After a few weeks of rehearsing, we took part in the Leicester BBA contest on November 18th.  It was a very cold and miserable day until .......


we were awarded   3rd place out of the 14 bands who participated in the 4th section of the open contest for which we received prize money and a certificate. 

We were pleased with our performance of Indian Summer.  The adjudicator's comments reflected the hard work of the band, and made specific reference to the talents of our young percussionists Oliver and Aidan.  Way to go guys .

A massive thank you to the supporters of the band, particularly the parents of the younger members.  Also many thanks to Pat, David, Eileen and Ian .

Click to read the Musical Director's comments.

A great day out was had by all at the Midlands Areas on Sunday 11th March 2007.  Although we were disappointed with our result - 16th out of 23 bands, we should still be very proud of ourselves for many reasons.

     Although we were only placed 16th, this is HUGE progress compared to last year as we didn't even go to the areas last year.  So it's definitely a step in the right direction.  Hopefully next year we will be placed higher up in the order of merit.

     There were six members of the band for whom, it was their first contest.  So well done to Tim, Jodie, Cara, Annika, Oliver and Lucy.

    There were nine members of the band who were under 18.

     Well done to Ali, who had to learn the kit percussion part in just over a week, as one of our other percussionists made the decision that he didn't want to play, only a week before the contest. 

     Well done to Sandra, Lloyd and Ann, for all their organisational skills, ensuring people were registered, turned up at the correct place, at the right time, and the coach was there to pick us all up.

     Thank you to the parents of the younger members of the band.  It's always a boost for the children when they know there is a family member there to cheer them on.  And for us older members it was nice to have our own 'groupies' for the band.

     A special well done to Keith Espin, our musical director.  It was his first contest as MD of Corby Silver Band.  Keith has written his comments about the day in a letter which is written below.

  And finally - We are fortunate to have the majority of a full band who regularly attend rehearsals, so we didn't need to borrow lots of extra players.  A quick mention to the  players whose help we did enlist - Pat, Clare and Margaret - Thank you for helping out and making our band up to full strength.

Dear fellow members of Corby Silver Band,

 

The band can be proud of its performance at the regional contest that took place in Burton-on-Trent on 11^th March 2007.  The overall quality of sound, intonation and dynamics was of a high standard and I felt that the musicality of the performance was very pleasing.  Unfortunately, the results from the adjudication did not seem to fully reflect the quality of the performance, and little can be taken from the adjudicators’ comments that could be incorporated into our ongoing rehearsal plan.  To the defence of the adjudicators, I suspect the reality is that it is easy to identify the top 3 and the bottom 3 bands, but then all other performances blur one into another.  Despite the results from the adjudicators, I sincerely hope that all players enjoyed the day and felt satisfaction in our performance.

 

On a huge plus-side, the focus on the contest has had a significantly positive impact on the band.  The additional rehearsals have led to substantial improvements in stamina, sight-reading, intonation, precision, dynamics and technical skills.  More importantly, the extra time spent together has given us all a greater sense of camaraderie which, in turn, makes us sound better and makes the time spent together more enjoyable and rewarding.

 

It is my hope and intention that we continue to perform at this high level in all of our future concerts and contests, and that we continue on our journey of improvement over the coming months and years.

 

I am delighted to have shared the stage with you all on Sunday.

 

Thank you and well done to everybody.

 

Very best wishes

 

Keith Espin