Nick Hudson featured in Northampton

On 25th June, I'm proud that my band, the Travelsphere Holidays Band will be welcoming the talented trombonist Nick Hudson as guest soloist at a concert in Northampton. Nick won all the brass band silverware in the late 80's and 90's with the country's top bands including Fodens, YBS and Faireys. He's spent the last couple of years as a soloist, as well as featuring in Alan Morrison's brass quintet "Sonar Brass" and also releasing a CD called "New Horizons" which shows an appreciation for a much broader solo horizon than the usual bandy classics. He has a warm, clear and lyrical sound and of which I have been envious for many years.

25th June 2005
Spinney Hill Theatre, Northampton School for Girls, Northampton, UK
7.30pm
Tickets: 01908 505877 / 07970 750321


Also check out the band's latest broadcast of lighter favourites on BBC Radio 2 coming up this Friday night:

Friday 1st April 2005
BBC Radio 2
21:30 Listen to the Band

Frank Renton presents The Travelsphere Holidays Band, one of the best bands in the Midlands. Conducted by Dave Stowell they play Rimmer, Weber and the theme from TV classic Band of Brothers.

Trombone mating calls

Last week's premiere of Turnage's new trombone concerto "Yet Another Set To" was a real blast. I'll be filing my own review with BTS magazine, The Trombonist, but for a rather more professional opinion, check out the Ivan Hewitt's positive review from The Daily Telegraph on 23/3/05. Ivan describes the dramatic entrance as:

The phallic connotations of this beginning were confirmed when Lindberg strode into view, all leather-trousered, strutting energy, exchanging loud mating calls with the orchestral trombone.

Glasgow brass day

Scottish brass players are in for a treat next month when the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, headed by trumpet legend John Wallace, present a brass day at their base in Glasgow. Apart from hearing some wonderful playing, there's a good chance that Chris Stearn from Scottish Opera will be there to show off his new Michael Rath contrabass trombone!

Update (2/4/05):
Artists: John Kenny, Simon Johnston, David Bobroff, Chris Houlding, Katy Pryce, Bones Apart, RSAMD Brass, Allstar Brass Ensemble, Intercollegiate Brass, Scottish Consort of Trumpets, international soloists. New works featured by Vivian Barty Taylor (with electro-acoustics), Simon Wills, John Kenny and Eric Crees.

Brass Spectacular 2005
Sunday 24 April
Noon until late

Brass Spectacular is back for an all day feast of brass, featuring a galaxy of local, national and international stars filling the concert halls and foyers of the RSAMD from noon to midnight.

From classical to jazz, renaissance to cutting edge, serious to lunatic, there’ll be something for everyone. Concerts, recitals, competitions, workshops, masterclasses, trade stands – its all there. This year the featured instrument is trumpet, with a vast array of visiting artists and ensembles from across the globe.

Featured ensembles include the Royal Scottish Academy Brass and Allstar Brass Ensemble, Intercollegiate Brass, the Scottish Consort of Trumpets and a host of international soloists. Highlights include two gala concerts at 1.00pm and 8.00pm with a plethora of guest soloists and ensembles, celebrity recitals and masterclasses throughout the afternoon, conducting and brass quintet competitions, wall to wall foyer music and trade stands.

Events kick of at noon and end with a late night party!

Full listings will be available on the RSAMD website at www.rsamd.ac.uk or from Bryan
Allen on b.allen@rsamd.ac.uk

ALEXANDER GIBSON OPERA STUDIO/ACADEMY CONCERT HALL/GUINNESS ROOM

All events are free however, a ticket which is free, is required for both Gala Concerts.

Queens' composer is cautioned by the police

There's a delightful BBC news story about composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies breaking UK law while living in his Scottish island:

On Monday morning a police car came whizzing up the lane with a very charming young man and a very beautiful young lady. They didn't accuse me of killing the swan, they accused me of being in possession illegally of a corpse of a protected species.

I had to give a statement. I offered them coffee and asked them if they would like to try some swan terrine but I think they were rather horrified. That was a mistake, wasn't it?

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Master of the Queen's Music

Peter Maxwell Davies performances in London

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is affectionately known as Max we are told by the brochure for the London South Bank Centre's festival of his music this April. Simon Wills has been booked to play Max's Judas Mercator which Simon premiered last year. I heard him played it at the second performance at Bone-Lab in the summer and I think I'll need to hear it a few more times to start to understand it. Well worth exploring though since there aren't many top-grade composers writing for the trombone.

Other brass highlights of the festival include:
* More of Max's chamber music - Sonata for Trumpet and Sea Eagle for horn played by Royal Academy students.
* Westminster Cathedral Choir with Royal Academy Brass Soloists - Since Max's choral pieces refer to Palestrina, James Watson and his students will be providing an interesting interspersion of several Gabrieli canzonas.
* Hakan Hardenberger - Swedish trumpet virtuoso Håkan will play Max's trumpet concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Apparently this piece evokes the wind, sea and birdcalls of the composer's Orkey Island home.

Horn midi accompaniments

Practising your french horn and can't find an accompanist to help you learn the piano part? Run out of interesting trombone music and want to steal a classic horn piece? How about looking up a computer-generated MIDI accompaniment at a useful site like Horn Midi? They have a huge selection of horn piano parts to download for free for you to play along to to get and idea before you meet your accompanist. I think I'll have a go at the Beethoven Sonata in F tonight!

Decent trombone jokes!

There seem to be the same half-dozen musician jokes copied all over the internet. So it's nice to see a few new howlers at James Markey's brand new website.

There are also several really interesting articles about auditioning, embouchures and a rather impressive biography of how he became Associate-Principal Trombone at the New York Philharmonic.

While you are surfing, it's also worth getting tips from the big name at the NY Phil, Joe Alessi who has also redone his website with lots of new things to read and listen to.

Howarth and Eikanger

Eikanger-Bjørsvik Musikklag is a Norwegian brass band which is not only up there with the best in terms of quality, but are far and away the most adventurous brass band on the planet. Even the best Yorkshire bands rarely play substantial compositions, let alone commission and perform a ballet score as Eikanger did recently with a professional ballet company. But Eikanger also hold a considerable margin in their performance of light music, and coupled with some of the best arrangers in the business playing in the band and frequent music-less choreographed 'shows', you can see why audiences everywhere enjoy their concerts.

They are on tour to England over the Easter weekend. In Huddersfield they'll record a CD, before a light-hearted concert in Dobcross Band Club on Friday 25th March at 8pm. The big finale will be when Elgar Howarth brings them to his home town of Halesworth in Suffolk to conduct his "In Memoriam R.K.". This extended work draws on the late romantic Viennese styles embodied in Mahler and Richard Strauss as a tribute to one of Elgar's favourite conductors, Rudolf Kempe.

Sunday 27th March, 4 pm
St Marys Church, Halesworth, Suffolk, UK

Eikanger-Bjørsvik Musikklag
Conductors: Reid Gilje and Elgar Howarth.

Programme:
My strength, my tower
Dean Goffin

Aria
Philip Sparke
Soloist: Monica V. Reigstad, horn

I himmelen/In Heaven
Trad/ Buen arr.: Svein H. Giske
Soloist: Tormod Flaten, euphonium

Tournament for Brass
Eric Ball

Passacaglia
J.S. Bach/ arr.: Howard Snell

Little Prayer
Evelyn Glennie
Soloist: Andreas Lien Røe, Marimba

Elegi
Rolf Wallin / arr.: Trond Elnes
Soloist: Jane Westervik, cornet

In Memoriam R.K.
Elgar Howarth

Groves Brass on the Marche

A fine new brass quintet "Groves Brass Ensemble" has sprung up in Manchester recently and has had much success in competitions such as the Royal Overseas League and the RNCM Philip Jones Prize. But what particularly impressed me is their repertoire - not content to stick with the usual arrangements made by similar ensembles, they have been busy playing lots of excellent serious works. Original works by Berio, Richard Rodney Bennett, Bozza and Lutoslawski have all been featured in recent recitals.

Anyone looking to hear this up-and-coming ensemble should check out their recitals list. They can be heard in Lyon (France) next month, but Brits will have to wait until May to hear them next in Manchester and they have recitals as far and as wide as Sevenoaks and Hartlepool later in the year. And the repertoire is no less mouth-watering. Bourgeois' barely known feature for brass quintet and brass band will be on the programme at the Royal Northern College of Music. And in another concert they provide an unmissable opportunity to watch and hear Tim Souster's comedy "La Marche" which features the performers dressing up as five world dictators including Hitler and Margaret Thatcher!

More info at the Groves Brass Ensemble website.

Special MacMillan and Britten brass concert

Anyone in the East of England at the end of the month should look out for a rare concert of Britten's Russian Funeral for orchestral brass in his home Suffolk countryside. Peter Bassano is conducting brass from the Britten-Pears Orchestra, but is working closely with James MacMillan in rehearsals, which provides a fantastic opportunity to perform the composer's pivotal brass quintet, Adams Rib. Do say hi if you come along!

SATURDAY 26 MARCH 2005

Blythburgh Serenade

Wind and brass players from the Britten–Pears Orchestra

Mozart Serenade No. 11 in E flat, K. 375
MacMillan Adam’s Rib
Richard Strauss Suite in B flat major, Op. 4
Britten Russian Funeral

The Britten–Pears Orchestra’s wind and brass
sections, directed by Michael Harris and Peter
Bassano, come to the fore in their juxtaposition of
established works by Mozart and Richard Strauss
with two shorter 20th-century British works.
MacMillan’s 1995 brass quintet celebrates the
miracle of God’s creation with two Chorales and a
Fanfare, and Britten’s 1936 work presented a
Russian revolutionary song You fell in battle under
the original title War and Death, an impression for
brass orchestra.

Blythburgh Church 3.00pm (ends approx 4.00pm)
Tickets £15, £12, £8

Jorgen van Rijen sound and video clips

Kurtág, Biber, Krol and Martijn Padding are among the composers featured on Jörgen van Rijen's new solo CD. This was first announced back in November and initially released in December when Jörgen played Berio's Solo with his Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. But for the rest of the world we have had to wait for general release, tomorrow, 14th March 2005. It's great to see he's put in a mix of standard European repertoire where he'll be on home ground, as well as an adventurous mix of baroque and contemporary repertoire. Very few orchestral trombonists attempt pieces beyond the romantic mainstays, so it's great to see Jorgen really going for it. I also particularly look forward to hearing the Tomasi concerto in all its glory with the RCO orchestra accompanying.

For a sound sample and video of the man himself draped over the mixing console check out the label Channel Classics.

This disc is available from Amazon here: Works for Trombone

Tracks:
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644 –1704) Sonata à 3 for 2 violins, baroque trombone and continuo
Henri Dutilleux (1916) Choral, Cadence et Fugato for trombone and piano
Bernhard Krol (1920) Capriccio da camera op. 35 for trombone and 7 instruments
Joseph Guy Ropartz (1864- 1955) Pièce en mi bémol mineur for trombone and piano
Martijn Padding (1956) First Piece for trombone solo
Axel Jørgenson (1881–1947) Romance opus 21 for trombone and piano
James Fulkerson (1945) Force Fields and spaces for trombone and delaysystem
György Kurtág (1926) A Kis Csáva op. 15b For piccolo, guitar and trombone
Henri Tomasi (1901–1971) Concerto for trombone and orchestra

Bang out of order

Recently seen on BBC News:

Tax evaders in a southern Indian city are having cash beaten out of them - by troupes of drummers.

Authorities in the city of Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh state are sending drummers around to create a noise outside homes until evaders cough up.

Officials say they recouped 200,000 rupees ($4,600) on the first day.

Music has always been a political weapon. Could this be the next big money spinner for brass and percussionists everywhere?

Dave Taylor NYC recital

Thanks to Rene Laanen

Dutch festival Slide Factory details released

It's now less than a month until the Dutch Trombone Festival "Slide Factory" featuring those wonderful guys from New Trombone Collective, the unstoppable Christian Lindberg and many more. After months of only having a website in Dutch, (we've been plagued by dodgy translations that promise of a "bladder orchestra") they have finally released the full information in English, so get down to http://www.dutchtrombonefestival.com and sign up for some of the best trombone programming of the year.

Trombone vacancy, Hawaii

There is massive competition for positions in orchestras around the world - recent vacancies in the UK have fielded around 100 applicants, of which around 75% of the resumes received are up to scratch and are deemed worth auditioning. Although there are only one or two trombone jobs turning up each year in this country and dozens of trombone graduates, these bun fights will appear like a polite British custom compared to the fierce competition expected for this newly announced position. Yes, they don't come any more cushdy than this:

Honolulu Symphony Audition
Associate Principal/Second Trombone (1 full-time one-year position)

Repertoire List
Solo: solo of the candidate’s choice
Orchestral Excerpts:
· Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin
· Berg: Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6
· Brahms: Symphony No.4
· Holst: The Planets
· Mahler: Symphony No. 3 (First Trombone)
· Mozart: Requiem - Tuba Mirum
· Ravel: Bolero (First Trombone)
· Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture
· Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
· Rossini: William Tell Overture
· Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 “Organ” (First Trombone)
· Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
· Schubert: Symphony No. 9 “Great C Major”
· Wagner: The Ride of the Valkyries
· Possible Sight-Reading

This was announced on MusicalChairs.info

Turnage trombone month

There's been great anticipation of a major classical CD release including a recent alto trombone piece from one of the best British composers around - Mark-Anthony Turnage. The good news is it's now available to buy!
Correction: This is not the Turnage trombone concert - check out Lindberg's concert on Saturday for that. Svoboda is actually featured on Canzona per Sonare "Uber die Linie" V (2002) for alto trombone and two orchestral groups by Wolfgang Rihm. But the Turnage piece Etudes and Elegies is really great stuff. I'm liking that guy more and more.


Purchase information

A single movement of a trombone concerto was commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra for the orchestra's 70th birthday in 2002 and was premiered by Christian Lindberg in January 2003. In just over a week's time, Christian Lindberg will treat London audiences to the World Premiere of a whole new version of this piece, expanded to a full-blown three movement concerto called "Yet Another Set To for trombone & orchestra". Details of that concert here.

Gordon Campbell with the RAM trombone choir, London

Royal Academy of Music Trombone Choir - The RAM Trombone Choir, directed by LSO bass trombonist Bob Hughes and featuring guest soloist Gordon Campbell (lead trombone, BBC Big Band), will be giving a free concert at 1.00pm on Wednesday 9 March 2005. No tickets are required.

Thanks to the BTS website for flagging this up.