I (Rich) have been involved in the brass band movement since I was eight years old, when I first started taking cornet lessons at school.
After rapidly progressing through the school band, I began playing for Stockport Schools' Brass Band (SSBB), initially with the Intermediate and then with the Senior Band, whom I continued with until the age of eighteen.
With the Senior Band, I participated in a number of competitions including the National Festival of Music For Youth, at the Royal Festival Hall, and the Schools' Prom, which is held at the Royal Albert Hall! The band also carried out a number of tours, including a trip to Germany and Austria in 1988 (the first but certainly not the last time I was to be found on German soil!)
My first competition band was Elmfield Brass, a local training band in Stockport, who thanks to their dedicated musical director, Jack Bennett, have continued to prepare and feed players to some of the top bands in the area.
After a number of years with Elmfield Brass, I spent a brief amount of time with Denton Original, before progressing in 1988 to the Championship Section with the BT Band. I remained with BT for five years, during which I participated in a number of high profile concerts and competitions, both regional and national. Highlights of these included the annual BT-sponsored Christmas Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London and attenance at the Nijmegen Marches in Holland, where a million spectators lined the streets!
The competition highlight was in 1992, when the band first qualified for and then went on to win the inaugral National Brass Band Championships (First Section), held at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, where we played Philip Sparke's "A London Overture"
[Click on the link to hear BT Band playing part of the testpiece]
The following year the band came third in the North West Championship Section qualifiers at Blackpool, which still remains my highest placing with a band to this date (especially impressive considering the quality of the opposition!)
When I moved to the South Coast, I joined another local Championship Section band, Luckett's Travel (Southsea) Band, whom I played with for another five years attending a wide variety of local competitions and concerts.
Moving to Wilshire in 1998, I, unfortunately, had to finish playing with Luckett's Band, but got the opportunity to join the Yeovil Town Band, an up-and-coming band in the South West area. It meant a serious bit of commitment having to make a 130 mile round trip down to Somerset every rehearsal, but with Yeovil I got the opportunity to repeat BT Band's success from 1992 when we qualified for the National Championships (First Section) in 2000, which were held at the Royal Albert Hall. Unfortunately, we were unable to repeat BT's success, but managed to obtain a very creditable 3rd place against some excellent bands.
At the Championship Section Qualifiers the following year, Yeovil managed to achieve another creditable 4th place playing Philip Wilby's "Jazz"
[Click on the link to hear Yeovil Town playing part of this testpiece]
With Yeovil Band, I also had the opportunity to participate in the Glastonbury Music Festival, where we performed on the Sunday morning, sharing the Pyramid stage with the likes of Jules Holland, David Gray and David Bowie! I was also able to take part in Glastonbury's other major summer music event, the Classical Extravaganza, held in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. This festival was headlined by the London Symphony Orchestra and had a very impressive water and fireworks display!
Unfortunately, due to the travelling time down to Somerset, I ceased playing with Yeovil Band in 2001 and am currently having a break from banding!
