News from
Grange Moor Brass Band
CONCERT - Saturday 3rd December
Earlier today the band played at the annual Honley St Mary's Church Christmas Street Market, along with Jill Kemp and The Swing of Things. The band played a variety of Christmas-sy, and not so Christmas-sy music to the audience who also helped out with some carol singing and even a bit of choreography in one piece! But, also at the event were representatives from the local internet radio station Two Valleys Radio, who recorded the band playing a couple of pieces of music, including the American military march Liberty Bell by John Philip Sousa (perhaps best known now for its link with Monty Python!).
As well as the band's version of Liberty Bell being played on the radio station, the band's conductor Valerie Hope was also interviewed live on the radio! Well done Val, you did the band proud.
PLAYER UPDATE - Monday 24th October
The band are pleased to announce that Linda Atkinson has joined the band on cornet. Also, the band are pleased to announce that Lisa Shirley and Thomas Pitts, who previously played with the band, have re-joined the band. More detail are available on the players section of the band website.
REHEARSALS - Sunday 4th September
Following on from the band's rehearsal today it has been decided that, for the forseeable future, the band will be rehearsing once a week on Sunday's 7-9.
BAND UPDATE - Sunday 4th September
After having had a few weeks off and following various changes, the band had it's first rehearsal after the summer holidays today. The band are looking forward to continuing playing, the challenges ahead and enjoying making music! There have been a few player changes with the band, so come back and check out the players section of the band website soon.
CONDUCTOR UPDATE - Monday 29th August
The band are pleased to announce that the band's 2nd cornet player Valerie Hope has agreed to conduct the band and take the band forward.
CONCERT - Sunday 17th July
Unfortunately, owing to a lack of players the band were unable to play at the Red House Museum today as planned, fortunately members from the Stanley Newmarket Band, Tingley Brass Band and Grange Moor joined forces to brave the rain and entertain the very grateful (if not rather damp) audience. Thanks to all bands and members for helping out at playing at the job, it was really appreciated by all!
PLAYER UPDATE - Monday 10th July
The band are sad to announce that Cat Chadwick, the band's solo baritone has decided to leave the band and further her playing career at Drighlington Brass Band. The band would like to thank Cat for all her organising (both committe and social) as well of course as her playing with the band! Anyone intersted in joining the band should contact us.
PLAYER UPDATE - Wednesday 29th June
The band are sad to announce that Charlotte Stewart, one of the band's cornet players has decided to leave the band and further her playing career at Drighlington Brass Band. The band would like to thank Charlotte for her time with the band and wish her all the best for the future. Anyone intersted in joining the band on cornet should contact us.
PLAYER UPDATE - Sunday 22nd May
The band are sad to announce that the band's baritone player Lisa Shirley and percussionist Thomas Pitts have left Grange Moor Band. The band would like to thank Lisa and Thomas for their time with the band and wish them all the best for the future. Anyone intersted in joining the band and filling these vacancies should contact us.
COMMITTEE UPDATE - Sunday 15th May
Unfortunately, owing to work commitments Warren Gillibrand has had to step down as concert secretary of the band, but will still be playing! Until a replacement is found Nathan has agreed to cover the concert secretary position, would you be interested in helping to run the band? If so, please contact us.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - Monday 18th April
Unfortunately, owing to holidays and other commitments the AGM booked for tonight has had to be cancelled and re-arranged for Wednesday before rehearsal.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - Saturday 2nd April
The band are pleased to announce that the band's Annual General Meeting has been scheduled for Monday 18th April at 19.30. Nomination forms for anyone thinking of standing for an officer or committee position are available in the band room (on the notice board). Alternatively, if you'd like to discuss any potential nomination please feel free to contact any of the existing committee.
PLAYER UPDATE - Thursday 24th March
Unfortunately father and son duo Kevin and Jacob Lusk have decided to leave the band for pastures new. The band would like to thank Kevin and Jacob for all their time with the band and wish them all the best for the future.
POST AREA UPDATE - Monday 7th March
Yesterday the band played in the Yorkshire area 1st section, and although the result wasn't what the band would have liked (9th) at least the band made it to the contest and has a good firm base to build on over the coming year. So well done to all the band for making it to the contest and now it's onwards and upwards.
AREA UPDATE - Friday 18th February
The band are pleased to announce that contrary to some rumours doing the rounds they will be attending the upcoming Yorkshire area contest. This is in no small part to the band all pulling together and managing to fill those last couple of seats! So congratulations and thanks to all the band. Details of the band's open rehearsal before the contest will be announced shortly.
PLAYING IN THE DARK AND PLAYER UPDATE - Thursday 10th February
Unfortunately owing to a power cut in the village there were no lights on at the band rehearsal yesterday, but in true Grange Moor fashion the candles and torches were dug out and the rehearsal went on with the power returning after half an hour or so!
The band are pleased to announce a plethora of new players: Claire Pease on cornet, Catherine Owen on flugel, Pete Chadwick on bass trombone and Yvonne Embury on trombone. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PLAYER UPDATE - Tuesday 8th February
The band are pleased to announce that Pete Rhodes has joined the band on cornet. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PLAYER UPDATE - Friday 4th February
The band are pleased to announce that Katy Rogers-Davies has joined the band on percussion. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PLAYER UPDATE - Monday 31st January
Unfortunately Aaron, one of the band's horn players isn't going to be able to play with the band for a while owing to exam commitments at school, as such the band are pleased to announce that Lucy Denton has agreed to help out over the next few months, and after that, who knows! Also the band are pleased to announce that Granville Parker, who previously left the band owing to bad health has now reurned to the band. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PLAYER UPDATE - Wednesday 12th January
The band are pleased to welcome Jennifer Taylor to the band on cornet but are sad to announce that Louise Belton and Elly Jones have left the band. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PLAYER UPDATE - Tuesday 21st December
The band are pleased to welcome Matthew Farrimond to the band on cornet. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PATRON'S CONCERT - Saturday 11th December 2010
The band have been putting the finishing touches to their programme for their upcoming patron's concert set for Sunday 19th December.
Further details about how to become a patron of the band are available on the patrons scheme pages of this website, or alternatively, to book tickets for the concert, or to get more information regarding this, or any other concert then please contact the band.
The poster for this concert is now available from the below link.
Download Patron Concert Poster 2010
CONCERT TONIGHT CANCELLED - Saturday 4th December
Unfortunately owing to the weather the Mayor of Dewsbury has had to take the decision to cancel the concert that the band were due to play at tonight. We are hoping to rearrange the concert for some time in the new year, so watch this space!
CHRISTMAS CONCERTS - Monday 29th November
It's not even December and the band has now had it's first two Christmas engagements! - The Christmas lights switch on at local Middlestown primary school and the band's annual Christmas concert at St Peter's Church in Birstall. The band are now looking forward to their next engagement at St Chad's school on Wednesday this week and are then going to be finalising the program for their concert on Saturday at Dewsbury Town Hall. Some tickets are still available for the concert from the box office, more details are available on the Kirklees council website.
PLAYER UPDATE - Monday 15th November
The band are pleased to welcome two new players to the band - father and son duo - Kevin Lusk on cornet and Jacob Lusk on trombone. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PLAYER UPDATE - Wednesday 10th November
The band are sad to anounce that Granville Parker, one of the band's bass players, has decided to retire from the band owing to health reasons. The band would like to thank Granville for his time with the band and wish him all the best for the future.
PLAYER UPDATE - Sunday 7th November
The band are pleased to welcome two new players to the band - Kate Holian on euphonium and Charlotte Stewart on cornet. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PLAYER UPDATE - Sunday 31st October
The band are pleased to announce that Taneli Clarke has joined the band on bass. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PLAYER UPDATES - Saturday 30th October
The band are sad to announce that Leisa Mallalieu, the band's principal cornet player, has decided to leave the band to further pursue her playing career. The band would like to thank Leisa for all her time with the band and wish her all the best for the future.
Sally Howley, the band's flugel horn player has left the band to concentrate on her family as she's given birth to a beautiful baby girl. The band would like to thank Sally for all her time with the band and wish her and baby Emily all the best for the future.
The band would also like to wish Cat Chadwick all the best as she is currently on maternity leave from the band with a new child on the way too!
Lastly, several new players have joined the band recently as well - we should hopefully be able to announce them all shortly.
More details will be available from the players section of the band website shortly.
NEW CONDUCTOR - Friday 29th October
After various auditions the band are pleased to announce that Nik Payne has agreed to be the band's new conductor. Nik has played with various bands around the country, including principal cornet with many of the countries top bands. Nik has been on good form with the band and has even conducted the band at two engagements within weeks of taking up the baton! The band are pleased to welcome Nik as the new conductor and hope that this is the beginning of a great relationship, further details for Nik will be appearing on the conductor section of this website shortly.
PLAYER UPDATES - Wednesday 1st September
Unfortunately Leanne Francis has decided to leave the band to concentrate on her studies at college. The band would like to thank Leanne for her time with the band, in the meantime Andy Carr has swapped instruments back to horn from cornet. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
CONDUCTOR UPDATE - Tuesday 6th July
Plenty of applications for the conductor/musical director position with the band have now been received and the band have already started with the auditions! So good luck to all the applicants, and we'll update the website as more is known.
PLAYER UPDATES - Monday 5th July
Unfortunately Doug Clarkson, the band's solo trombone player, has decided to leave the band to further pursue his conducting. So the band wish Doug all the best for the future.
Also, the band are hoping to be able to announce a couple of new players shortly, so watch this space!
CONDUCTOR UPDATE - Thursday 17th June
Applications for the conductor/musical director position with the band have been coming in thick and fast, but there is still time so please do contact us if you're interested in applying!
Also Michael Howley has agreed to assist the band in the interim, until a new conductor/musical director is found to help cover any rehearsals and/or jobs - so a thank you to Mike for his continued support!
CONDUCTOR - Thursday 10th June
The band are sad to announce that their conductor/musical director Michael Howley has decided to leave the band to further his playing career, as such Mike has taken up the solo euphonium seat at Hepworth Brass Band, the band would like to wish Mike all the best for the future and thank him for all his work over the last few years!
This does mean that there is now an opportunity for a new conductor/musical director to lead the band over the coming years and to promotion to the 1st section from January next year. Anyone who is interested in applying to become the conductor/musical director of the band should contact the band.
NEW PLAYER - Thursday 6th May
Grange Moor Brass Band are pleased to announce that Leanne Francis has joined the band on Horn. Leanne did play with the band previously but missed us so much she's come back! In addition to Leanne joining the band Andy Carr has also swapped around a few different instruments but seems to have settled on cornet for the time being. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
PROMOTION - Sunday 2nd May
The band are pleased to announce that they have received confirmation of the final gradings for bands competing in the Yorkshire Regional Brass Band Championships and it has been confirmed that as of 1st January 2011 the band will be promoted from the 2nd section to the 1st section. In addition it has also been confirmed that the Yorkshire Regional Brass Band Championships for 2011 will take place on the weekend of Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th March 2011, with the 1st section playing on the morning of Sunday 6th March.
The Yorkshire Regional Committee have now published the full grading tables following the 2010 Yorkshire Regional Brass Band Championships on their website.
CONDUCTOR, AUSTRIA BOUND - Friday 30th April
Michael Howley, the band's conductor, is busy in Linz, Austria, this weekend taking Concord Brass Band (from Denmark) to the European Brass Band Championships. Grange Moor would like to wish Mike and Concord Brass Band all the best for the contest.
PLAYER UPDATES - Tuesday 16th March
The band are sad to announce that their Bb bass player Phil Goodall has now left the band for pastures new. Phil won't be too far away from the band as his new band are Emley Brass Band, who are based only up the road and Phil still lives in the village, so we're sure we'll see him hanging around from time to time!
On a more positive note the band have already had several expressions of interest in it's vacancies following the Yorkshire areas, so watch this space for some announcements soon!
YORKSHIRE AREAS - Sunday 7th March
The recording of the band's performance is now available from the listen to the Grange Moor band section of this website.
YORKSHIRE AREAS - Sunday 7th March
The band have returned from Bradford following their performance at the Yorkshire Areas and got 3rd in the second section - so well done to everyone in the band. The band delivered what many audience members considered to be a good account of the set test piece, including 4barsrest.com, who on their twitter page wrote “Grange Moor deliver is very lyrical account to put themselves in with a chance of a Harrogate berth”. In the adjudicators comments there were also lots of positive comments including “good dynamic contrasts”, “well done soloists” and “overall this is a fine sounding ensemble”.
Photographs are going to be gradually uploaded to the website over the next few days - so watch this space!
AREAS OPEN REHEARSAL - Monday 1st February
Grange Moor Brass Band are pleased to announce that they have arranged an open rehearsal on their area test piece Kingdom of Dragons by Philip Harper. The open rehearsal has been arranged for Thursday 4th March 2010 at 8pm in St Pauls Church, Mirfield. Entry to the open rehearsal is free, so why not come down for a listen!
The poster for this open rehearsal is now available from the below link.
Download Area Open Rehearsal 2010
NEW PLAYER AND A CHANGE AROUND - Sunday 17th January
The band are pleased to announce that Thomas Pitts has joined the band on Percussion, Granville Parker has changed from 2nd trombone to Eb bass and Tim Grace has agreed to swap to Bb bass for the Yorkshire Areas. More details are available from the players section of the band website. Hopefully there will be more player announcements shortly, so watch this space.
AREAS PREPARATION - Tuesday 12th January
Following the busy Christmas busking period the band have now settled down (hoping that the weather stays OK!) and are preparing for the Yorkshire Regional Brass Band Championships (the “areas”) at St. Georges Hall in Bradford in March. The band will be playing in the second section on Saturday 6th March, in the morning.
Further details on the area contest are available from the Yorkshire Brass Band Championships website.
CHRISTMAS STARTS FOR GRANGE MOOR - Monday 30th November
The festive season has finally kicked off for Grange Moor Brass Band with their annual Christmas concert at St Peter's Church in Birstall. The programme from the band was well received by all the audience, with in excess of £600 raised for a local cancer charity. The band would like to thank the church for what was an excellent concert and we look forward to returning for our next concert in May 2010.
The band are now preparing for their concerts over the coming weeks, including their own concert on 13th December 2009 in St Bartholomew's Church in Grange Moor.
A full list of all the band's concerts are available from the events section of this website.
MALTON ENTERTAINMENTS CONTEST - Sunday 1st November
The band have just returned from performing at the Malton Entertainments Contest earlier on today. The band were placed a very respectable 3rd place and also were awarded the prize for most versatile percussion (all down to Andy and his expert tambourine skills, or so we're told). In the adjudicator remarks from the contest there are plenty of positive comments about the various sections and players around the band, including “valiant” soprano and solo cornets, a “stylish” soloist, “excellent” trombones and “shining” basses (and with only three basses at that)!
The band wishes to extend it's thanks to the borrowed players who helped out at the contest and enabled the band to attend.
More details, including full results from the contest, should be available from the Yorkshire and Humberside Brass Band Association website shortly.
PLAYER CHANGES - Sunday 1st November
There have been a few changes to the players at Grange Moor Brass Band, unfortunately Kat Bentham and Stuart Haigh have decided to leave the band to pastures new, the band thanks both Kat and Stuart for their time with the band and wishes them all the best for the future. On a more upbeat note for the band we are pleased to announce Doug Clarkson has joined the band on solo trombone and David Jenkinson has joined the band on solo cornet. More details are available from the players section of the band website.
MALTON ENTERTAINMENTS CONTEST - Sunday 25th October 2009
The band have been busy putting their finishing touches to their programme for the up-coming Malton Entertainments Contest on Sunday 1st November. Supporters are welcome to come along and cheer the band on to hopefully improve on it's 4th position from last year!
Further details regarding the Malton Entertainments Contest are available from the Yorkshire and Humberside Brass Band Association.
CHARITY CONCERT - Sunday 25th October 2009
Unfortunately Dewsbury council has decided to cancel the charity concert that the band was due to play at on Friday 30th October - although we have been assured that the concert will be re-scheduled, so watch this space!
PATRON'S CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHS - Monday 19th October 2009
Photographs are now available from the recent patron's concert. These photographs were taken by Alan Statham and are re-produced with his kind permission. They are available from the gallery section of this website.
CHRISTMAS CONCERT - Thursday 15th October 2009
Grange Moor Brass Band are pleased to announce that their annual Grange Moor Christmas concert has now been arranged for 13th December 2009 in St Bartholomew's Church in Grange Moor. The evening promises to be packed with both festive Christmas music and some non-Christmas music for a bit of variety! To book a ticket for the concert please contact the band.
The poster for this concert is now available from the below link.
Download Christmas Concert Poster 2009
PATRON'S CONCERT - Tuesday 13th October 2009
The recent inaugural patron's concert held by Grange Moor Brass Band on Saturday 3rd October 2009 was well received, with guest soloist Stephen Wilkinson, principal cornet of the Brighouse and Rastrick Band dazzling the audience.
The concert has been reported/commented on both 4barsrest.com and themouthpiece.com.
Further details about how to become a patron of the band are available on the patrons scheme pages of this website.
CORNET SECTION - Wednesday 23rd September 2009
There have been some movements in the cornet section following Kathryn Evans' decision to take a back seat at the band for a while. Warren has moved onto the back row and Elly is now confirmed as our repiano cornet! Hopefully the band should be able to announce some new players (probably not just cornets either) very soon, so watch this space!
Full details of all the band's cornet players (in fact all the band) are available from the players section of the band website.
PATRON'S CONCERT UPDATE - Sunday 6th September 2009
Grange Moor Brass Band have been busy practicing for their patron's concert set for Saturday 3rd October 2009.
Various different pieces are being practiced and are having the finishing touches put to them, so an evening of good quality music should be had by all!
Further details about how to become a patron of the band are available on the patrons scheme pages of this website, or alternatively, to book tickets for the concert, or to get more information regarding this, or any other concert then please please contact the band.
UPDATE - The poster for this concert is now available from the below link.
Download Patron Concert Poster 2009
NEW PLAYERS - Sunday 28th June 2009
Grange Moor Brass Band are delighted to announce the signing of 3 new players.
Louise Belton joins us on Soprano cornet and at the tender age of 13 she continues to impress at every rehearsal!! Adrian Longbottom on 2nd Euphonium joins us from the Kippax band and along with our third newby, Granville Parker on 2nd Trombone, is a valuble asset to the band.
A warm Grange Moor welcome to all.
WHIT FRIDAY - Friday 5th June 2009
Grange Moor braved the weather on Whit Friday and competed at three of the contests in Saddleworth.
The band is extremely grateful to the 'deps' who stood in, especially David Hayward who took on the difficult task of leading us all around Saddleworth in the worst Whit Friday weather conditions for many years.