2007 Festival of Brass

It's Monday morning, and it has been an incredible weekend. Every year here at the RNCM we have a Festival of Brass, where we invite all types of brass ensembles (but mostly Brass Bands) to the RNCM for concerts, and this year we had some great ones! Here was the run-down of the invited bands and their programs:

Black Dyke Band
- Pomp and Circumstance March No. 6 - Elgar/arr. Wilby
- Cornet Concerto - Aagaard-Nilsen
- Boddington Variations - Howarth
- Sea Pictures - Elgar/arr. Wilby
- Resurgam - Ball
- Vienna Nights - Wilby

Eikanger-Bjørsvik Musikklag
- Festival Music - Ball
- West Side Story Suite - Bernstein
- Scenes from Romeo and Juliet - Prokofiev

Fodens Richardson Band
- Song of Courage - Ball
- Rote Fahne Musik - Muldowny
- Pictures in the smoke for piano and brass - Tovey
- Symphonic Study "Energy" - Simpson
- Altitude - Benjamin
- A Severn Suite - Elgar

Leyland Band
- Journey into Freedom - Ball
- Trombel for trombone and band - Berg
- Lyonesse - Dobson
- Hymn for Africa - Meechan
- Paganini Variations - Wilby

Buy as You View Band
- Overture 'Froissart' - Elgar/arr. Ball
- Concerto for Tenor Horn - Wood
- High Peak - Ball
- Symphonic Study 'Volcano' - Simpson
- Requiem - Bedford
- The Promised Land - Downie

Brighouse and Rastrick Band
- Festive Overture - Hesketh
- Tuba Concerto - Horowitz
- The Undaunted - Ball
- Triumphal March - Elgar/arr. Bragg
- Rondo in Blue Minor - Ellis
- Ivory Ghosts - Higgins
- An Epic Symphony - Fletcher

Overall it was a great weekend. I got to see some incredible bands, and hear some incredible music. While I thoroughly enjoyed all of the bands that I got to see, I think that the Eikanger band was my favorite. They brought this brand new arrangement of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet that was simply stunning. It took the entire first half of the concert, about 50 minutes total in duration - that is an immense piece of music for a brass band.

Other than the Festival of Brass this weekend, my euphonium quartet was hired for a concert at the Witworth Art Gallery. We were pleasantly surprised. They seemed to have publicized it well, and had almost 50 people in attendance for the concert. It was nice getting out the college and playing for people, and the room wasn't bad to play in either.

Overall, not a bad weekend! ;) You can click on the various band names for their websites, and click below for a rundown of the weekends festivities!

Ford Sportka Commercial

Can you believe that they actually play this commercial on TV over here? There is another one that is worse than this one - - - but, I thought I would spare you. Enjoy.

Slovenia

It has been a few days since I got back from my little trip with Steve to Slovenia. I must confess - I did not even know where this country was. But, I do now. It is a great little place. Slovenia only has 2 million people in the entire country, but the arts are alive and well in this small little place.

For those that are wondering, Slovenia is located to the right of Italy, and right underneath Austria. It is part of former-Yugoslavia, and recently joined the European Union. Since it joined, it has become a tourist destination for many Europeans - because your money goes far, and the food is great!

When we arrived in Slovenia we were taken to our hotel - actually we were taken to Steve's hotel. He thought it wouldn't be a problem to book another room for me once we got there, but they were full up. So, this nice man who was organizing the trip called a few close places and found me a place to stay (which actually turned out to be nicer than Steve's place) ;)


Anyway, we made our way to the performance venue and Steve had his sound check with the Italian Trombone Quartet, Trombonisti Italiani. Steve recorded his 4 Valves, 4 Slides CD with them a few years ago. Recently he has recorded another disc, Colours of the World, which is a collection of folk songs from around the world. Really neat stuff. For more information on Trombonisti Italiani and their leader, Lito Fontana - click here.


The venue was great, a little small - but the place was almost sold out. We were in a small town near the capital called Domzale for the concert. They have a subscription series where they bring in artists from everywhere, and this was one of those concerts. Apparently they also have a couple of brass bands in the town, so many of those players showed up as well.

After the concert we were taken back to Steve's hotel for dinner. We had a great time that evening with plenty to eat and drink. The quartet was there along with a few other guests for the evening. Great conversation filled the evening, and it was a lot of fun meeting new people.

The next morning Steve and I went to the capital, Ljubljana (I must say that I had to check the spelling of that twice while I was writing it) for a little sight seeing. The place is great. Some of the more modern architecture has a slight 70's Russian influence to it, but if you can look past that you can see the true beauty is the older stuff - whatever wasn't destroyed in the war.

There is a river that runs right through one of the major town squares. It kind of reminds me of Amsterdam a little (although people aren't making their homes on the water). We met up with a conductor-friend of Steve's from a previous business, and he took us up to a castle high on a hill. There we got a full-on view of the city from a birds-eye perspective. It was truly beautiful. After that we got a little time to walk around before we went to lunch. The food is hard to describe, but I would call it a mix between German and Italian cuisine. It was, however, great.

It was great to get the opportunity to see another country - even if for only a short time. I hope that I can go back sometime. I do know that this little country will be a hotbed of tourist activity in the future - first for Europeans and eventually Americans. People there are very friendly and laid-back, and they love the arts.

More trips

I have been back in the UK now for two days, and I already miss the US. Being home was great. I got to see my friends/family and I really enjoyed myself. But, now I am back - and ready to go. I have so much to do in the next four weeks...including a trip with my teacher, Steven Mead.

Last evening he asked me if I wanted to go with him to Slovenia for a trip while he played a concert. While I won't be doing any playing, it will be a nice opportunity to see a different country in a controlled environment. I really had no clue where Slovenia was, so I googled it.

I promise a post when I get back and some pictures. I go with Steve to his place in Fenny Drayton tonight, and we fly out of London tomorrow afternoon. Back by Friday - a quick trip, but definitely an adventure! See you all soon!

Leavin' on a jet plane...

Tomorrow I return to the UK for my second installment of a 'Hoosier in a foreign-land', and I am looking forward to it. This semester, I want to work on my weaknesses as a focal point - and really get to back to fundamentals. The Besses have a great year in front of them and that will be a great time as well. I promise more reports and such once I get back to the UK and remember how to play the Euphonium. Have a great day!

2007 HERE WE GO!

Right now I am watching OSU getting beaten by Florida in the BCS Championship. Since I lived in Columbus, I find myself following Ohio State Football - not in that obsessive Buckeye-fan way, but more of just an avid spectator.

It has been a great year so far. I came over to Lawrence for some relaxation with Mary before the New Year. We were totally uninteresting for the New Year's Eve. We cooked dinner at her house and just stayed in and were lazy - crazy people were out, it's all good.

A few days later, we went down to her parent's house to see them for a bit and visit Mary's grandmother. I had a nice visit with her folks, and then we came back up to Lawrence for our trip out west. We had a few great days in Phoenix for a little R&R. The weather was great while we were there. We saw some sights and ate too much food. Definitely a great time.

Now, I am headed back to Evansville for almost a week before I head back to the UK on the 14th. I feel that I accomplished a lot the past three months, but am wanting to do more when I get back. I want to concentrate more on my weaknesses as a player, and to get rid of some 'holes.' Anyway, more on that later. I promise to post more before I head back across the pond. I hope that everyone is having a nice break from school (or those that have already gone back, I hope that you are enjoying yourselves), and I'll talk to you all later!