News

Rod Franks will be conducting a symphonic brass ensemble in some classical arrangements this Sunday afternoon in central London. JDBrass is formed around Royal Academy of Music BMus student James Davies and has previously played a chamber recital at the RAM.

James Davies will present his arrangements of the last movement of Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony and Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, whilst they will also perform the fanfare from Janacek’s Sinfonietta (arr. Chris Mowat) and Eric Crees’ arrangement of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue.

Sunday 8th June 2008, 4pm
Sunday Recital Series, St. George’s Bloomsbury, WC1A 2HR, London
Symphonic Brass Ensemble, conductor Rod Franks
FREE entry
Full information from JDBrass

Michael Nyman has set a piece for solo trombone and piano, to be given the premiere this Saturday by Peter Moore. This year’s BBC Young Musician winner will perform the piece at London’s Cadogan Hall as part of a Nyman festival.

With the title “If”, the piece is taken from the film score “The Diary of Anne Frank” and has been set by the composer to be accompanied by him on piano.

The British Trombone Society presents:

A spectacular day of trombone music and playing, at Bury Church, Bury, Lancashire on Saturday 19th July 2008 from 10.00 am to 9.00 pm.

The two themes of the day are:

Contemporary music for trombone
The trombone in the Brass Band

Update 25/5/08

The BTS are pleased to announce to further developments during the BTS day in Lancashire. Renowned Soloist Nick Hudson will also take part in a recital and workshop, and Stephen Sykes will play Basta by Folke Rabe and Brasilia by Robin Dewhurst in the evening concert.

Artists confirmed include:

• Bob Hughes (Royal Academy of Music Trombone Professor)
• Brett Baker (Principal trombone of the Black Dyke Brass Band)
• The Stockport Brass (Formerly BT Band) Musical Director Michael Fowles
• Peter Moore winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year
• Stephen Sykes Principal Trombone of the Leyland Band
• Lorna MacDonald Bass Trombonist with Bones Apart
• Nicholas Hudson International Soloist
• The Black Dyke Band Trombone Quartet

The programme for the day is as follows:

10.00 am Introduction and massed trombone choir led by Bob Hughes

11.00 am “The Bass Trombone” a workshop with Lorna MacDonald

12.30 lunch

1.15pm: Trombone Choir rehearsal

2.15pm The Black Dyke Trombone Quartet + tutoring another quartet

3.30 pm: Brett Baker. Demonstration and discussion of Brass Band repertoire and new compositions.

4.30pm Trombone Choir rehearsal

5.30pm Nick Hudson recital / workshop

7.00 pm Concert. Brett Baker, Stockport Brass, Peter Moore, Lorna MacDonald, Stephen Sykes, and Nick Hudson.

Admission to the workshops and daytime events is free to BTS members and £10 to non members. Tickets for the evening concert available on the door at £5 for all. There will be a number of trade stands present with instruments, sheet music and CDs to try and buy.

For further information, please contact Brett Baker by email: chair@britishtrombonesociety.org

The Church postcode is BL9 0LA. The nearby Rectory postcode is BL9 0JR.

John Kenny will be performing with the Westmorland Youth Orchestra in their 60th Anniversary Concert in June. John will be playing the Carnyx in his own composition “The Voice of the Carnyx”, and Didgeridu in Peter Sculthorpe’s “Earth Cry”.

Saturday 28th June 2008, 7.30pm
Kendal Parish Church, Cumbria, UK
Westmorland Youth Orchestra, conducted by Noel Bertram
Tickets available from the Cumberland Building Society, Lowther Street, Kendal or by phone from Sedbergh Tourist Information Centre on 015396 20125.

For further information, please contact Noel Bertram noel@nbertram.fsnet.co.uk

This Friday, the silky sounds of Jiggs Wigham can be heard when he performs a free lunchtime concert at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he is a visiting professor in jazz trombone.

Friday 23 May 2008, 1.05pm
Lecture Recital Room, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Silk Street, Barbican, EC2Y 8DT
Jiggs Whigham Jazz Trombone Concert

Acclaimed trombonist and visiting Guildhall lecturer Jiggs Wigham demonstrates jazz’s contribution to chamber music in a jazz trombone concert.

Third year trombone student Hari Eustice has beaten off stiff competition from the piano, strings, wind and percussion departments to win Trinity College of Music’s most prestigious prize. The final of the Trinity Soloist’s Competition took place on Tuesday at St. John’s, Smith Square, London, where Hari gave the winning performance of Tomasi’s Trombone Concerto with the TCM Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Cleobury.

The win echos trombonist Peter Moore in the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008, playing the same concerto two days previously.

The British Trombone Society is delighted to announce its 2008-9 BTS Composers Competition for players and composers throughout the UK and abroad.

Composers are invited to write music for the trombone in one of eight categories:

1) Unaccompanied trombone
2) Trombone and Piano
a) Up to Grade 6 standard
b) Grade 8 standard
c) Diploma standard
3) Trombone and brass band
4) Trombone and Rhythm Section/Big band
5) Trombone Quartet Junior (under 16 years)
6) Trombone Quartet Senior

All submissions must be received by November 1st 2008 and will be judged by a team of expert trombone players and composers from within and outside the BTS such as Bruce Fraser and Dr Philip Wilby. Entry to the competition is free to BTS members and £30 to non-members.

Prizes include the publication of your score by Warwick Music and its performance by top level musicians at a future BTS event in 2009 and the Black Dyke Music Festival in Leeds, April 2009.

The winner of each section will have an opportunity for their compositions to be played and recorded by leading UK trombone players including having their composition used in BTS solo competitions.

Each entry must comprise three copies of the score, and a cover letter stating the category it is being entered for and contact details. The scores must be bound and legible. The piece must be an original work, and not performed previously to 1st January 2008. There are no restrictions on composer’s age or country. Entries are welcomed from both BTS members and non-members.

Please send entries to:
Brett Baker
BTS Chairman
35 Yew Tree Drive
Barnton
Northwich
Cheshire
CW8 4NH

The competition is a superb opportunity for composers, however experienced, and provides a showcase for the best new music for trombonists.

Gareth Westwood
northwest@britishtrombonesociety.org
North-West Representative, British Trombone Society

Nick Hudson is to feature as one of the guest soloists at the inaugural Ottawa Brass Festival in Canada. The festival is the first of its kind in Ottawa and will also feature brass players from the National Arts Centre Orchestra and their ensemble, Capital Brass Works. Spread over two concerts, Nick will be featuring music by Jacques Casterede, Nicola Ferro, Gareth Wood and John Kenny.

Following a series of workshops in Ottawa, Nick travels to Toronto to feature works by Steadman Allen and Donald Morrison, alongside others in a concert with the North York Temple Band conducted by Glenn Barlow.

Upon touchdown back at Heathrow, Nick will swiftly make the long drive up north to Cumbria to conduct a workshop and recital in the Queens Hall, Sedburgh on 8th June 2008.

Guildhall student Robbie Harvey impressed judges Gordon Campbell, Bill Geldard and Jeremy Price to win the BTS Don Lusher prize. The competition was set-up to celebrate the memory and style of Don Lusher, and Robbie Harvey won a brand new Yamaha YSL697Z trombone and a special trophy presented by Diana Lusher.

Bill Geldard congratulates winner Robbie Harvey

The competition was staged at Leicester Grammar School on 3rd May 2008, where the three finalists, who had been selected by CD, played Harlem Nocturne and Stardust.

The two runners up Rachel Botham and Matthew Walton received plaques and a set of Denis Wick trombone mutes and a mouthpiece, kindly donated by Denis Wick.

Peter Moore has just been announced winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008. The 12 year-old trombonist becomes only the third brass player to win the grand final against all the other instrument categories - the others are top London orchestral players David Pyatt (1988) and Mike Hext (1978).

In a thrilling final in the Wales Millenium Centre today, Peter won over the judges with Tomasi’s Trombone Concerto accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well as Sandström’s Sång til Lotta.

Peter was born in Belfast, and his parents were both French horn players in the Ulster Orchestra. Now living in Stalybridge, he studies at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester.