More Scottish workshop fun!! in the borders
Over the weekend of the 25th-27th May 2012, Jedforest Instrumental band hosted their annual spring concert, with guest soloist Les Neish in Jedburgh Town Hall
Les was brought in to not only inspire the bands senior players with his virtuosi playing but to more importantly help inspire the youngsters in the JIB organisation and show them what they could achieve should they decide to stick at being part of a Brass Band.
The weekend began with a rehearsal with Les and the senior band on the where Les wowed the band with his musicianship and technique in the 4 pieces he would play with the band in the concert the next night.
Saturday morning then saw 30 of the bands youngsters turn up at the band hall for a 9.30 start to spend the morning with Les in one of his fun filled workshops. The kids were treated to a morning of various activities from breathing exercises, to learning how to play Twinkle, Twinkle on the mouthpiece to a massed performance of African Funk by Alan Fernie. One of the bands rising young stars said of the mornings session " I really enjoyed the workshop with Les. It was good to learn a bit about everything rather than just jumping straight into playing"
7.30pm came round and the band took to the stage in front of just over 200 people with MD Phil Rosier opening with the Fanfare from Rocky as their opening number to which the recent trophies that have been one (from the Borders Entertainment and the Scottish championships) were paraded in. The rest of the first half was filled with such classics as Ejala, the March from the pines of Rome and a reprise of the bands winning performance of Philip Harpers 3rd Section test piece Olympus. Les also took to the stage and wowed the audience with Monti's classic Czardas and Paul Lovvatt - Coopers beautiful composition Songs for the Skies.
Next Up was the bands beginner group and their MD Stuart Black containing kids that have been playing anywhere from 3 months to a year. A group set up to bring in new kids and encourage them at the start of their journey through the Jedforest Instrumental ranks. Their program consisted of such entertaining repertoire as Batman and Cheesy Feet Rock.
In a small change to the program, Les then returned to the stage to conduct a massed band performance of all the youngsters under the JIB wing in an official performance of African Funk, to highlight the great work the kids and Les had done that morning in the workshop.
The bands Youth band (Abbey Brass) then took to the stage to showcase the great work that they have been doing under their MD Rob Hume. Featuring different styles of music arranged for the band by their MD ranging from Mozart to Coldplay. Truly highlighting that the youth scene in Jedburgh is thriving.
After the Interval the band filled their 2nd half with a bigger work in the form of Peter Grahams Windows of the world. Featuring some high class solo playing (most noticeably from Dave Higgnett on trumpet and Alan Currie on drums) Les then took to the stage with the band again, firstly to perform Luc Vertomen's arrangement of the beautiful duet the prayer (made famous by Celline Dion and Andrea Bocelli) For this the bands Principal Euphonium player Scott Renwick joined Les as the pair produced a beautiful rendition of this great arrangement. This was then followed by Les showing that Bass players can surprise us all by treating the audience to a superb rendition of the High tempo number " Hora Staccato"
The audience were left shouting for more to which the band replied with an entertaining rendition of Ray Farr's "Riverdance" featuring some great playing from the hole band as well as some dodgy Irish dancing from their Principal Cornet and Flugel players, bringing the hugely successful and entertaining evening to a close and sending the audience home buzzing about the nights entertainment.
The Sunday Morning then saw the turn of the senior players to experience one of Les's fun filled sessions. The senior bands Euphonium/Baritone and Bass players came to the band hall to pick the brains of a man the certainly know his stuff for this type off instrument. They were taken through various warm up/Breathing and general practice techniques to aid their playing and home practice. They then finished of the morning with a chance to play along side Les in some Tuba Quartets that he had brought along for them to try. Senior band Bb Bass star Randy Hudson said " I've have been playing Bass for almost forty years now and I find it amazing how much I have learned in the space of a weekend in comparison"
That then rounded of an extremely entertaining, fun and inspiring weekend for everyone involved at Jedforest Instrumental band. Thanks to Les and Besson, everyone from youngsters to Adults seem to come away from the weekend having learned something and hopefully have been inspired to continue the bands progression and legacy for many years to come
