Although the weather hasn’t been the best, August has brought with it some great concerts. The band played on the opening day of the Folk Festival to a vibrant, appreciative audience. Although the festival was smaller in scale than in ‘normal’ years, it was fantastic to see it return, and we enjoyed rounding the week off with our customary concert at the Volunteer Inn on the Friday night. Our Sunday concerts have continued and, although we are currently only practising once a week, we are still able to perform 3 different programmes to ensure the audience can enjoy varied music at each concert.
A particularly special rehearsal occurred on Friday 20th August when the band could finally try out the acoustics of the new bandroom, seated in our normal positions rather than spread out across the whole of St Francis Hall. With the movable wall fully shut, we weren’t sure if the acoustic would be too big, but it was perfect. After a long wait, all Adrian’s hard work in creating our dedicated rehearsal space could finally be enjoyed. Being able to hear each other properly, rather than having to socially distance, made a huge difference, and the dream that started several years ago to create this space has been achieved. The band would like to say a huge thank you to Adrian and everyone else who has helped us to create what must be one of the best bandrooms in the country.
This summer has also brought us a fabulous new cornet player. Mark Durham, who is also the Musical Director of the Bideford Town Band, has been playing the cornet for over 30 years and we are absolutely delighted that he has chosen Sidmouth in order to return to his playing again. Mark started playing at the age of 8 with the Barlby Hilltop Foot Tappers Band and within a year was playing with the 4th section, Golden Rail Brass Band in York. By the age of 11 he had progressed to principal cornet before moving to 2nd Section, Rowntree Brass Band across the river. Starting on 2nd cornet he moved up to Principal cornet by the age of 15 as the band gained promotion from 2nd to championship Section retaining the top chair for 10 years and a two year spell on soprano. Following university he moved to the famous Carlton Main Colliery Band on Flugel and latterly achieving his dream of playing with the Brighouse and Rastrick Band. Life then took over and he moved to the Shepherd Group Brass Band, formerly Rowntree Brass Band, where he stayed until 2013, playing both Principal Cornet and Soprano Cornet. Mark writes, “I have been fortunate to play under the direction of some fantastic conductors but my inspiration and love of brass comes from my first teacher and friend Ted Pratt. The support and guidance from Ted was huge and without his influence I’m not sure I’d have made it past the first week. I am lucky to have a great partner in crime, Kim, who understands my love of brass, and I have two fantastic sons who I’m sure I bore regularly with brass music. Being a Yorkshire lad through and through it goes without saying that the best band for me is Brighouse and Rastrick, but my favourite piece would have to be Catheral’s version of MacArthur Park played by Grimethorpe Colliery.”