The passing year has been one of change for the Band. No sooner had we wished some of our young players all the best as they left for university than we were welcoming "Big Nigel" the bass player, his partner Cher (a musical name!) and also two trombone players Mark and Aima. Nigel was one of the players taught by George Tutte and having always kept in touch , he has now been able to come on a regular basis.
Mark is a missionary who works in Brazil and is currently here on a year's course. His Brazilian wife and their two children are also here. The other trombone player, Aima, is an American girl also studying here for a year, so the Band currently has an international flavour. Mark's children have also joined the Beginners' Group, and we are absolutely thrilled with all the youngsters who have joined over the last few months. They have already put on two shows and I am sure there will be many more to come.
A Happy New Year from everybody in Yarnton Band!
I am absolutely delighted with our new recruits in the Beginners' Group and the Training Band. It is a really nice group to work with and they are all doing very well. Another pleasing aspect is that we now have a good influx from the village of Yarnton. Of course we can always do with a few more, especially boys, to balance the numbers a bit. It is possible to play an instrument as well as play football. One of my school friends had a brother who played the cornet for Stonesfield Band and represented England school boys at football.
The Training Band is now practising some Christmas carols, although the music is a little more difficult than what they would normally have been playing, but that is what audiences will expect to hear. The Training Band has a few performances which are already planned, such as concerts at a Witney Methodist Church bazaar and at the Cheshire Home in Adderbury. We might even do a bit of street caroling, providing we have enough tunes, so that we can go out of earshot before playing the same ones again.
The Senior Band, many of whom are not much older than the members of the Training Band, has its usual list of Christmas engagements, which of course includes the Christmas Songs of Praise at St. Bartholemew's Church in Yarnton at 5 p.m. on Sunday, which will be with candles this time. We will also do our usual caroling around the village.
Christmas and thank you go hand in hand, and I would like to thank you all for the interest and support we receive in the village. A big thank you to Mr Leybourn and his staff for having us at the school, especially the caretakers, Carol and Yvonne, who have to put up with us.
Merry Christmas to you all from everybody at Yarnton Band!
The Band felt very privileged to be invited to do a joint concert with the Brize Norton Singers in the beautiful methodist church in Witney High Street. It is a policy of the Brize Norton Singers to invite another musical group to do a joint concert. They allocate a certain amount of tickets for the guest group to sell themselves, and the rest the singers sell to raise money for an impressive list of charities.
Our Musical Director, Guy James, was clearly delighted not only with the playing but how much the young players in particular enjoyed performing to a large audience to a large audience, some two hundred and fifty plus, and also how well they were bonding during the times that we were not playing and the buffet and social event afterwards. Away days such as this are what the Band really needs to do more of, as the social side is every bit as important to the younger members.
On Sunday 13th November at 3 p.m. the Yarnton branch of the Royal British Legion will be joined by the Scouts, Guides, Cubs and Brownies along with the Band for the act of remembrance and remembrance songs of praise at St. Bartholomew's Church in Yarnton. Our new Priest in Charge, Andrew Parkinson, will be officiating and hopefully a good number of you will be able to join us.
For the last few years the Band has played at the Hanborough Show, a sort of old-fashioned craft and local produce show, held at the recreation ground in Hanborough. These pastoral surroundings seem the perfect setting for a warm, sunny late summer afternoon with a hint of freshness in the air anticipating the changing season ahead.
For the youngsters, of course, big changes are afoot: change of teacher, change of school, and for some leaving home for the first time and going off to university, or in other cases travelling or doing charity work in far-off lands, or both. They are on the threshold of life, as they say, with plenty to look forward to.
We have three leaving this year and all three have been with us a long time, so we will miss them, not least because they are excellent players. They have applied themselves very well in their music as in their studies and we wish them the very best.
With plenty of jobs coming up including a joint concert with the Brise Norton Singers there will be plenty of opportunity for the younger members to step up. There are always opportunities in the Band whether you are a beginner, an improver or a budding soloist. We want people to take these opportunities.
It was with great regret that the Band was unable to play at the village V.J. Day commemoration, but for a few years now we have taken a short break in August with so many people away. The Band in the village is a theme to which the current Band is completely committed. The support and goodwill of the community at large is something on which you cannot put a price. We currently have four annual village jobs, apart from our own concert, but we are always keen to play on our own patch. So, please, if you are organising an event, do not hesitate to contact us.
We have recently had a healthy little influx of new recruits for the Beginners' Group, including, I am very pleased to say, some from the village. I hope this will continue in an upward trend. I have spoken to one or two other parents who are also considering us. We teach children, or adults for that matter, from scratch. They start in the Beginners' Group and move through the Training Band into Guy's group. If any parents would like their children to have private tuition, then there are excellent teachers who we can recommend.
When George Tutte founded the Band in 1959 it was actually intended to be a Youth Band, but as they all grew up it naturally ceased to be so. These days, however, youngsters tend to disappear at the age of eighteen, so we have to constantly replenish the stock. We do have a few adults as well, in fact we would like a few more, and it would be nice if one or two of the younger players stayed on or came back. You cannot have too many players.
A beautiful summer evening in the village hall, packed with band members past and present, along with other friends and families, was perfect for the George Willett memorial concert. We had been planning to do a concert in memory of George, but the fact that his wife Audrey was on a month's visit to the U.K. from their new home in Australia and would be able to attend in person along with her daughter Janice made it a very special evening.
Audrey excepted, others had travelled reasonable distances, such as George Tutte and the President of the O.D.B.B.A. Ron Sudworth, both of whom instinctively knew how to carry the moment, and also former Yarnton Band conductors Les Taylor and Mervin Hughes. Guest soloists Alex Carr and Mike Wallbridge, both taught in the first instance by George Willett, played a couple of solos each to give us all an extra special treat, and to be fair our own soloists on the night, Jenny and Alison, played beautifully as well. A wonderful evening all round.
The money raised will go to the Silver Chain nursing charity and Cancer Research. Audrey was given a video of the whole concert to take home with her.
The Band recently enjoyed another successful day at the Oxford and District Brass Band Associations Solo, Duet and Ensemble Contest. This contest suits us as we are able to field all of our available players in one category or another throughout the day. We have become well acquainted with the other bands over the years, and the rivalry is played out in a very friendly atmosphere.
The medals haul this year included eight first prizes, eleven second and six third, plus special awards for the youngest player and the most entries under nineteen years. It is incredible really how well we have done in recent years. It has not always been the case and might not be in the future. Having said that, though, winning first, second and third in the under nines' solos bodes well for the future, with Rowan Lake winning first prize and also the award for the youngest player of the day.
The nine, ten and eleven years' solo section was particularly tough with Caitlin Dimond doing well to secure third place. We had a good size group of that age, all of whom we were delighted with. Elsewhere Duncan James, in his last year before going to university, won the under eighteen solos, while his Dad, Guy, won the adult slow melody. Daniel Whitley (a Yarnton lad) won the relatively new percussion section, although unchallenged. We have won it three times with three different players and the other bands have yet to take us on.
Finally, I remember George Tutte saying that "it doesn't matter how good a soloist you are. It is how well you play in the Band that counts". Well, with four first prizes, two second and three third in the ensemble playing we will be happy to agree with him.
We have recently received the wonderful news that Audrey Willet will be visiting the country from the end of May to early July. We had been planning to do a memorial concert for her late husband, George, who was a great servant to the band for many years, as of course was Audrey herself. How much better that we can now have Audrey and her daughter, Janice, there with us as we celebrate all that they have done for the band.
Amongst the many things that George did was teaching the beginners. He had a real flair for it and started off two or three who went on to be quite outstanding. One of them, Mike Wallbridge, a Yarnton lad, son of Nigel, went on to be the National Youth Brass Band Solo Champion one year. Mike has kindly agreed to come and play a couple of solos at the concert.
Prior to that we will have competed in the Oxford Brass Band Association Solo, Duet and Ensemble Competition. We always try to mobilise the whole band. There is a prize for the most entries, which our Musical Director, Guy James, values as highly as anything we might win on the day. With so many players in so many different classes it is always a bit hair-raising coming into the last couple of weeks' rehearsals. This is especially so with so many really young players who need a lot of help organising themselves. Even so, they usually rise to the occasion.
The Band was very pleased to be invited to play a couple of numbers at the William Fletcher School Music Evening. The staff and pupils had clearly put in a lot of effort, and as a result it was an excellent evening's entertainment. The school has a number of pupils doing very well on various instruments and, as you might imagine, we are keen to prte brass in the school. As we now rehearse in tomote brass in the school. As we rehearse in the school we feel that we have a good relationship with them, and it has been suggested that we do something during one of the school assemblies.
On 30th April the Band is playing a concert in Long Hanborough for the West Oxfordshire Vetka Association, which is involved in setting up sustainable development projects for areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster. Then in May there is the Oxford and District Solos, Duets and Ensembles Contest for players of all ages. This contest suits us, as we are able to field all our available players in one discipline or another.
We have been respectfully remembering George Willett who died 2nd February 2005 aged 75 and without whose contribution the Band would not be in existence.
George had always had an ear for music. He told me that as a boy he sang in a choir and once sang "Jerusalem" as a solo. Later, after he had started his apprenticeship as a carpenter, inspired like many of his generation by the American Big Bands, he had purchased an old trumpet and had some lessons with a local teacher. That was typical of George; everything he did he did properly and did well. He also did an extraordinary amount of different things.
Arriving as a young couple in Yarnton with their two children, George and his wife Audrey bought a house which backed onto George Tutte's. Their son, Mike, aged seven, desperately wanted to be in Mr Tutte's Band. Eventually George took him with his sister, Janice, to a rehearsal, whereupon the Willetts became big players in the burgeoning success story that was Yarnton Band.
George once again found himself playing a brass instrument and went on to be a fine trombonist. While the children blossomed as players George and Audrey worked hard on the committee as the Band went all over the country playing in contests and even on European tours. When illness effectively ended George Tutte's involvement with the Band, George Willett took over the teaching and with stunning success. He also became a dab hand at delicate instrument repairs.
The Band had been "punching well above its weight" for years but having lost one or two key players, then a conductor, the whole thing just fell apart. George continued to teach youngsters and, with his granddaughter Claire as the new lead cornet player, built up a nice group before the family made the decision to retire to Australia, where their son, Mike, was now living. It was a loss for the Band, but a very good move for them. I know that George had a very happy time there.
Guy James, our Musical Director, has been called away on business for an extended period of time, which sometimes happens as is the nature of his work. In the past he has asked two or three of the local brass teachers to deputise for him, and I am sure they would be only too happy to do so again. This time, however, he has asked one of the playing members, Jenny Howes, to take the rehearsals in his absence.
Jenny, who is now nineteen years old and training as a nursery teacher, first came to the band when she was eight years old and was one of a small group who stuck together and provided a foundation for the band to build on. It is really nice to see a young person progress from a virtual beginner through to an accomplished player who is now trying her hand at conducting, and to good effect on the evidence so far.
Guy's plan is for Jenny to "run-up" a test piece ; a nice one with lots of melody, and then conduct us at the Oxford Winter Contest, the date of which is to be arranged. If for any reason that does not come off, then we can keep the piece, "London River", up our sleeve for another contest and, or to put in the charity concerts being played for the late spring onwards. Again the dates are to be arranged.
Guy has also handed out some solos to the recognised soloists - the section leaders, basically, but he did say that he would like every member of the band to come forward with a solo. Opportunities abound and there is help and advice on hand for those who wish to take them.
The year has started on sad note with one of our long-serving vice-presidents and trustee Mrs Brain passing away. Mrs Brain, who was Chair Person of the Parish Council for many years, devoted a great deal of her time to supporting village organisations. When her children, Patrick and Valery, joined George Tutte's early Band she became involved and allowed the Band to rehearse in the table tennis room in their garden. Indeed, they always allowed the children from the village to play table tennis in the table tennis room and tennis on the tennis court in the summer.
Looking ahead, the Band and the Training Band, who both finished last year on a high, now need to settle down quickly and get into the habit of well-attended and good quality rehearsals with contests and some really nice concerts planned from the spring onwards. The youngsters who have come up from the Training Band have done really well and there are two or three more who will soon be ready to join them. Meanwhile, the Training Band has had an influx of players from the Beginners' Group.
News Archive from 2004