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A FEAST OF SUMMER BRASS
The great British weather played its part in the bands recent series of summer events in Hepworth.
Sadly the ‘Cream Teas & Brass at The Butchers concert fell victim to the torrential June rain. Thanks to Tim at the Butchers for his help in supporting the event, we hope it’s one that we can stage again sometime when hopefully the weather will be kinder
Hepworth Feast on the other hand was an absolute scorcher. The sun shone and the crowds turned out for the afternoon procession of witness from Hepworth School, through the villages of Scholes and Jackson Bridge, returning to the village for tea at the school before the evening service and feast festivities.
The Hepworth Summer Proms concert at the Recreation Ground on Sat 16th July turned out to be an enjoyable evening despite the threat of heavy rain and strong winds that had been forcast for the weekend. As it was the skies cleared mid afternoon and over 200 people brought along their picnics and deckchairs for an evening of pomp and ceremony.
Photo...to followThe band, conducted by resident MD Michael Howley opened with the march ‘The Wizard’ followed by ‘Festival Overture’. Principal cornet David Karran gave a nice account of ‘How Great thou Art’. Music from the James Bond films and Pirates of the Caribbean were well received by an appreciative audience, with ‘Music’ by John Miles bringing the bands first set to a close.
Famous British Marches and Fantasia on British Sea Songs got the flags waving before guest solo euphonium David Thornton gave a stunning performance of Hartman’s ‘Rule Britannia’.
Jerusalem, Nimrod and Pomp & Circumstance provided a fitting finale to the Summer Proms and needless to say the audience demanded a repeat rendition of ‘Land of Hope & Glory’
A big thank you to William Sykes & Sons Estate Agents, Holmfirth for supporting the event and to the bands village fundraising committee for helping to make it a great evening.
ENGLISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESTON GUILD HALL, SAT 26TH JUNE 2011
The 2011 English National Championships brought together nine of the top ranked English bands to compete for the right to represent England at next years European Championships in Rotterdam and the title of English champions.
As it was Black Dyke returned to winning form, with a well-deserved first place in both the set piece and own choice disciplines, closely followed by Fodens, Brighouse & Rastrick and Faireys.
Martin Ellerby’s delightful, deceptive "Elgar Variations" provided the test for the set work. Under the direction of Ian Porthouse Hepworth delivered a performance that very nearly led the way, being placed 3rd behind Fodens and eventual winners Black Dyke.
The bands performance of Philip Sparkes "Music of the Spheres" in the own choice selection earned 7th place and meant that Hepworth finished in 5th place with Leyland 6th, Rothwell 7th, Reg Vardy 8th and Pemberton 9th.
WORLD RANKINGS
The result means that the band moves upto to 16th in the 'World of Brass - World Rankings' and finishes the summer season as the 10th highest ranked English band.
| Pos | Band | Region | Points | +/- |
| 1 | Cory | Wales | 1,170.70 | - |
| 2 | Black Dyke | Yorkshire | 886.79 | +2 |
| 3 | Foden’s | North West | 883.76 | - |
| 4 | Tredegar | Wales | 762.44 | -2 |
| 5 | Fairey (Geneva) | North West | 742.57 | - |
| 6 | Brighouse and Rastrick | Yorkshire | 685.73 | +1 |
| 7 | Grimethorpe Colliery | Yorkshire | 638.47 | -1 |
| 8 | Manger Musikklag | Norway | 407.11 | - |
| 9 | Rothwell Temperance | Yorkshire | 326.15 | +1 |
| 10 | Eikanger-Bjørsvik | Norway | 291.80 | -1 |
| 11 | Leyland | North West | 290.18 | - |
| 12 | Reg Vardy | North | 206.49 | - |
| 13 | Carlton Main Frickley Colliery | Yorkshire | 187.59 | - |
| 14 | Co-operative Funeralcare | Scotland | 168.67 | +1 |
| 15 | Kirkintilloch | Scotland | 161.45 | -1 |
| 16 | Hepworth | Yorkshire | 158.49 | +7 |
| 17 | Virtuosi GUS | Midlands | 137.54 | -1 |
| 18 | Stavanger | Norway | 132.91 | -1 |
| 19 | Pemberton Old Wigan DW | North West | 125.37 | +2 |
| 20 | Desford Colliery | Midlands | 123.35 | -2 |
Porthouse & Bach
Ian Porthouse returns to direct the band at the English National Championships, with Michael Bach, the highly regarded young Swiss MD of Brass Band Bugermusik Lutzern engaged to lead the band at the British Open.
Michael already has two Swiss Open Championships to his name and led Ensemble de Cuivres Euphonia to victory in the B section at this-years European Championships.
Michael commented "I am delighted to give my premiere at British contests with Hepworth and I can’t wait to start the rehearsals. Red Priest will be a very interesting piece to work on and I’ll try to give my very best to make it a good experience for everyone involved."
NEW PRINCIPALS AT HEPWORTH
We are pleased to welcome David Karran to the band as principal cornet and Hannah Drage as the bands new solo horn.
Dave is studying at the University of Huddersfield and was principal cornet with the Skelmanthorpe band. Hannah is studying at the Royal College of Music in Manchester and was a semi finalist in this years BBC "Young Brass Musician of the Year".
A BUSY SUMMER AHEAD
There's a busy summer ahead for the band on both the contest and concert stage.
Preparations are now in full flow for the bands appearance at the All England Masters International Championships at the Lighthouse Theatre, Kettering at the end of May. The set work is "Gemini", a new piece by Darrol Barry.
"Cream Teas & Brass" at the Butchers Arms, Sunday 12th June, 2
It’s then onto the Whit Friday Marches around the villages of Saddleworth on 17th June, before competing the English National Championships at Preston Guild Hall on 25th June, with two pieces, the set work, Elgar Variations by Martin Ellerby and our own choice Music of the Sphere’s, Phillip Sparke.
The traditional Hepworth Feast celebrations on 27th June rounds off a busy month as we then head into a well earned Summer break with the Hepworth Summer Proms, at the Recreation Ground, Sat 16th July and an opportunity to bring along your picnic tables and deck chairs to enjoy an evening concert, including a "Last Night of the Proms" finale./
London Bound Again
The band, directed by Russell Gray qualified to represent Yorkshire at the finals of the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain at the Royal Albert Hall in October, alongside Carton Main Frickley Colliery band, Rothwell Temperance and Brighouse & Rastrick.
Drawn to play last of 12 bands at the Yorkshire Regional Championships at St George’s Hall, Hepworth followed defending champions Brighouse & Rastrick onto stage to deliver a performance of Phillip Wilby’s Paganini Variations, described by adjudicators Stan Lippeatt and David Read as "really superb", one of "5 top drawer performances".
The full result was:
- Brighouse & Rastrick
- Hepworth
- Carlton Main Frickley
- Grimethorpe Colliery
- Black Dyke
- Rothwell Temperance
- Skelmanthorpe
- Marsden Silver Prize
- Wakefield Metropolitan
- Drighlington
- Hebden Bridge
- Hade Edge
It’s becoming a bit of a habit for the band to make the trip to south Kensington when it’s an odd year having qualified previously in 2007 and 2009.
Hepworth appoint Michael Howley
as resident Musical Director
The Hepworth band is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Howley as resident Musical Director.
Michael is well known in the banding movement, having held the principal euphonium position with Rothwell Temperance, the Fairey band, Yorkshire Building Society, Brighouse and Rastrick and most recently the Hepworth band.
Michael has been associate conductor of the Concord Brass Band of Copenhagen, leading their performance at the European Brass Band Championships in 2010. He has been working with Hepworth since the turn of the year, directing the band earlier this month at the opening concert of its 2011 series and preparing the band for the forthcoming Yorkshire Regional Championships at St George’s Hall, Bradford in March. Michael commented "I’m delighted by the appointment, it’s a fantastic opportunity for me to work with a great band and I’m looking forward to working with Russell Gray for the Yorkshire Regional Championships and Ian Porthouse for the English Nationals"