2026 North West Trombone Day
On Saturday 11th April, 11 Trombone players gathered in Holy Trinity Church, Littleborough for a day of music making, led by the Trombone section of the Black Dyke Band. It was great to welcome faces familiar with the Society, but also new faces, who hadn’t attended a BTS event before.
Following introductions, the day began with a group warm up, which focused on the basics; tuning, intonation, blend, and making a good sound, not only individually, but collectively. By adopting a call-and-response style of warm up, we also warmed up aurally, by repeating the first theme heard back. This was a great way to not only warm up physically, but mentally too. Following this, we were ready to tackle some music.
In our first “massed blow” session of the day, we worked through a plethora of music, exploring a range of contrasting styles. We began with Bill Reichenbach’s arrangement of “Scarborough Fair,” the lyrical features of this piece bringing some already brilliant sounds out from a group of players who had just met! Following this, we moved onto a multitude of more modern pieces, including Ian Jones’s arrangements of “Stingray” and “Can you dig it.” To finish our first session as a group, I brought along an arrangement of “Moon River” by a colleague and friend from the RNCM, Ben Copsey. We concluded by playing through Wilfred Heaton’s “Praise.” Once again arranged by Ian Jones.
Whilst we were having a coffee break, I approached attendees to see how they were finding the day so far, and if there was anything that anybody had brought to work on. Although nobody had brought solo pieces, I was presented with an arrangement of “Locus Iste” by Neil, who had travelled from Lancaster. I thought this would be a great opportunity to provide some chamber music experience for anybody who would be comfortable doing so. We had three volunteers! This allowed me to take part and act as a mentor within the group, passing on some of what I’ve been taught during my time as a student at the RNCM.
After this, we went into lunch, which gave everybody the opportunity to visit the local bakeries, butchers, and coffee shops. When we returned. It was time for the Black Dyke Trombone Quartet to perform a short lunchtime concert. We performed a range of works in our 30 minute set, ranging from John Williams’ “Olympic Fanfare and Theme,” to Bill Geldard’s “Autumn Leaves.” We finished our programme with a duet played by myself and Adam Reed; Steven Verhelst’s “Devil’s Waltz.” Throughout this Trombone Day, Garry, Adam R, and myself were delighted to be joined for the day by Tate Cassells, who is a current Postgraduate student at the Royal College of Music.
Then, we went into the Q and A portion of the day, where attendees had the opportunity to ask us anything, ranging from the Trombone, to life in general. Following this, we went into our final massed blow of the day. It was amazing to hear the improvement and subsequent confidence that came after becoming more familiar with the music! What a great day to be a part of. Meeting new people, and reconnecting with familiar faces!
