East Anglian Brass Band Association Brass Training Day

On Sunday 20th October the East Anglian Brass Band Association held its Annual Brass Training Day at the Hewett Academy, Norwich. Delegates from age 10 upwards had enrolled for the course. This year the tutors were from the Foden’s Band. The change in the format of the course which started in 2018 with an Andante Band for less experienced players and an Allegro Band for more experienced players was continued. Altogether there were over 70 delegates enrolled to participate in the two bands.
 
The Allegro Band was led by Mark Wilkinson who was also the soprano and front row cornets tutor. The sectional tutors for the Allegro Band were Anna Hughes-Williams (back row cornets), George Thackray (flugels and horns), Gary Curtin (euphoniums and baritones), Nick Birch (trombones), and Stewart Baglin (basses). Players in the Allegro Band studied the march Imperial Echoes (Arnold Safroni arr. J. Ord Hume), the Cornish hymn tune Salutation (Kenneth Palmer), Sir Duke (Stevie Wonder arr. Goff Richards), and Dimensions (Peter Graham).
 
The delegates were delighted to accompany Mark Wilkinson in Hailstorm (W. Rimmer).
The Andante Band was led by Anna Hughes-Williams and studied A Whole New World (Alan Menken and Tim Rice) and Guava Guy (Andrew Norman). The players in the Andante band also rehearsed the hymn tune Salutation and at the end of the day joined the Allegro Band in a performance. Three young brass players from a local school were among the players that had enrolled for the Andante Band. They had not had the opportunity to play in a band before and had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
 
Association Secretary, Christine Wade reported that the day had been thoroughly enjoyed by all the delegates. Several had contacted her to say that the date for the 2020 Brass Training Day was already in their diary. One delegate said that she had such a good time it was a shame it wasn’t a weekend event. The Association wishes to thank Mark, Anna, George, Gary, Nick and Stewart for an excellent day.

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