MONTHLY DRAW
As you will be aware, Fishburn Supporters club, based in the Fishburn Workingmen's Club, are a huge support to the Band giving essential financial aid through their efforts at fund raising. The following numbers are this Months winners of the Fishburn Band draw organised by the supporters club (Drawn 13 December 2008):
£60
2238
2238£30 669
669£20 116
116£10 496
496£10 2363
2363£5 1615
1615£5 1749
1749£5 451
451£5 955
955£5 58
58£5 2320
2320Bandroom News 18.12.08
SCOTTISH OPEN
We are pleased to report that we were awarded a very creditable 4th place at the Scottish Open Championships at Perth Concert Hall after an excellent performance of St Magnus by Kenneth Downie who was present at the Contest. In summing up, the judges stated that whilst the winning Band (Scottish Co-op) were deserved winners, it was difficult to separate the 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions and that they could have been in any order. Unfortunately, Kirkintilloch were placed 2nd and last years winners Whitburn, 3rd. We were however, the highest placed English Band in the contest.
The Band were lead by the excellent Alan Morrison for the first time and Alan made an instant impression on the Band with his work ethic and thorough reading of the piece. All the soloists played their parts with style and confidence as you would expect, but this was a real team effort, with everyone in the Band playing a very important part in the contest to pull off such a good performance - even the Percussion! (only joking). Thanks go to our guests on the day, Gareth, Neil, Beth, Steve and Phil who gave us their all. Click here to read the remarks. We're now busy rehearsing for a series of Concerts and Masterclasses - there's no peace for the wicked!
Bandroom News 02.12.08
FANTASY FOOTBALL
Well done to Big Neil and Ronnie and their team Winterton Park Rangers on winning Managers of the Month for November with a brilliant 70 points. Well done also to the Audrey and Jayne and their team Broadway Breezers on clinching the runners up spot with an excellent 60 points.
Keep up to date by visiting our fantasy League by clicking here.
Bandroom News 01.12.08
PONTINS
Hi-De-Hi, Well not quite, but we did have a good day at Pontins. The Band came in a reasonable 7th position after a decent performance of the very difficult but enjoyable Cloudcatcher Fells by John McCabe, under the Direction of Phil Rosier. Highlights of the day came from our Back-row Cornets Anna, Patrick, Jayne, Nicola and Audrey, and Becky on Percussion, who all gave excellent perfomances on very exposed parts. The Band once again played with confidence and is steadily improving to get back to the standard we know we are capable of.
Next up is the Scottish Open at Perth on the excellent St Magnus and look forward to some solid rehearsals in preparation. We have engaged the services of Fishburn old boy Alan Morrison to direct us, hopefully to another win in Bonny Scotland.
Bandroom News 31.10.08
FANTASY FOOTBALL
Well done to Audrey and Jayne and their team Broadway Breezers on winning Managers of the Month for October with a brilliant 63 points. Well done also to the Gill boys and their team Absolutely FABregas on clinching the runners up spot with 55 points.
Keep up to date by visiting our fantasy League by clicking here.
Bandroom News 31.10.08
FANTASY FOOTBALL
Well done to Neil Parkin and his team Bari Town on winning Manager of the Month for September with an excellent 48 points. Well done also to Audrey and Jayne and their team Broadway Breezers on clinching the runners up spot with 39 points.
Keep up to date by visiting our fantasy League by clicking here.
Bandroom News 31.10.08
FANTASY FOOTBALL
At the end of a frantic Month of tactical changes to our teams, we have our first Managers of the Month for the season. The dream team of Carole Bell and Phil Rosier ~ 'Carphilly' won the August 'Managers of the Month' with a total of 39 points. Close behind with 38 points came John, Mal and Kieran Gill with their team 'Absolutely FABregas' with a total of 38 points. Wooden spoons for the Month came Ronnie Bannister and Neil Simpson with their team 'Winterton Park Rangers' with a measly 25 points. Still, there's a long season ahead of us all and no doubt there will be quite a few changes in the league between now and May 2009.
Keep up to date by visiting our fantasy League by clicking here.
Bandroom News 07.09.08
HOLIDAY SEASON
The holiday season is now drawing to a close and we can shake off the cobwebs and get back into full swing ready for our forthcoming concerts and contests. Prior to the holidays, we had a very enjoyable concert at Whitby Spa (27 July) which was well received by an appreciative audience which set us up nicely for the break. We are now rehearsing for our concert at St Edmunds Church, Sedgefield (6 September), Cloudcatcher Fells for Pontins Contest (26 October) and St Magnus for the Scottish Open Contest (30 November).
Bandroom News 29.08.08
FANTASY FOOTBALL
Season 2008~09 is now underway following an enjoyable evening of astute auctioneering on 20 July. We have 2 new managers within the league this year, Martin Armstrong (who was in the league some years ago) and Jayne Bateman who was obviously bidding for the pretty boys. Our teams this year are as follows:
League teams:
Absolutely FABregas John, Mal & Kieran Gill
Bari Town Neil Parkin
Winterton Park Rangers Neil Simpson & Ronnie Bannister
Broadway Breezers Audrey Gill & Jayne Bateman
TheseBootsASreMade4Walking Mal Usher & Helen Gill
Abigail's Avengers Jeff Bell & Martin Armstrong
Carphilly Carole Bell & Phil Rosier
Game on! - Visit our League to see how we are doing by clicking here
Bandroom News 26.07.08
BBC 'LISTEN TO THE BAND' RECORDING
Fishburn Band were honoured at being asked to record for the BBC programme 'Listen to the Band' Lead by the excellent Russell Gray, the Band played a varied programme of music which will be aired later in the year (watch for the date on this website). The programme included:
Imperial echoes
Holiday for Strings
I Raise You Up (Tenor Horn Solo- Martin Armstrong)
Buglers Holiday (Cornet Trio - John Gill, John White & Paul Kerry)
Michaelangelo (Euphonium Solo - Jeff Bell)
Siciliano from Little Suite for Brass Band
Mumbo Jumbo
Bandroom News 20.07.08
MONTHLY DRAW
As you will be aware, Fishburn Supporters club, based in the Fishburn Workingmen's Club, are a huge support to the Band giving essential financial aid through their efforts at fund raising. The following numbers are this Months winners of the Fishburn Band draw organised by the supporters club (Drawn 14 June 2008):
£60 216
216£301361
1361£201929
1929£101589
1589£10 369
369£5 1166
1166£5 524
524£5 1835
1835£5 348
348£5 470
470£5 243
243Bandroom News 19.06.08
MASTERCLASS CONCERT
The Band had another enjoyable afternoon and evening as Durham University's Brass Band in Residence on Sunday 15 June 2008 with Ray Farr's 'Conductors masterclass' rehearsal and concert for Masters Degree students, Huw Thomas and Chris Evans as part of their final MA recitals. The concert included challenging works such as Tallis Variations by Philip Sparke, and Edward Gregson's Connotations, along with Concerto for Timpani and Band by Jacobs, played by Chris as part of his instrumental recital, Fortinbras - The Prince of Norway's March by Shostakovich, which was arranged for Band by Harriet Wybor, a Durham University student, and Mozart's Lacrimosa. We have now commenced preparing Robert Redhead's difficult 'INFINITY' for the English Masters contest under the Direction of Ray Farr, which is to be held at The Guild Hall, Preston on Saturday 28 June 2008.
Bandroom News 19.06.08
FANTASY FOOTBALL
Season 2007~08 has now drawn to a close and the resultant placing's of our teams are as follows:
League table:
1. Die Hards Trilogy John, Mal & Kieran Gill 555 points
2. Bari Town Neil Parkin 465 points
3. Winterton Park Rangers Neil Simpson & Ronnie Bannister 434 points
4. Magners Merry Men Audrey Gill & Jo Brown 369 points
5. Souper Eleven Mal Usher & Helen Gill 326 points
6. Abigail's Avengers Jeff Bell 317 points
7. Fishburn Bandits Steven Hardy & John Youll 309 points
8. Grannies Gunners Carole Bell & Phil Rosier 216 points
F.A Cup Competition:
Winners - Souper Eleven
Runners Up - Grannies Gunners
League Series Competition:
Winners - Die Hards Trilogy
Runners Up - Winterton Park Rangers
Custom Cup Competition:
Winners - Bari Town
Runners Up - Winterton Park Rangers
A special mention must be made regarding Audrey and Jo's 'Magners Merry Men' who got the the semi final of the European Cup competition against teams from all the leagues in the Fantasy League, a remarkable achievement!
Well done to all the Managers and their teams on another excellent season. Well, that's it for this season - but another one starts in August so not long to wait!
Bandroom News 18.05.08
88th SPRING FESTIVAL - SENIOR CUP
The Band played the excellent Elgar Variations by Martin Ellerby at this years Senior Cup in the Winter Gardens, Blackpool under the expert guidance of Ray Farr who directed a very good reading of the piece. Unfortunately, minor slips proved costly and the Band were awarded a reasonable 7th place out of 19 Bands. The result means that we are eligible for the Senior Cup 2009 where we will again bid to qualify for a return to the Grand Shield. Congratulations to the Senior Cup winners EYMS who are members of the Northern Area, we hope you do well in the Grand Shield next year (in our absence). Many thanks to the Solo Euphonium Player from Bo'ness and Carriden, who helped us out on the day in Jeff Bell's unfortunate absence and gave a very brave performance considering he had already played for his own band immediately beforehand. Click here to read the remarks.
Bandroom News 18.05.08
MONTHLY DRAW
As you will be aware, Fishburn Supporters club, based in the Fishburn Workingmen's Club, are a huge support to the Band giving essential financial aid through their efforts at fund raising. The following numbers are this Months winners of the Fishburn Band draw organised by the supporters club (Drawn 12 April 2008):
£602001
2001£301269
1269£202204
2204£101115
1115£101397
1397£5 2298
2298£5 645
645£5 2347
2347£5 441
441£5 2200
2200£5 225
225Bandroom News 16.04.08
MASTERCLASS
The Band had another enjoyable afternoon as Durham University's Brass Band in Residence on Sunday 13 April 2008 with Ray Farr's 'Conductors masterclass'. The set piece was the strange but intriguing 'Songs for BL' by Elgar Howarth. The piece was specially commissioned for the National Brass Band Championship of Great Britain held at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 21 October 1995 at which Fishburn participated under the direction of Ian Robinson. Elgar Howarth led the proceedings putting both the Conductors and the Band through their paces. Elgar explained the background to the piece was a musical picture of his own family, detailing the different characters involved - including himself, but didn't give away who BL actually was! Our own resident Musical Director, Philip Rosier, was once again among the fine ensemble of conductors as part of his University course. We look forward to our next venture with the conductors on 8 June 2008 under Ray's leadership on the excellent Tallis Variations. We are now starting to prepare Martin Ellerby's difficult 'Elgar Variations' for the Senior Cup contest under the Direction of Ray Farr, which is to be held at Blackpool Winter Gardens on Saturday 10 May.
Bandroom News 16.04.08
AREA CONTEST
Despite a good performance of the excellent Festival Music (Eric Ball) by the Band at the Dolphin Centre in Darlington, it just wasn't quite good enough for the adjudicator, David Horsfield. We were awarded a very creditable 190 points, but were unfortunately placed 4th behind winners Reg Vardy, Runners up EYMS and 3rd placed Felling Band (Who did themselves proud on their return to the top section). Many thanks to Russell Gray for all your hard work with the Band, sorry we didn't quite reach our goal. Thanks also to Suzanne Kay who played 1st Horn at the contest. Suzanne travelled from her new home in Preston, Lancashire, leading up to the contest showing extreme commitment to the Band. Congratulations to those bands who qualified for the Albert Hall, London. We should also mention our ex-player/committee man, Len Potts. Len was awarded best Soprano Cornet player whilst playing for Ferryhill Band at the contest. Considering he also plays Bass, Bb Cornet, Tenor Horn and Percussion, he is a force to be reckoned within the Brass Band scene with his versatility! Click here to read our remarks
Bandroom News 07.04.08
FANTASY FOOTBALL
Well done once again to John, Mal and Kieran Gill and their team 'Die Hard Trilogy' on becoming Managers of the Month for both February and March 2008 with an excellent 49 and 92 points respectively, edging out Neil Parkin's team 'Bari Town' in February and Neil Simpson & Ronnie Bannister's team 'Winterton Rangers' in March. These 3 teams are still setting the pace at the top of the league at present, but we will be interested to see what the final placings will be. Click here to visit our Fantasy League site.
Bandroom News 07.04.08
SOMETHING IN THE WATER?
We are delighted to announced the safe arrival of 2 new babies for members of the Band. Cornet players John and Andrea White have had a baby boy, Samuel, born on 28 February, and Horn player Ann Hall and her husband Andrew, who plays Horn with Reg Vardy band, have had a baby girl Isobel Grace, born in March. A huge congratulations to you from all the Band. Enjoy the sleepless nights!
Bandroom News 30.03.08
HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY!
Happy 7th birthday to our website which came online on 25 February 2001. We would like to thank all our visitors for the last 7 years support - it makes all the effort worthwhile. Here's to a long and successful future to both the Band and the website!
Bandroom News 25.02.08
MASTERCLASS
The band had another enjoyable afternoon as Durham University's Brass Band in Residence on Sunday 24 February 2008 with Ray Farr's 'Conductors masterclass'. The set piece was the excellent 'Connotations' by Edward Gregson. The piece was specially commissioned for the National Brass Band Championship of Great Britain held at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 8 October 1977. Our own resident Musical Director, Philip Rosier, was once again among the fine ensemble of conductors as part of his University course. We look forward to our next venture with the conductors on 13 April 2008 under Ray's leadership.
We are now getting down to business in rehearsing for the area championships on the set test piece 'Festival Music' by Eric Ball (1956), which is to be held at the Dolphin Centre, Darlington on 30 March 2008. We will be conducted by the brilliant Russell Gray at the contest and we will being doing our best to qualify for the National Finals in October.
Bandroom News 25.02.08
SAGE CONCERT, GATESHEAD
We had a very full day of rehearsals and massed bands concert with soloist at the spectacular 'Sage' in Gateshead on Sunday 17 February 2008 under the Musical Direction of the excellent Ray Farr. There was an excellent turn out of over 1,400 enthusiastic patrons at the concert which set the scene for a most enjoyable event. The Cornet Soloist, Richard Marshall of Black Dyke band, was in brilliant form making his extremely difficult solo's sound easy. Ray was also at his best and had the audience enthralled. The bands taking part where Fishburn Band, Reg Vardy Band and Felling Band who all played with precision and style.
The concert included such pieces as Orpheus in the Underworld with it's Can-Can section, Bohemian Rhapsody, Nicea, Candide, Mexican Hat Dance (with the Reg Vardy comedy trio supported by sombrero and poncho clad cornet players from Fishburn and Felling), and Stars and Stripes.
Bandroom News 25.02.08
PRESTON CONTEST
Our trip to Preston for the Brass at the Guild Contest, Preston on 3 February 2008 where we performed the brilliant but very difficult 'Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' did not reap the rewards for the very confident and technically assured performance given. Ex-Fishburn old boy Alan Morrison was the adjudicator and we obviously didn't find any favour from his resultant decision coming in 9th out of 18 Bands. The winners were Pemberton Old Wigan JJB who have now won the competition 3 times in the 5 years that the contest has ran. Local rivals Easington Band also put in a spirited performance on their chosen piece 'Pageantry' and were awarded 11th place. Many thanks to our guests on the day, Michael on Horn, Andy on Cornet, Dave on Bass and Sarah on Percussion. The transfer forms are in the post! We are now working hard rehearsing for our forthcoming joint concert at the Sage, Gateshead where we will be appearing with Reg Vardy and Felling Bands along with cornet soloist Richard Marshall, on Sunday 17 February 2008. We are also rehearsing a piece specially written by Ray Farr's son for the lower sections of the European championships, which we will be recording on Friday 15 February at Durham University.
Bandroom News 09.02.08
FANTASY FOOTBALL
Well done once again to John, Mal and Kieran Gill and their team 'Die Hard Trilogy' on becoming Managers of the Month for January 2008 with an excellent 85 points, again edging out Neil Parkin's team 'Bari Town' who had 56 points. These 2 teams are still setting the pace at the top of the league at present, but we will be interested to see what effect our mid-season auction has had at which each team bid for up to 10 new players.
Bandroom News 09.02.08
PLAYERS
There have been some changes in personnel within the Band with us making some excellent acquisitions over the New Year. We welcome the return of the outstanding Martin Armstrong on Solo Horn who has rejoined the Band following his recent 'tour of the world' as solo horn of top bands such as Black Dyke, Fodens, Battle Creek, USA - (of which he is still a member), and culminating with the World famous 'Grimethorpe Band'. We also welcome the excellent Cornet player Anna Ferguson who was formerly Principal Cornet of Easington Band, Trombone player Andy Hunter who is a musician in the armed forces, and Eileen Dering who joins on Tenor horn from Langbaurgh Band having recently guested with the Band at the Scottish Open. The high standard of these players will only help improve the band and we look forward to a very successful future particularly in the contest field. This coupled with our busy schedule of concerts and masterclasses means that there are exciting times ahead for the band as we aim to become the top Band in the area!
Unfortunately, our former Solo Horn player Steve Hardy, has decided to move on to Reg Vardy band on First Horn. We wish him good luck in his new band and thank him for his excellent service to Fishburn Band.
Bandroom News 15.01.08
MASTERCLASS
The band had a very enjoyable afternoon as Durham University's Brass Band in Residence on 13 January 2008 with Ray Farr's 'Conductors masterclass'. The set piece was Wilfred Heaton's very difficult but rewarding 'Contest Music'. Our own resident Musical Director, Philip Rosier, was among the fine ensemble of conductors as part of his University course. We look forward to our next venture with the conductors on 24 February with the test being the excellent 'Connotations' under Ray's leadership.
Bandroom News 15.01.08
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Fishburn Band would like to wish all our visitors and supporters a very Happy, Healthy and Successful 2008. We've had a very busy period just prior to Xmas and completed our regular Xmas carol playing around the local villages and at Makro and enjoyed our Xmas concert for our supporters at the Fishburn Club on 14 December, along with a joint concert with Durham Choral Choir on 15 December at Elvet Church, Durham. We've had a well deserved short break and enjoyed the festivities but it was back to work on Sunday 30 December preparing for the Brass at the Guild Contest, Preston on 3 February 2008 where we will be performing the brilliant 'Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' and for Ray Farr's Conductors Masterclass on Sunday 13 January 2008 where we will be helping to put the conductors through their paces on Wilfred Heaton's 'Contest Music'
Bandroom News 10.01.08
FANTASY FOOTBALL
Well done to John, Mal and Kieran Gill and their team 'Die Hard Trilogy' on becoming Managers of the Month for December 2007 with an outstanding 104 points, edging out Neil Parkin's team 'Bari Town' who had a very good 87 points. These 2 teams are setting the pace at the top of the league at present, but we will be having our mid-season auction at the end of January which will shake things up when each team have to release 10 players from our squads.
Bandroom News 10.01.08
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