Newland Concert Brass on tour
Young members of Bathgate's Newland Concert Brass were delighted to be invited to Cran-Gevrier in France to take part in the first ever International Music Camp as part of the Bathgate/Cran Gevrier Twinning Agreement. The Scottish and French towns have been twinned since March 2010 and The Twinning Charter was officially signed in June 2010 when members of the Cran-Gevrier Twinning Committee visited Bathgate and the French street band alarue.com performed at Bathgate Procession. The brass and woodwind players who took part in the international camp were aged from 12 to 17 years and came from Scotland, France and Italy. The Musical Director for the camp was Jean-Sébastien Scotton, a professional musician and Musical Director for the Union Musicale in Cran-Gevrier. He worked alongside Newland Junior Band conductor Mark Good. Mark is a 4th year student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly the RSAMD).
They were assisted by Italian music teachers Fabianna Maniglio and Silvio Vaglienti. The young people rehearsed in the Cran-Gevrier Music School and also took part in many activities in the towns of Cran- Gevrier and Annecy including sailing, swimming, hillwalking, international quizzes and games. They also enjoyed taking part in the Bastille Day party celebrations! The young musicians played concerts alongside alarue.com in Cran-Gevrier town centre and at Lake Annecy. The camp finished with a joint concert with the wind band Union Musicale at L'Espace des Forges.
Mark Good said "The week was a fantastic experience for all involved and the young people from Newland Juniors acquitted themselves extremely well. They developed immensely both musically and socially in the company of their new French and Italian friends, all in the beautiful surroundings of Cran-Gevrier and nearby Annecy."
