The End of an Era 16.07.07

On Sunday evening Robbie and I went to the Guildhall in Northampton for the last UK concert of the year for The County Youth Brass Band and The County Youth Concert Band. The Guildhall could not compete in size with the Festival Hall in Birmingham where they performed on Friday but it is the most beautiful hall for a concert. It really makes you feel in touch with history. You can view the Main Hall at Northampton Guildhall on this link, it is well worth a look.

http://www.opticalfx.co.uk/virtual_tours/conference-meeting_rooms/guildhall.htm

The Brass Band presented their program in the first half and the Concert Band took over after the interval. I am one of the least musical people in the world, but this concert held one big attraction - no strings! Even well played violins don't float my boat and when there are loads of them playing together it makes me want to run for cover. No doubt it is due to my own musical ignorance, but I am too old to change now. The brass band was amazing, I particularly enjoy brass bands and this band is exceptionally good. My favourite piece was an arrangement of Crimond and it was really beautiful.

The Concert Band are incredible and that isn't just me showing bias just because Emily plays in the band. They have won their class in National Concert Band finals and in the National Music for Youth Festival, so they are the best County Youth Concert Band in England. I was a little apprehensive about their performance as I knew they were going to play a new and difficult piece called Extreme Makeover - Metamorphoses on a Theme of Tchaikovsky. I knew the band had found it very challenging to learn the words 'minimalist' and 'experimental' had been used to describe it. I struggle to cope with run of the mill stuff, so the prospect of weird stuff terrified me, but I was so wrong. I loved it, it was very long and it kept me absolutely spellbound from beginning to end. The played a number of other pieces including Klezmer Classics which I loved.
The concert was especially poignant because it is Emily's last with the band and with the County Youth Music Service, because she will be off to university in the Autumn. She has played in county music groups since 2001 and it really does feel like the end of an era. As always I found myself wishing that her dad could have lived to see her now, he was much more musical than me and he was so proud to go and watch her in concerts and competitions. At this concert there was an added sadness because Emily's special friend Charles is no longer there. He came up through the various county groups with Emily and he was an exceptional Oboe and Core Anglais player, but he was also a rather exceptional human being. He died in a car accident in February and we still struggle to come to terms with his loss.

As I have mentioned before both bands are due to leave for Poland on Monday for a 9 day tour, they will be playing at a number of different venues. After the concert I had to help Emily with her last minute packing and make sure that she had all the essential travel documents, money etc. Fortunately her white concert blouses had not been given the tea bag treatment, I am so glad they had already been washed.

Music to Our Ears 13.07.07

After the bad news and gloom and doom of the last few days it is good to have something more pleasant to report. Emily went to Birmingham with her band today to take part in the finals of the National Festival of Music for Youth. Robbie and Laura went to hear them play and they were very impressed. The Northamptonshire County Youth Concert Band (which Emily is in) came joint first in their class.

Emily is off to Poland with the Band on Monday for 9 days, but before that they have their final concert in Northampton on Sunday evening, so Robbie and I are going to listen to the band for one last time. Emily was not able to audition for a place in the band next year as she will be away at university.

When I remember her shrill but enthusiastic first notes on the recorder when she was about 7 and her birthday wish for flute lessons when she was 8 or 9. Her arms were not long enough and so her first flute had to have a curved end. Those days don't seem so long ago, and it has been lovely to see her love of music progress, but suddenly she is all grown up and heading for university.