with choir groups through Europe. 

Peter,  the charming President of the Harmonie Schiltigheim and old (sorry) Corsham Band Member awaited us at Strasbourg station, which was amazing, a mixture of modern and old architecture, spotlessly clean, no chewing gum (not many pigeons, now that I think of it) imposing buildings, lights, trams. All very big city.  Safely ensconced on our bus our long journey drew to a close with a twenty minute drive to the Youth Hostel, situated at the end of a road lined with weeping willows, situated in a park, right next to an equestrian centre.  Hmmm.  (I did manage to get in and pat a few equine noses, but that’s another story). 

After some initial excitement sorting out the rooms, we had been allocated one fewer than expected, everything was ironed out by the “A team” and we unpacked. Supper was waiting.  We had been warned, there really was lots of bread, lovely mini French sticks, with everything.  The seating was at long trestle tables in the light and airy dining hall, the employees smiling and helpful although they seemed to work extremely long hours.  Food was plentiful, hot meals twice a day, always with salad or something reasonably healthy on the side, the mains consisting of roast chicken, meatballs, moussaka, and for me, the highlight, a rather tipsy boeuf bourguignon. 

The rooms were clean - if bijou - the facilities good and everyone soon settled in.  In the evenings a final remnant of energy (or bread) would be burnt off and the scampering of little derby runners negotiating curves and straights, accompanied by stifled laughter, and the occasional bump could be heard, until the self-appointed guardians of the corridor, one in fetching leopard spotted pyjamas, and the other, the voice of authority, gently persuaded each and every one, down to the last morph-suited alien, to retire to their beds.  All was peaceful at last, with only the occasional cough, untamed by the never-ending bottle of Calpol, breaking the silence.

On the road between venues, there was nothing our wonderful bus driver, Philippe, didn’t seem to know –expertly manoeuvring his immaculate bus, he spoke of historical places of interest, explained the history of the breweries, the way of life.   Pointing out the different places of worship Mosques, Synagogues, he discussed how there was little trouble there, with people of different cultures and beliefs existing side by side.  His own positive attitude and forward thinking made him a real asset and undoubtedly helped make what was already an extremely well organised trip run even more smoothly. 

So much happened during such a short space of time, that if I were to write about it all, this would end up as a book, so I will try and keep it brief and just focus on some of my favourite bits. 

The enchanting houses, with wooden beams, and balconies with flowers, not unlike some of the buildings in Lacock, but bigger.  The conductor Philippe from L´Harmonie Schiltigheim …. Speaking Italian, “tutti, tutti”, and swirling his arms around, ears and eyes everywhere, nothing escaping him, a smiling and extroverted perfectionist, alongside him Gustave and Sonia forming and melding the two groups into one, bringing out the best in them, working together, everyone learning from each other. The lovely trombone player, who gave me an impromptu trombone lesson in one of the break-out rooms encouraged by a group of band members at the door.  The scrumptious supper, especially the delightful little cakes (a recipe from Bordeaux?) that looked unassuming but were fiendishly crunchy on the outside and melted in your mouth like honey on the inside.  Heaven.  All prepared by the band members of the L´Harmonie Schiltigheim and their families – the trombonist seated opposite me at the dining table was the proud author of the vanilla and chocolate cake.  The fantastic concert in the Schiltigheim Salle des Fêtes, in front of an audience of hundreds.  The appreciative ladies sitting behind me, speaking Alsatian, as I found out when I asked them in halting French confused as to why I could only understand one word in three even though it sounded German.  Our magnificent players.  The professionalism of each and every one of them, driving the audience to their feet, clamouring for encores.  No, I am not exaggerating, they were brilliant. Hats off also to the imaginative individual, who, on turning the page and finding himself confronted with a blank sheet, mid-Les Miserables, was able to improvise and hats off also to the teamwork of the other players following on, making it seem as if nothing untoward had happened.  

The outings were a well-deserved reward and a little light relief from rehearsals and performances.  The Batorama, where the commentary (could it have been on Channel 13?) in English, but not as we know it, caused much hilarity, but this did not detract from the charm of gliding through the water past truly beautiful edifices of all shapes and sizes.  Ducks and swans paddled alongside, soon left behind, and a cormorant rested on some rocks, enjoying the sun.  There were even locks, which were expertly navigated by our captain. 

In the centre of Strasbourg, the Cathedral was breath-taking; every stone elaborately worked into beautiful carvings, reaching skyward, light glowing through the incredible stained glass windows reaching into the cavernous interior, a bit too overwhelming for me, but the youngsters explored it happily.  I contented myself with skirting the spacious square, admiring the local souvenirs displayed in the small shops – a definite theme of storks running through (the local emblem, as Felipe later informed us) - and cafés, resisting the many cakes but succumbing to the little stall selling hot chestnuts, hurriedly picking up my chestnut peelings I had inadvertently dropped on the impeccable cobbles.  The shops in the little roads leading off from the square selling high-end fashion and handmade shoes were not for the faint hearted or those suffering from a slim wallet… but nice nonetheless.  A saxophonist released crystalline notes from his intricately engraved silver saxophone into the sunny atmosphere. The delicious perfume of bread and cakes enticed us into the market; pretzels became a firm favourite with some of our youngsters.  A little flea-market down another side road sold goods as varied as mandolins to old medical flasks and comic books for extravagant prices.  I eyed a picture book of the Smurfs, a nickname for my girls, but resisted, a relief to them I should think.

The final concert at the Council of Europe, better not get that one the wrong way round.  Organised by Peter, who deserves a very special mention.  Nothing was too trouble much for him, an instrument broken, he provided another; drum-kit needed, he placed it at our disposal.  His way with people:  brilliant.  Thank you so much. 

I digress, back to the Council of Europe.  A very knowledgeable lady talked us through a film presentation on what they actually do there, let us ask questions and then took us on into the big meeting chamber.  Pretty impressive.  I certainly learnt a lot and the band members seemed to be taking it all in also.  Then it was our turn, and it is fair to say, in slightly street slang, from one who can only play stumbling notes, that the band rocked the joint and wowed the audience.  Ode to Joy soared to the rafters followed by several other expertly executed numbers and the concert was aptly concluded by Mambo Number 5 which had several executives and tour groups tapping their feet and clapping their approval. 

Our final outing, Koenigsburg Castle.  A misty day, climbing up curving roads through woodland.  A sliver of sunshine over the castle, mist swirling around its base.  No camera.  Aaaagh.  Mist or pretty much fog by now, pouring in through the windows, like smoke.  Beautiful tiled ovens, wrought iron cannons.  Everyone in their element happily exploring.  Slightly grumpy staff, but it didn’t matter, they didn’t mar our enjoyment.  The inquisitive minds of our group found that running the little speaking information gadgets over the plan of the castle made them all function at once  - and were much amused - as forty or so little gadgets all started babbling gibberish whilst slung over Jack´s arm at collection time. 

Listening to Philipp explain the braking system of the bus whilst negotiating the downward climb, just using the gears, pretty cool.  Apparently if you run the brakes hot, and then halt the bus they can catch fire.  Wouldn’t want to put that to the test. 

Strictly Windband, the entertainment for the final night was hilariously judged by Len (Martin), Bruno-darliiiings (Andy), Craig (Jack) and Darcey (Julie) in one of her many incarnations, amongst which figured those of musician, first aider and brilliant helper.  Sonia acted as compere and held the evening together. It proved a great success and the chocolate prizes went down very well.  The last sleep at the hostel followed by a morning walk through the park, and as my youngest put it “I chewed the same piece of chewing gum all the way on the walk from France to Germany and back”.  One way of measuring distance I guess.  A quick sortie over the bridge spanning the Rhine to the pretty town of Kehl for a final spot of shopping, and then we had to be off.

Finally the time came to bid adieu.  The lovely Peter wrote ‘come back´ on our train windows and I sincerely hope we will, one day.  It has been a real privilege.  Thank you so much for such a wonderful experience, Sonia, Andy, Martin, Peter and Corsham Wind Band.  I, for one, will never forget it.

Remembrance Sunday

Many thanks to all those who attended the service at the Box War memorial.  As ever, it was a moving ceremony and it was encouraging to see so many young people there on this, the 100^th anniversary of the start of the First World War.  The CWA members were enhanced by other players, young and adult, to provide the hymn and National Anthem music and a good range of instruments was represented.  The quality of playing was good, especially considering it was from sight, with only a few minutes rehearsal beforehand.  As so often, we are indebted to Jack Anstee, who came along without an instrument, just to give support, as he was pressed into conducting the combined band.  Thanks also to George McGrory and his ever-helpful parents for bringing a reduced drum-kit, never the easiest instruments to transport and set up.  The good weather was a major blessing.

Morgan Brace Bumper

I may be preaching to the converted here but this was new to me.  If you are having orthodontic treatment, with braces on your teeth, you may find forming an embouchure to play a brass instrument is uncomfortable.  A possible solution is a Morgan Brace Bumper.  This is a strip of moulded soft plastic that fits over the brace wire and fixings, forming a soft, even surface.  It should protect the inside of the lips from the rough surfaces of the brace when playing.  They are available from Packer’s of Taunton (www.johnpacker.co.uk) and come in long pieces that are cut to size.  I’ll try and get some feed-back from a user for a future newsletter but so far we have had problems keeping it from falling off during play.  Denture adhesive, perhaps?

For Sale

For Sale: Boosey & Hawkes 400 Cornet

Complete with hard case

Good Condition

Ideal for beginner/intermediate player

£95

Contact: David Price, 01249 715553 / 0781 841 8964 / dave@djp-solutions.co.uk