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As has become somewhat of a tradition in previous years, the first concert of the new year will be held in the delightful St. Martin's Church, Womersley. This has become regular event for us over many years now, which is very much enjoyed by the Band. We are always made very welcome and they can't seem to do enough for us.
As usual it was something of a cold evening. But the warm welcome of the organisers soon made up for that. From the Band's point of view this was a challenge, because we had a large number of players who were unable to attend. But with the help of a couple of friends from other bands who stepped in and Ian who at the last minute changed instruments (and musical keys - very difficult), we were able to fill all the important positions. The result of this effort was turned into a great sound, helped by the wonderful acoustics of the church hall, and the concert got underway. The junior band band members performed in this concert in full for the first time, and not just for bit parts but as full members of the main band itself. And they did themselves proud. The concert went off very well and was very received by the audience and organisers. Judith very kindly gave us special praise at the end of the concert, which was then followed by some wonderful refreshments prepared by the organisers.
We already look forward to performing in this lovely church next year.
It had been a couple of years since we entertained an audience with one of our special Forties Night evenings. But we were asked by Peter Gibbons to put together an evening of entertainment to be held in the Central Methodist Church as one of the many events now being organised to make use of the recently refurbished church hall.
As well as music from the period performed by the band, there was other entertainment including quizzes and singing. Our Forties Nights are always great fun for everyone and this one was no different. We have received great feedback following the event from people saying how much they enjoyed it all.
If you haven't had the chance to attend one of our forties nights before, then keep an eye on our future concerts page for the next forties concert, and a great opportunity to experience the wonderful fun and atmosphere of the event. If you have been before, we know you will want to join in the fun again.
We performed as part of a concert in the lovely grounds of the Quaker School in Ackworth. The weather was good allowing us to perform outside as had been hoped by the organisers of the event. The event started with the charming Ackworth Junior Choir and was followed by several soloist performers of various ages. Then the elder Coram House Choir from the school. After the interval, KCB completed the lovely evening's entertainment with a selection of quite varied music, including a few new pieces being performed in front of an audience for the first time.
The audience, who were randomly seated on the lawns in their chairs on on their blankets, where able to enjoy the whole evening whilst enjoying the picnics that many had brought along. The organisers thought the whole event went off very well, and are now planning to do a similar event next year, so watch these pages to see when that will go ahead.
At the Party in the Park at the same school, just two weeks previously, there had been some small problems caused by performing outside at that event, where the music almost seemed to get lost into the air. But there were no such problems performing on their stage for the 2009 Patrons' Concert as the music filled the hall with no trouble at all. With Ian Dean in charge for his first major concert, and after a very short time since taking on the musical director role, he had put together a great concert programme and it was up to the band to bring it to life for this concert. And we didn't disappoint, with everyone performing at their top level to bring about a wonderful evening of varied music, and something that Ian can be proud of.
There was also a short time to look back, and the band honoured Graham Dean for the previous 33 years of dedication he had selfishly given to the band, by presenting him, and wife Susan for her support, with a personally engraved crystal trophy featuring the KCB logo. Steve Jones and Steve Brew is both gave heartfelt speeches describing the time, dedication and effort that Graham and Susan have put into the band over the many years, and it almost made Graham speechless as he returned his thanks.
But this was not all about presentations, and along with the wonderful music throughout the evening, there was the usual VIP reception before the concert started, including a chocolate fountain which was a big hit again, and also the interval refreshments, all organised by Gill Simpson and Diane McNaught, for which we also give our thanks.
So it may have been a big change within the band, as Graham stepped down to perform on Bass from now on, letting Ian take the role of musical director. But that did not stop KCB from going forward and starting on a high note, and setting a standard for us to continue to achieve going forward into the a new future for us all.
Some photographs of this event can be found on our gallery pages.
We shall remember them ...
This was a first time at this event. The organisation was very well prepared, and there were many events going on to celebrate the turning on of the lights. Everyone was enjoying the occasion and the only down side was that it pored with rain the whole time. But no-one seemed to mind and the event went off very well indeed. The only slight bug to the evening was when the lights went out for a short period. It is very hard to read music in the rain with no lights! But other than that, it was a fantastic evening for everyone who turned out for the occasion (which seemed like most of the village) and we look forward to being asked back again in the future.
The lead up to Christmas in recent years has seen KCB perform a wonderful joint Christmas Concert sharing the stage with our friends, the excellent Pontefract Choral Society. It is always a delight and a privilege to perform alongside this excellent local choir, and made all the better by returning to perform in the wonderful surroundings of the St. Giles Church after performing elsewhere for the past couple of years. The choir where up to their usual high standards, as were all the people in the full church hall. The acoustics of the hall always adds that little extra to our own brass music, and the band seemed to pick up on this, and performed beautifully. We shone through our own feature pieces and were also sympathetic to the voices of the choir when performing with them.
After the event, the organisers provided mince pies to go along side the coffee, tea and welcoming mulled wine, which was enjoyed by everyone. As usual, this was a special Christmas Concert on the lead up to this year's Christmas Day celebrations.
The title of the 2009 Christmas concert was a bit of a play on words this year:
Look Bach forward at to Christmas
but that was all explained during the concert.
The weather had a very festive feel to it, with snow and frost, but people were not put off too much and the hall was almost full to breaking by the time the concert got underway. The festive music filled the decorated hall all through the first half and there were opportunities for the audience to join in as well. It was no time at all that the cold weather was forgotten about.
The interval saw everyone enjoying the festive refreshments that Diane and Gill had gone to so much trouble to prepare. Many that to them again this year. The Susan announced the second half and the band were back in sparkly costume to perform plenty more seasonal music to the enjoyment of everyone.
Before we knew it, this wonderful concert was coming to an end, but not before we had a visit from Father Christmas himself, as he handed out gifts to young and old alike, and not forgetting the band either! Once again this was a great concert and the perfect start to the last week before Christmas itself. Everyone said how much they enjoyed it as they headed back out in to the cold, which wasn't able to remove the many smiles from their faces.
Some photographs of this event can be found on our gallery pages.
Over the years KCB has visited The Grove nursing home to play for them at their annual summer garden parties or give them a carol service at Christmas. We were delighted to be returning just before Christmas this year to give them a festive carol service again. The residence and their supporters always make us very welcome and the residents all enjoy the music, as many reflect on hearing brass bands playing in their own towns when they were younger. Many joined in the carols as we performed for them on this cold and icy evening and we think they really enjoyed the chance to let the hair down and have a good old sing along to all the well known carols and Christmas songs. It was a delight to see their faces light up as each new popular carol was played. As usual, the careers laid on some wonderful refreshments following the music which was enjoyed by the residence and band alike.
We played for the Five Towns Christian Fellowship in their last Concert back in December 2003 before their site was bought out and flattened for a new supermarket development in 2004. Since then they have moved and settled into a new building in Castleford and again have facilities which include a hall suitable for a concert. So we were delighted to be performing a full concert for the Five Towns Christian Fellowship again and hope this will be the re-launching of a new annual event with the group.
Due to circumstances, we were rather short of players, but a little change to the programme meant we were able to perform most of the items from our own full concert from the weekend. Several players stepped up at very short notice to fill the shoes of missing players, and we thank them for their efforts. The performance itself went off very well indeed in the surrounding of their lovely church hall, and you would have been hard pressed to tell we were so short of players that evening. The almost full audience enjoyed the concert and eagerly sang along with the carols as well as energetically joining in with the swaying to-and-fro to the humorous Schneewaltzer song.
Welcome refreshments were served during the interval for band and audience alike. Then when it was all over, we went out to discover a pristine seasonal scene, as a fresh layer of new snow had settled during the concert giving a lovely soft appearance to the whole area, just right for Christmas.
Some photographs of this event can be found on our gallery pages.
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