Playday - Banding Together
Over the last few years, Nottingham Concert
Band has pioneered the Playday concept, which has proved to be
an effective and popular contrast to weekly rehearsals, formal
evening concerts and outdoor events.
Several months in the planning, each Playday provides the opportunity
for band members and invited guests to gather for a full day of
intensive rehearsing to work on challenging additions to the repertoire.
Although the day usually concludes with a short, informal concert
for the friends and family of band members, the primary intention
is to enable players to explore and enjoy practical music-making
within a group of experienced and highly committed musicians.
Nottingham Concert Band Playdays are directed by Robert Parker,
supported by a team of specialist woodwind and percussion tutors.
This enables a series of focussed sectional rehearsals to take
place during the course of the day in addition to run-throughs
by the entire band.
To register an interest in attending or supporting the event,
e-mail chairman@nottinghamconcertband.org
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Let’s Do It Every Week!
Nottingham Concert Band ‘Playday 2009’ is a hit with members
and guests.
Some 60 musicians assembled in Wollaton on 25 April to take part in ‘NCB Playday 2009’, a special
event staged by Nottingham Concert Band for its members and invited
guest players.
A combination of whole-band rehearsals and intensive
sectional sessions under specialist tutors ran all Saturday in
Kingswood Methodist Church on Lambourne Drive, with the day culminating
in an informal performance to which band friends, family and the
local community were welcomed. Indicative of the enthusiastic
response from those taking part in the event was a feedback form
completed by one of the participants, which read simply ‘Let’s
do it every week!’
Leading the day was Nottingham Concert Band’s
Conductor & Musical Director Robert Parker, himself a professional
horn player and teacher, who also ran the sessions with the horn
and saxophone sections. Working alongside Robert were local professional
musicians Chris McDouall (clarinets/bassoons), Annette Negus (flutes/oboes),
Colin Smith (brass) and Ashley Parnell (percussion).
"Having a full day of concentrated rehearsing and performing
meant we could really get to grips with some challenging additions
to our repertoire," explains Robert Parker. New pieces which were introduced to the players on the day included Albion Heritage
(Sparke), O Magnum Mysterium (Lauridsen), Opening Night On Broadway
(Brown) and Summon the Dragon (Graham), together with Windfall
(Holcombe) for woodwind choir and Ceremonial Fanfare (de Meij)
for brass and percussion.
The participants were delighted with
the facilities offered by Kingswood Methodist Church and hope
to return for a similar event in the future.
Nottingham Concert Band is grateful for the support of Nottingham City Council
Community and Cultural Board in contributing towards the venue
hire.
See the Photos page for pictures.
