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Our next Concert Promotion
'A Night at the Opera' is our next Massed Bands Concert in Huddersfield Town Hall, with the Cory Band and Owain Arwel Hughes.
High Profile BBC Folk Awards Appearance!
The world famous Brighouse and Rastrick Band recently performed live at the hugely publicised BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards ceremony at The Lowry in Salford. Hosted by Mike Harding and Julie Fowlis, the event went out live on BBC Radio 2 and on BBC iPlayer TV. The Yorkshire and National Champion Band of Great Britain were accompanying the Northumbrian Folk Group, ‘The Unthanks’ who had been nominated for no less than 4 awards at this prestigious ceremony. The Band, conducted by Associate Conductor Dr Chris Davis, appeared earlier the same day on BBC Breakfast TV when the awards ceremony was featured, showing the Band in rehearsal with ‘The Unthanks’.
This lastest link with The Unthanks follows the very successful ground breaking tour of 2011 when the combination played to sell out audiences at seven of the UK’s most outstanding venues including Durham Cathedral, London’s Barbican Theatre and The Lowry in Manchester. More dates are booked for the collaboration project in 2012 – see our Engagements Page.
‘The Unthanks’ and ‘B&R’ perform ‘King of Rome’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards:
Brighouse retain National Champions Title!
Brighouse and Rastrick Band travelled to London's Royal Albert Hall on Saturday as the reigning 2010 champions and left the same evening as 2011 champions retaining their title of Champion Band of Great Britain.
Approximately 3,500 people attended the contest which saw the top 20 bands in Great Britain compete for the movement's most prestigious title, each playing the test piece "Breath of Souls" composed by Paul Lovatt-Cooper. Dean Redfern, player and Chairman of B&R described the test piece as being "a hugely demanding piece technically which tested each member of the band but also extremely entertaining for the audience". The winning performance can he heard here courtesy of the BBC:
Drawn to play 16th in the contest the Band were conducted by their Professional Conductor Professor David King, who despite living on Australia's Gold Coast, prepares and conducts the Band for each of the 4 major contests each year. Professor King has been the Professional Conductor of B&R for two and a half years during which they have enjoyed their most successful period in recent times. The Band are also the Champion Band of Yorkshire a title which they also held in 2010.
When the results were announced at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday, David Read MBE, spokesperson for the three adjudicators stated that "one band were clear winners by a considerable margin" and then the remaining 5 bands in the prizes were of an extremely close standard. Yorkshire Band Carlton Main Frickley Colliery were awarded sixth place. Unfortunately both Black Dyke Band from Queensbury and Grimethorpe Colliery Band failed to qualify for the finals and were not invited to London.
Paul Beaumont, President of Brighouse and Rastrick Band commented "this was the ultimate performance by B&R who stunned the audience by their detailed rendition of the test piece and also the huge contrasts of light and shade that they portrayed in this wonderfully descriptive music".
B&R will be hosting Fodens Band on Saturday 29th October when they will be presenting another of their hugely popular Huddersfield Town Hall "massed bands" concerts. These concerts have been held at the Town Hall every March and October since 1946. Tickets can be obtained from the Kirklees Ticket Outlets at Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Holmfirth, Batley, Cleckheaton and Lawrence Batley Theatre or by telephoning 01484 223200.
National Champions To Defend Their Title
The Brighouse and Rastrick Band will be defending their title of "Champion Band of Great Britain" when they compete in the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall, London on Saturday 15th October. The Band will compete with 19 other Bands in the championship section of the contest, each band playing their rendition of Paul Lovatt-Cooper's technically challenging composition "Breath of Souls". The music portrays nature's capacity to grow and rebuild regardless of Mother Nature's catastrophic power and events.
The National Brass Band Finals, held annually at the Royal Albert Hall is the most prestigious contest in the Brass Band calendar. Eight regional qualifying contests are held during the first half of each year with the winning band and the runner-up at each contest plus the top placed bands from the previous year's finals being invited to compete for the ultimate title. Brighouse and Rastrick were the winners of the Yorkshire regional contest which was held in Bradford earlier this year, Carlton Main Band were runners up.
Unfortunately Black Dyke Band and Grimethorpe Colliery Band, the other "big names" from Yorkshire, failed to qualify this year's competition. B&R were also Yorkshire Champions in 2010, going forward last year to represent Yorkshire at the finals and ultimately taking the title.
B&R will be conducted at the contest by their charismatic professional conductor Professor David King, who despite living on Australia's Gold Coast, conducts the Band at all of their major contests each year. B&R have had one of their most successful periods ever since David was appointed professional conductor around two and a half years ago. Paul Beaumont, President of the Band commented "the Band is playing better than ever under the brilliant and outstanding leadership of Professor King, but despite all of the hard work and weeks of rehearsing everything depends on the one performance at the Royal Albert Hall"
B&R will be travelling to London on Friday together with a second coach full of supporters; they will return on Sunday.
Our Next Massed Bands Concert
'A Venture into Europe'
featuring the pick of popular marches,
melodies
and medleys from not too distant lands.
Performed by the massed bands of
Brighouse and Rastrick
and Foden's Band
Guest Conductor:
Dr. Chris Davis OBE
(former Director of Music, HM Royal Marines.)
Huddersfield Town Hall
Saturday 29th October 2011 - 7-15pm
Tickets (£10 to £15 ) from Fawcetts Brighouse on Saturday 10th September 2011 (10am to 12 noon only), and then from Kirklees Ticket Outlets in Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Holmfirth, Batley, Cleckheaton and The Lawrence Batley Theatre from Wednesday 14th September (Tel: 01484 223200)
B&R enjoy critical acclaim for their partnership with The Unthanks.
The National Champions Brighouse & Rastrick are currently part way through a ground breaking UK tour sharing the stage with the Mercury Prize nominated Northumbrian band, The Unthanks.
Usually the sister duo of Rachel and Becky Unthank are supported by just their own small group of singers and musicians. Their music carries forth the music of their heritage – poignant tales of love and loss, violence and tenderness, drinking and dancing – all in their own very distinct style. Couple this with sensitively arranged brass music performed to the very highest standard - something very special is created!
The tour commenced earlier in July when a capacity audience of over 800 heard the inaugural performance in Durham Cathedral. The Unthanks sang material from their past and current repertoire, with arrangements re-imagined and arranged specifically for them by B&R Musical Director Sandy Smith and their own Adrian McNally. At the end of the performance the entire audience gave the unique combination a huge standing ovation and rapturous applause that lasted for several minutes.
The second concert in the tour has been held more recently at The Barbican Centre in London, much to the delight of over 1600 people who packed the venue to hear and applaud the result of this special collaboration.
Further tour events are booked to take place during September, after the bands summer break. These are scheduled for The Lowry in Manchester, Leeds Town Hall, St George’s Hall in Bristol, the Royal and Derngate Theatre Northampton and the Derby Assembly Rooms.
Brighouse & Rastrick Band Win Saddleworth Whit March Overall Contest Prize
Brighouse and Rastrick Band, current Yorkshire and National Champions competed against over 100 other bands last Friday evening (17th June) at the Saddleworth Whit March Contests. Conducted by their Professional Conductor, Professor David King, B&R competed in a total of eight contests and came away with five first prizes and a third which made them the most successful band on the evening and secured them the accolade of overall winners. B&R's musicians also won individual prizes for best cornet, best soprano and best bass section. In a break with tradition the band played the contest march "Knight Templar" but marched to each of the contests playing their traditional march "Royal Trophy". Despite a dreadful weather forecast the weather was quite pleasant with only a slight sprinkling of rain throughout the evening. President of B&R Paul Beaumont and his wife Julie marched in front of the band carrying the huge National Trophy which the band won at the Royal Albert Hall in October last year; Paul commented "you can't believe how heavy that trophy felt after we had hauled it around those eight villages, but we felt very proud of the band and the crowd were thrilled that we had given the trophy (as seen in the film "Brassed Off") pride of place at the front of the band.
Moving gesture
Without doubt the most moving moment of the whole evening though came at the Greenfield Contest, where in 2010, Alan Chamberlain tragically lost his life in an accident. Before they took to the contest stage and at the very spot where he lost his life, Brighouse & Rastrick played the hymn tune, 'There is a Green Hill Far Away' in the presence of family members.
Greenfield Contest secretary, Joe Buckley spoke emotionally about the band's tribute: "I cannot put into words how much Friday evening meant to the people of Greenfield when Brighouse played the hymn tune. Thinking about it now, it brings tears to the eyes and I would like to personally thank the band and it's conductor, Professor David King, for their moving gesture."
Busy schedule
B&R are extremely busy rehearsing for the English National competition which will be held at Preston Guild Hall next Saturday (25th June). This competition in which England's best bands will be competing is the qualifying round for the European Championships which will be held in Rotterdam next May. The Band have rehearsed for the last two weekends and will also be rehearsing at their Finkel Street band room every evening this week. Once the band have competed in the contest they will be hot footing it back to Brighouse to perform a concert to close the Central Methodist Flower Festival at 8 PM on the same day.
King to lead at Whit Friday Marches
The band are pleased to announce that Professor David King will be conducting at the forthcoming Whit Friday Marches.
As both reigning Yorkshire and National Champions we are looking forward to some dry weather, a hotly fought contest, hopefully an overall win and of course a fantastic night!
The Nationals Trophy will be on parade in front of the Band as they march through each venue.
B&R to Tour with The Unthanks
Mercury-nominated Tyneside band The Unthanks have a peerless approach to folk music. Their paradoxical journey of staunch traditionalism and sonic adventure continues with this brand new collaboration with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. Premiering in the awesome surroundings of Durham Cathedral as part of the BRASS 2011 programme of new commissions, this spectacular alliance will draw on the rich songbook of the coal-mining industry, incorporating brand new pieces alongside new arrangements of traditional and original songs.
With their debut album of 2005 Cruel Sister The Unthanks grabbed the attention of those in the know, exploding into mainstream conciousness with their Mercury Nomination for The Bairns in 2007. Since then music journalists across the board - from puritanical traditionalists to trendspotting pop critics - have been falling over themselves to do justice to the beauty and originality of their music. Mining the rich seam of songs from the north east, The Unthank's music carries forth the music of their heritage - the poignant tales of love and loss, violence and tenderness, drinking and dancing – in their own distinct style. Whilst proving themselves utterly unique, The Unthanks talent for ensnaring the beauty and the tragedy of mankind has drawn comparisons with Tom Waits and Sufjan Stevens, setting them and the band's songwriter Adrian McNally amongst some of the greatest torch bearers of the songwriting genre.
Founded in 1881, Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band celebrates its 130 year anniversary this year. Over its epic history, the band has established itself as a regular winner of UK, European and Worldwide Contests and the Band is the present National Champions of Great Britain as well as the Champion Band of Yorkshire, the world's hotbed of the brass band movement. B&R is regarded by many as the best and most consistent public subscription band in the world. In 1977 the band stayed at No. 2 in the singles charts for nine weeks with The Floral Dance.
Rachel Unthank commented, "It is a priviledge to be involved with the Durham Brass Festival, one of the region's great traditions, and to be playing with musicians of the calibre of Brighouse and Rastick Brass Band in the awe inspiring Durham Catherdral. Brass band music has the power to evoke the whole spectrum of emotions, from power and celebration to humilty and heartache. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to combine our music with this glorious soundscape." Scaling up their forces and the palette of sounds available to them, The Unthanks have graduated from their closeknit quartet into an expanded ten piece line up and now find themselves amongst the massed ranks of over 30 fullblooded Yorkshire brass players. With a focus on the folk songbook of the coal-mining industry, The Unthanks will sing material from their past and current repertoire, with arrangements re-imagined and arranged specifically for performance by The Unthanks and B&R combined by Sandy Smith who is the Musical Director of Brighouse and Rastrick Band. Material will also be especially written and arranged for this project by Adrian McNally. Amongst the new arrangements is one based on the song by 'The Pitman Poet' Tommy Armstrong about the tragic Trimdon Grange Explosion, a mining disaster of 1882 where 69 were killed. "I have two steep curves to navigate simultaneously these next few weeks" says Adrian McNally "learning how to write and arrange for brass bands and becoming a father! I have no previous experience of either! For a while now, I've been introducing the idea of brass in to The Unthanks, either by using solo trumpet or in pseudo-brass band style arrangements such as on Nobody Knew She Was There from Here's The Tender Coming. But I'll be reinventing pieces from all four of our albums as well as arranging and writing new material especially for this concert." From full throttle to warm and hushed, this epic line up provides the perfect sound world for the collaboration's exploration of the coal mining songbook and a lush setting for the contrasting husky and pure vocals of Rachel and Becky Unthank.
Paul Beaumont, President of Brighouse and Rastrick Band added "B&R are proud to work with The Unthanks whom we admire for their originality and musical skills. Together we will bring something completely different and wonderful to the audience. We are really looking forward to the first concert which is on 8th July but I know that the combined talents of The Unthanks and B&R will be enjoyed and savoured well beyond the last date of this tour has gone by".
Dates for all the concerts, along with venue details and contact numbers can be found by going to our Engagements Section
More info about The Unthanks can be found on their official website www.the-unthanks.com
Champion Brass and Voices
Colne Valley Male Voice Choir were the guests of Brighouse and Rastrick Band on Saturday 27th March when Huddersfield Town Hall was alive with music of the very highest quality.
B&R, conducted by their charismatic Resident Musical Director Sandy Smith were in tip top form, fresh from retaining their Yorkshire champions' title at the qualifying rounds at Bradford earlier in the month and proudly displaying the impressive and huge National Trophy as current Champion Band of Great Britain. From the moment the Band fittingly struck up with the rousing March "The Champions" to their final note of the ultimate piece, Tchaikovsky's "March Slav" they convincingly demonstrated to the 1,000 strong audience that they remain at the very top of their game.
Colne Valley Male Voice Choir, 70 strong, led by Musical Director Thom Meredith with Keith Swallow on piano, delighted the audience with their mellow and warm sounds. Their programme included a number of old favourites including "Shenandoah" and the Hallelujah Corus from Beethoven's Mount of Olives.
The opening offering of "Let Their Be Light" featured the Band and Choir. Further into the evenings programme the two joined forces again performing Vangelis' "1492 The Conquest of Paradise" from the epic 1992 film of the same name. The penultimate piece was a combined rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In" and every foot in the Town Hall seemed to be tapping and one could not help but to be amazed at how well these two ensembles compliment each other.
B&R featured two of their host of talented soloists during the evening. Lucy Murphy, one of the two ladies in the Band's line up played a haunting rendition of "My Ain Folk" and Steve Walsh, principal euphonium of the Band showed his dexterity playing Clarke's mind-blowing difficult version of the classic "Carnival of Venice". Thom Meredith laid down his baton for a short period during the Choir's performance of "You Raise Me Up" and sang the solo part demonstrating his all round musicianship. B&R also added the cornet trio "The Bells of St. Mary's" to their programme during the first half.
During the second half of the concert Paul Beaumont, President of Brighouse and Rastrick Band made a presentation to Darren Roe, a member of the percussion team at B&R for 25 years. Darren has relocated to London with his job and has had to reluctantly leave the Band. Darren took the mic and thanked his wife Wendy for the support that she had given him during his time with the Band and jokingly commented that not only had she had allowed him to arrange their wedding around the Band's busy schedule but that she had also given birth to their two children at convenient times ensuring that he didn't miss any band engagements in the process.
The Band and Choir can be heard together again at the end of the year when the Band will be the Choir's guests at their Christmas Concert, also at Huddersfield Town Hall and on Saturday's performance this will be an event which certainly shouldn't be missed.
B&R retains Yorkshire title!
On Sunday 6th March, the Brighouse and Rastrick Band retained its 'Yorkshire Championship crown' for the second consecutive year, led by their Professional Conductor, David King. They were taking part in the Championship Section of the annual Yorkshire Regional Brass Band Championships hosted in Bradford at St. George's Hall.
As one of the last bands to play their set test piece, 'Paganini Variations' ( Philip Wilby), B&R played throughout with great style and immense class to catch the attention of the judges and audience alike. There were some superb solo contributions, but most notably from new girl Lucy Murphy on flugel horn, and Chris Gomersall on trombone who picked up the 'Best Instrumentalist' award for his efforts.
The win confirms the band's fitting place at the National Championship Finals at the Royal Albert Hall in London in October where they will be a firm favourite to retain their other currently held title as 'National Champion Band of Great Britain'. B&R will be joined in the capital, also to represent Yorkshire, by the other fellow pre-qualifier Rothwell Temperance, and following yesterday's results, Hepworth and Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Bands.