News

Kevin Holdgate’s car was broken into during the night of 31 January/1 February 2008 and two trombones were stolen. He asks if BTS members could please be vigilant, should they see these instruments for sale anywhere.

• Yamaha 630 Model Gold Bell, evidence of a repaired crease in a blue and yellow GIG bag.
• King 3B Concert Model with gold inlay on bell, similar to Silversonic, in original King “coffin” case.
• Custom mutes similar to Peter Gane mutes, but with white rather than plain wood bottom.

If you have any information, which could lead to the recovery of these items, please contact Richard Walker (richard.walker@ntlworld.com).

The Metropolitan Police have recently recovered a Conn 36H alto trombone (serial number 43 375264) and two mouthpieces that are believed to be stolen from a burglary suspect. Enquiries have been made to trace the owner but no responses have been received from the people contacted so far.

From certain items of information received by the police, there is a possibility that the owner may be from the USA and have travelled to the UK as part of an orchestra.

Please contact PC Kevin Curtis 814 CD by e-mail (Kevin.Curtis@met.police.uk) or on +44 (0)20 7321 8878 or 8879.

A large display of historic Boosey & Hawkes instruments and production records will be opening at the Horniman Museum later this month, celebrating over 150 years of British brass instrument manufacture and Boosey & Co.’s invention of the compensating valve system in 1874.

The museum in South London, which already has a large display of historical brass instruments, acquired the Boosey & Hawkes Collection and Archive in 2001. The B&H museum of instruments and production records from the Boosey & Hawkes factory in Edgware needed a new home when B&H left Sonorous Works and moved to much smaller premises in Watford. These instruments and material from the archives are the centrepiece of the new Boosey & Hawkes display in the music gallery, which will open officially on 17 November 2006.

It is with very great sadness that Chris Beaumont of Michael Rath Trombones communicated news this morning of the death of Adrian Davison, who worked on trombone slide manufacture at the Rath workshop in Huddersfield. Adrian was killed in a road accident on the evening of Monday 11 September 2006. He was 28.

The tragedy has robbed the Rath workshop and all of his friends and family of a wonderful person who were all very privileged to know and to work with Adrian and his very untimely death is a great loss to all who knew him.

The British Trombone Society and Michael Rath Trombones would like to extend our sincere condolences to all of his family, particularly to his wife Sarah and to his parents, Madeline and Richard.

Marcel Schot of Dutch brass distributor Atelier Pfeiffer has created an In Memoriam Adrian Davison page and an online book of condolence.

The website of the Royal Opera House has an interesting feature on the Thein contrabass trombone it has recently acquired for Keith McNicoll.
Says Keith:

Some time ago, I became aware that I would be required to play a contrabass trombone in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle at the ROH. I was immediately excited at the prospect, but it soon dawned on me that my old Alexander contra wouldn’t last five minutes in the orchestra pit - it is far too cumbersome and frail. After some discussion with the management it was agreed that the Royal Opera House should, ideally, own its own contrabass trombone.

Follow Keith McNicoll’s exploits in obtaining a new Thein contrabass trombone for the Royal Opera House in Featured Instruments: The Contrabass Trombone. While you’re about it, don’t forget that you can see Keith in action on the new ROH contrabass trombone in performances of Götterdämmerung on 17, 22, 27, 30 April and 3, 6 May 2006.