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Satisfactory result at the Guild.

The band came away with a creditable 4th place at todays Brass at the Guild contest, the highest placed 1st section band, and we take comfort from the solid performance we gave after a pretty tough build up.

Thanks to former members and deputies that helped out, and congratulations to Blackburn and Darwen, Pemberton and Wire Brass who took the prizes!

Championship Section
Adjudicator: David Read MBE

1. Blackburn & Darwen (N.Sheppard) (7) 191pts
2. Pemberton Old Wigan DW (M.Bentham) (4) 189pts
3. Bactiguard Wire Brass (P.Andrews) (2) 187pts
4. Freckleton (P.Dalton)(3) 186pts
5 Blackpool Brass (C.Larder) (5) 184pts
6. Newstead Welfare (D.Beckley) (6) 183pts
7. Hade Edge (S.Wood) (1) 182pts

Onwards and Upwards to the Area competition on March 14th!

The Youth Band needs you!

The Freckleton Band is starting a new Youth Band!

The first rehearsal is on Monday, 22nd February, from 7pm until 7.50pm, before the normal band rehearsal.

The band will be directed by Jonathan Ford, who will be assisted by main band players. All adults involved are subject to CRB checks.

We have some instruments available to borrow, but we need advance warning if you need this facility.

If you are interested in more details, please email acattanach@gmail.com

The Band needs you!

The band currently has vacancies for Cornet players, a Soprano and percussionists.

We welcome all ages, and improving players with potential are encouraged to get in touch along with more established players.

If you want to get in touch, please email acattanach@gmail.com

The Band is delighted to be supporting Lytham's 2nd Brass Festival at St. Cuthberts’s Church, Lytham

Saturday 17th April 2010

Adjudicator - Ian Brownbill

Classes for Junior, Primary, Open, Junior Quartet and Senior Quartet.

Gala Concert by Freckleton Band in the Evening.

for full details Click Here

Shock Joint award!

At our Lowther Christmas concert, the Bandsman of the year award was presented by Paul Dalton, our Musical Director.

This year, in an unprecedented move, he awarded it to 2 people jointly, Rachael Shore and Gareth Maybury.

Rachael is one of the most committed and reliable members of the band, and is as close to a 100% attendee I've ever known.

Gareth is a versatile multi instrumentalist, who has played Percussion, BBb and EEb Bass, Solo Euph, 2nd Euph, Baritone, 1st and 2nd Trombone during the year to help us out depending what we needed when he arrived.

Well done, and thank you, to both worthy recipients!

Christmas wishes from the Band.

As we draw to the close of our 'official' Christmas Season with tonight's Lowther Pavilion concert, Freckleton Band wishes all our supporters a happy, peaceful and safe Christmas.

We have a few village activities laft after tonight, with Monday, Christmas Eve and Boxing day morning carolling, then the Coach and Horses traditional concert on Boxing Day afternoon. Hopefully we'll see you sometime over the Christmas period!

A week off before the Christmas Countdown

The band is enjoying a week off after 3 weeks of busy schedule, with the Over 60's concert, a Charity concert for Action for Children and 2 Remembrance parades!

We return on Monday 16th November, with our Patrons concert the Monday after (23rd), before it's full steam ahead into our packed Christmas schedule.

Please support the band during our busiest period of the year, it wouldn't be Christmas without a brass band!

Prizewinners once more

The Band yet again won the annual Fleetwood Contest on Sunday October 4th. With a 2 point margin over local rivals Poulton, Longridge and Blackpool, our performance of Edward Gregson's 'Dances and Arias' was highly praised by the adjudicator, Malcolm Brownbill.

The band's Bass section also won the 'Best Basses' prize.

Mark Rossall, Bass, and Tim Bateman, Bass Trombone

We must thank several players who helped us out due to player vacancies and family commitments:

Andy MacDonald, Richard Walker and Vicky Noon (cornets), Tariq Ahmed (horn), Andy Lockett (percussion) and Ellen Palmer (trombone).

Popular "Last Night" Concert Thursday 27th August

Our popular free Last Night of the Proms concert is this Thursday, 27th August, outside the Coach and Horses.

It features all the usual favourites including Land of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem and Fantasia on British Sea songs as well as solos and normal programming.

Bring along a chair and a flag!

Well earned holiday

After a successful evening with Blackpool Youth Concert Band at Kirkham Grammar School (28th June), the band takes a well earned Summer break after Mondays rehearsal (13th) and starts back on Monday 10th August, ready to prepare for our popular free Last Night of the Proms concert on Thursday 27th August, at the Coach and Horses.

Coach and Horses Concert

The first free Coach and Horses concert of 2009 is on Thursday 11th June at 8pm. Come along and support the band!

Successful Day in Blackpool

The Freckleton Band took part in the Spring Festival contest in Blackpool on Saturday 9th May. As the only 1st section band in the Grand Shield, we performed well and avoided our usual 'YoYo' result, earning an invitation back to next years contest.

This is a great achievement for us, and is down in no small way to the preparation and dedication by our guest conductor, Gareth Pritchard. All of us at the band thank him for his expertise and patience.

Photos courtesy of Ian Clowes, http://www.pbase.com/troonly/brass

European Success for Boss!

Dave 'Boss' Hogg, our Percussionist currently living and working in Germany, has just reported that his new German Band, 3ba-brass, has won the B section of the European Brass Band Championships.

Congratulations to them all. No doubt several steins were consumed...

Conductor break at Freckleton

The Freckleton Band had some bad news on Sunday 19th April when their conductor, Paul Dalton, rang at 4pm to inform us that he had broken both bones in his conducting arm in a cycling accident that day. Unfortunately, the Band had one of its prestigious Lowther Pavilion concerts that evening with Guest Soloist Peter Moore and compere Tony Berry from the Houghton Weavers.

After a frantic 10 minutes panic, Andy Cattanach, Chairman, made a desperate call to Richard Evans who, at 2 hours notice, agreed to not only conduct the concert, but get there for the 6pm rehearsal. The concert passed without incident, and the Band thanks Richard for his help, professionalism and altruism, especially as he’d just settled down to watch his team, Everton, when we rang. Luckily, they won, and the Band had an extremely enjoyable time with Richard as well as gaining from his vast experience.

That brought the Band on to the pressing matter of the Grand Shield in less than 3 weeks. Paul Dalton confirmed he would be out of action for 2 months or more, so a plea for help was issued, and within hours several very kind offers of help, in any way they could, were made by several conductors. Alex Thomas, the Bands Principal Cornet, received a text from Gareth Pritchard, who briefly worked with the Band last year, just as he was about to call him and ask if he could help. The Band enjoyed Gareth’s rehearsal last year, and the way he works suits the Band. At very short notice, Gareth agreed to take Freckleton to the Grand Shield and cover all the rehearsals we had pencilled in.

Gareth said: ‘I worked with the Band at the end of last year and there was obviously an immediate rapport.  I’m excited therefore about working with the Band again, this time with a Contest performance at the end.  Due to the late nature of this appointment and the distance between South Wales and Freckleton, rehearsal time is at a premium, but I am confident that we will do everything in our power to give justice to Wilfred Heaton’s masterpiece.  The piece has fond memories for me as a player having played Principal Cornet 3 times - 1st place at the British Open with Rigid Containers conducted by Bramwell Tovey; 3rd place at the Area with Ransomes conducted by Peter Parkes and 3rd place at London RAH with Brodsworth Colliery conducted by David James.  It will be good to now conduct the piece and I will unashamedly incorporate some of their very different and personal interpretations as well as my own into my work with Freckleton.’

Rehearsals have begun with Gareth, and the Band looks forward to the contest, as well as sending Paul Dalton best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Lytham Brass Festival

The first annual Lytham Brass Festival took place on Saturday 21st March at St. Cuthbert’s Church, Lytham.

Organised by Sylvia Howard, and adjudicated by Malcolm Brownbill, there was a healthy entry of solo and quartets with the following results
 
Primary Slow melody  
1st - Gemma Riley, Pemberton Youth Band.
2nd - Asim Iqbal from St. Annes.

Junior Slow melody
1st - Jonathan Bates, Thurlston Band.
2nd - Leslie Harrison, Blackpool Training Band.

Open Slow Melody.  
1st - Richard Cookson, Bass,  Preston,
2nd - Tom Johnson, Soprano,   Blackburn and Darwen Band.

Open Quartet
1st - Freckleton Tuba Quartet
2nd - United Co-op Crewe Cornet Quartet.
 
Malcolm’s comments were, as ever, helpful and constructive whilst completely honest, and he was keen to point out that the Slow Melody and Quartet styles were hard to master as some competitors had shown, while nerves played a part in a number of performances.
 
There were entries from all over the North West, with United Co-op Crewe providing 4 of the 8 quartet entries, and Blackburn and Darwen, the Longridge Trombones, Longridge Basses and Freckleton Tuba Quartet making up the entries. Hopefully next year’s event will attract even more entries and may include an Air-Varie solo section as well.
 
The event ran smoothly, and to time, with a lovely venue both acoustically and aesthetically, good warm up facilities, healthy prize money and food provided by a Michelin Starred chef to boot.
 
The day concluded with a gala concert by the Freckleton Band, with guest soloist internationally renowned Soprano Nicola Howard, also featuring the bands soloists Alex Thomas (cornet), Caroline Cross (horn), Patrick Howard (euphonium) and Peter Lockett(Eb Bass).
 
No date for next year’s festival is set yet, but it will probably be in April, after Easter, but before the Spring Festival. A Press Release will be made when the date is known.

Listen to the (Freckleton) Band!

The band was featured on Friday 13th March in a broadcast we recorded last year for the BBC. If you missed it, you can hear it for a week from now at the Listen to the band website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/listentotheband/

Listen to the (Freckleton) Band... Eventually!

The band is featured on Friday 13th March in a broadcast we recorded last year for the BBC. It's on at 9.30pm, BBC Radio 2 on Listen to the Band programme with Frank Renton.

Try and tune in!

We wuz robbed !

No, really, we were!

After a fine performance today, expected by most people to be top 3 or the winner, we were placed 9th at the North West Area competition at Blackpool. The band is gutted with the result after such a good performance, and most people we've spoken to have said how dismayed they are at the result.

That's banding, hard though it is to take at times. Congratulations to those who were looked on more favourably than us, we'll be back next year!

Get Twittering!

If you're one of the growing number of Twitter users, the band now has an account that you can follow us on. Just got to http://twitter.com/Freckletonband.

The band also has a Facebook Group if you use that. A simple search on Facebook will find us!

Player influx!

As with all bands at this time of year, we have a couple of new faces for the forthcoming contests. Our regular percussion team is unable be with us, with Dave Hogg relocated to Germany, and Dave Little busy with work inspections, so we have had to draft in some help!

We welcome Rachael Keefe on Percussion, and Chris Starr, also on Percussion, makes a welcome return to the band. Rachael plays with Wigan Youth Brass Band and Jazz Orchestra, and Chris is formerly of YBS and Faireys.

Paul Hawkin, formerly of BT, recently joined the band on cornet, but can't be with us for the contest as he had already arranged to go to New Zealand. We welcome him all the same though!

Good result at Brass at the Guild.

The band put in an excellent performance today at Preston's Guild Hall at the annual 'Brass at the Guild' competition.

We were awarded 2nd place, a great achievement as we beat several local rivals as well as many bands in the section above us!

Congratulations to Pemberton who won the competition.

1. Pemberton Old - Music of the Spheres

2. Freckleton - Variations on an Enigma

3. Sovereign Brass - Diversions on a Bass Theme

4. Jackfield - Trittico

Entry Date Extended .

The entry date for Lytham Brass Festival has been extended until the 6th March! Time for everyone to get over the competitions coming up, and get an entry in.

Busy year ahead for the band.

After a short break the band is back hard at work, preparing for Preston and the Area contests. Also coming up are Formby Hall

(15th March) and the exciting new Lytham Brass Festival (21st March). See our Events page for more details.

We have exciting plans for a trip to Canada at Easter 2010 as well, and the initial arrangements are being discussed for this.

Keep up to date with all the goings on by checking back regularly!

Happy New Year from the band!

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