Undoubted success story for Tutors Workshop
A one day Tutors' Workshop, run by The Scottish Brass Band Association (SBBA) on Sunday 30th September in Glasgow, proved to be an undoubted success story for its attendees and workshop leaders.
Presented by the talented combined forces of Alan Fernie and Lynda Nicholson, together with the assistance of The Gorbals Youth Brass Band, 24 delegates spent a busy day gaining valuable insight, guidance and advice on a range of tutoring techniques and approaches. Lynda Nicholson, Workshop Leader commented: "What a great day! Just having the opportunity to exchange ideas and good practice with enthusiastic and like-minded teachers is an invaluable experience and can only bode well for the future of banding in Scotland." Joining in her enthusiasm, Alan Fernie commented: "I was very onoured to be asked to share my experiences with so many fine and keen musicians, and found their opinions and thoughts very stimulating and enlightening. The fact that there were so many younger delegates was very encouraging and we all benefitted enormously from Lynda Nicholson's words of wisdom! I was also totally knocked out with the Gorbals Youth Brass Band, and inspired by the dedication of their tutors.
An excellent day!" Attendee Brian Lambert, (Tutor at Dynamica Band from East Kilbride) was equally enthusiastic about the workshop, explaining that "it was a great opportunity to network with other bands and share ideas. We can't wait to try some of the new techniques and ideas with our own junior band and share with our other staff. The practical demonstration with The Gorbals Youth Brass Band was helpful to see Alan and Lynda both using the techniques in practice.
We were impressed with another well organised SBBA event!" Following the successful Conductor's Workshop in April, this latest innovative workshop, formed a further benchmark chapter in SBBA's educational series to support the many aspects of brass band development. Andrew Duncan, Development Manager for SBBA, was delighted with the outcome of the event, noting the highly positive feedback he had received from all the attendees. He was also extremely grateful to the workshop leaders, Alan Fernie and Lynda Nicholson, who presented a collection of engaging, informative and educational sessions that culminated with practical demonstrations with the assistance of The Gorbals Youth Brass Band. He commented, "the sessions provided a superb variety of helpful approaches and the members of the youth band were wonderful to see in action as part of the process. Delegate Scott Walker, (conductor and tutor at Bathgate Youth Band) found the workshop "inspiring" and felt that it clearly "demonstrated that Scotland is leading the way in youth band development and that makes for a very exciting future ahead." Similarly, John Todd, (tutor at Kingdom Brass Youth Initiative) found "It was a very informative day and it's great that we have people of the calibre of Alan and Lynda who gave their time to help others in our growing youth band sector."
Lynda Nicholson with Gorbals Youth Band.
