A. W. Parker (Drybrook) Band

8th FEBRUARY 2019, GBBA ENTERTAINMENT CONTEST

The band came first in the Fourth Section of this year's GBBA Entertainment Contest, coming away with the Critchley Bros Challenge Trophy and a cheque for Ł100. Our program started with Coming to America, followed by It's Oh So Quiet and 'Hymn' from the Gallimaufry Suite. Emily Harding, in her last performance with the band before moving on to Lydbrook, then performed her solo of the day - Georgia on My Mind, which won the Best Soloist of the Day award. Well done Emily and good luck in the future! We finished our performance with Birdland.

Congratulations must also go to our Baritone player, David Bourne, who received a Special Award for 50 years service to Gloucestershire Brass Banding, in particular his services to our own A. W. Parker (Drybrook) Band.

For more details of the results, click here.

5th DECEMBER 2009, EMILY MAKES IT!
Congratulations to Emily Harding, who has secured a place in the 2010 National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. Emily is the second member of the band to be awarded a place. In 2005, Emily Dodsworth, who was then our principal cornet, also had the honour.

22nd NOVEMBER 2009, GBBA OWN CHOICE CONTEST

With a program of Bramwyn and Dark Side of the Moon, the band managed a 3rd place finish from four competing bands in Section B of this year's GBBA Own Choice Contest. The winners of the section were City of Bristol, followed by Corus (Port Talbot). Wotton & District finished in fourth and Pillowell withdrew from the event.

For more details of the results, click here and for more photos of the band in action, go to our gallery. You can also read the adjudicator's remarks for the March and Test Piece.

3rd NOVEMBER 2009, NEW PLAYERS WITH THE CONTEST LOOMING
With less than a month to go before the GBBA Own Choice Contest, the band are practising hard and have had several good rehersals with full attendances. We are also pleased to announce that Beth Laws and Wendy Price have joined us on Solo Cornet and Percussion. The Euphonium player, Otis Williams will also be with us for the next six months while Mandy Hamer is on maturnity leave from the band and we thank him for his help. Petina Fitchett has also joined us for the GBBA Contest on Solo Baritone.

21st SEPTEMBER 2009, FAREWELL TO THE MORGANS
The band would like to say goodbye to Kieran and Ryan Morgan, who have now moved on. Thank you for your services to the band and we hope to see you again soon.

20th SEPTEMBER 2009, WYCHAVON FESTIVAL OF BRASS
The band competed in the Third Section of this year's Wychavon Festival of Brass, in Droitwich. Our program began with 'Blenheim Flourishes' by James Curnow, followed by 'She' by Charles Aznavor, arranged by Steve Cortland. We used David Rose's 'The Stripper' to clean and arrange the stage for our soloist of the day Emily Harding, who then performed Joaquin Rodrigo's 'Concerto de Aranjuez'. Our finale was Joe Zawinul's 'Birdland', arranged by Sandy Smith.

Unfortunately, our performance did not score highly with the adjudicator and we finished 9th from 10. Our congratulations go to fellow Forest Band Pillowell Silver, who finished 4th in a strong field, including Emley, who have now won twice in two years. For more results from the Festival, click here.

We must also take this opportunity to thank Kieran and Ryan Morgan, who are sadly moving on. We hope to see them again in the future!

18th AUGUST 2009, SUMMER WEDDINGS IN THE BAND
Congratulations to Kevin White (Musical Director) who recently married Jo Richardson, our former percussionist. Congratulations also to Hugh James (Repiano Cornet), who married Tanya Bishop.

24th JULY 2009, NEW STAND BANNERS
The band are pleased to present the new stand banners that we will use from now onwards.

These new banners, emblazoned with the band's logo, were designed and made by our Flugal Horn player, Cindy Button and the embroidery was undertaken by Victoria from T3 Designs, a local business. Our thanks goes to both of them for their generous work.

20th JULY 2009, NATIONAL CHILDREN'S BRASS BAND COURSE
Good luck to Emily Harding, who will be taking part in the National Children's Brass Band course in Bromsgrove this week. This year she will be playing fifth of eight Solo Cornets.

19th JULY 2009, GOODBYE CHARLOTTE!
We must say goodbye to our Solo Cornet player, Charlotte Baggott, who is leaving for a banding career in the army! After six weeks basic training she will attend Kneller Hall to study under some of the top army musicians. After this she will then be assigned to and become a member of an army band. Good luck Charlotte!

7th JULY 2009, WORK ON THE BANDROOM
As some may have noticed, work to extend the bandroom has begun in earnest. When completed, the bandroom will have a new disabled toilet and practice room, furthering our ability to provide facilities to the community and train members of the Academy Band.

This has been possible largely due to grants from the Forest of Dean District Council and Grassroots Grants. We would also like to thank the kind members and friends of the band who raised money towards the project.

20th JUNE 2009, BAND AWARDS EVENING
The band held their Annual Award's Evening on the 20th June, at Viney Hill Club. The Bandsman of the Year (David Bourne), Musician of the Year (Emily Harding) and the winners of several Whoopsies collected their trophies and certificates from our Musical Director. Then the music began and some of us showed that are rhythm is not just for playing (others didn't!)
Click here to see pictures.

30th MAY 2009, FOWNHOPE 'HEART OF OAK' SOCIETY MARCH
The band again played for the Heart of Oak Society, firstly in the short Church service and then on the March as usual. The sun was most definitely shining and the beer was flowing! Click here to see pictures from the day.

28th MAY 2009, PLAYER PROFILE - ANDREW JONES
The second member of the band in the spotlight is our Solo Horn player, Andrew Jones.

Andrew started playing the cornet when he was 5 years old for Sharpness District and Silver Band under the band's temporary conductor, Vivian Ford; as Reginald Ridler had recently passed away.

After five years it was decided that he wasn’t suited to cornet and should move to tenor horn. This proved to be the right move and when he started grammar school he began to play the French Horn. He went on to join Cheltenham Area Youth Orchestra (CAYO) as principal, as well as many school groups.

At the age of 12, he helped the Vale of Glamorgan Band win the Cross Keys Competition, playing First Horn but unfortunately the band soon disbanded.

In 2005 he joined the Gloucestershire Youth Brass Band, only stepping down recently due to his age! In 2007 he left CAYO and joined Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra as bumper up.

Finally he joined the A. W. Parker (Drybrook) Band early in 2009 on First Horn and has since been promoted to his current position.

17th MAY 2009, WESTON-SUPER-MARE OWN CHOICE CONTEST
On the 17th, the band competed in the Third Section of the Weston-super-Mare Own Choice Contest, managing a pleasing mid-table finish with our performace of Peter Graham's 'Dimensions'. Well done to all those who took part, especially the younger members!

1st Crosskeys Silver - Kerry Bowden, 187pts
2nd Avonbank (Evesham) Brass - Nick Smith, 186pts
3rd Bath Spa - David Haywood, 185pts
4th A. W. Parker (Drybrook) - Kevin White, 184pts
5th Pillowell Silver - Steve Ruck, 182pts
6th Wotton under Edge and District - Dennis Grant, 181pts
7th Bream Silver - Huw Cole, 180pts

Best set of Basses - Avonbank

6th MAY 2009, CHELTENHAM COMPETITIVE FESTIVAL
Two of our players competed in the Cheltenham Competitive Festival this year.

Playing the slow Melody 'Demelza', Emily Harding (our Solo Cornet player) won the Gold Medal and Gramophone Society Cup in the 14 years and under with 95 points earning an honours award.

In the Grade 6 & 7 class, she was awarded a Silver medal for her performance of Edward Gregson’s 'Dance Macabre'. This was despite the official accompanist not being able to play the piano part and having to restart the piece five times.

Finally, at the end of a long day she was awarded the Gold Medal and the W Hobart Bird Cup for the 18 years and under class. This time she chose to play the traditional air with variations, 'The Ash Grove' by H Round.

Our Second Trombone player, Ryan Morgan also performed in the under-14 class with 'Nobody Knows'. This was his first ever unaccompanied solo competition and he successfully gained 81 points, picking up a distinction in the process!

Well done both of you!!

5th APRIL 2009, NATIONAL YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS
Five members of the A W Parker (Drybrook) Band - George Morley (BBb Bass), Kieran Morgan (Eb Bass), Ryan Morgan (Trombone), Kathryn Harding (Percussion) and Emily Harding (Solo Horn) competed with the Gloucestershire Youth Brass Band at the Co-Operative NationalYouth Championships at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Playing from drawnumber one, the band under their musical director Ian Porthouse set a really high standard. Their program of, consisting of 'Music from Greenwich' (Edward Gregson), set test piece 'The Pioneers' (Philip Sparke), and 'Partita for Band Postcards from Home' (Philip Wilby) was enthusiastically received from asmall audience due to the 12:00 start time.

They then had to wait until all fifteen bands had played, until almost 8:00pm, for the results before adjudicators Philip Harper and David Horsfield placed them in first place and named them Intermediate Section National Youth Champions 2009.

28th MARCH 2009, VICTORY AT RHONDDA
Emily Harding from the A. W. Parker (Drybrook) Band playing with Ben Stratford from Forest Brass won the 17 and Under Duet class at Upper Rhondda Solo and Quartet Contest. Playing Prelude and Dance by Marcelo, they were placed first by Chris Turner (Principal Trombone with Cory Band) with 90 points.

Ryan Morgan competing with members the Flowers Youth Band claimed 1st Prize in the 17 and Under Quartet Contest with 91 points, with Emily Harding and Ben Stratford playing for the quartet that finished second, only one point behind.

14th MARCH 2009, WEST OF ENGLAND AREA FINALS, THIRD SECTION
The band travelled to the Riviera Centre in Torquay to compete in the West of England Third Section. We were drawn to play 5th from the 16 bands in our section, which included fellow forest bands Pillowell and Bream. Although we were pleased with many aspects of our performance of Andrew Baker's 'The Once and Future King', the adjudicators decided on a 15th place finish, which ended are current run in the Third Section. However, we look forward to next year and hope for a strong return to form and some silverware to match. Click here for the West of England Results, courtesy of 4barsrest.

4th MARCH 2009, PLAYER PROFILE - EMILY HARDING
March sees the start of a new feature for the band's website: profiles of our players. We start with our Repiano (NOW SOLO) Cornet player, Emily Harding.
(Pictured at the National Finals in 2004)

Emily started playing the cornet when she was 7 years old. Her first instrument was a second hand Besson 1000 bought from a friend. Initially taught by her Dad, it was soon obvious that she had a natural musical talent. Every week Emily visits the band's former musical director Dave Ventura where they spend half an hour with him playing piano to accompany her solo work. This partnership has proved successful many times with Emily winning countless Solo Contests playing music that Dave has written especially for her.

Emily soon progressed through her musical grades and by the age of ten had passed her grade five. She continues to enter solo contests and has won the Gold Medal for the past four years at the Cheltenham Music Festival, often beating players much older than herself.

Her contest career with the AW Parker (Drybrook) Band got off to an inauspicious start with her refusing to go on stage at the GBBA contest when only eight years old, but she did watch the bands performance from the wings. She has since performed with the band at Harrogate Nationals Finals in both 2004 and 2005 (when only 9 and 10 years old).

2007 saw Emily pass her audition to become the first member of the AW Parker (Drybrook) Band to join the National Children's Band of Great Britain. She also attended the 2008 course and is looking forward to taking part again in 2009.

As well as playing for the AW Parker (Drybrook) Band, Emily is also a member of the Flowers Youth Band and the Gloucestershire Youth Brass Band. She still works with Dave Ventura on her solo performances and also is tutored by Pete Gittings (the band's 2nd Cornet player and a Peripatetic Brass Teacher for Herefordshire), who is preparing her for her grade 7 exam and also for her audition for the National Youth Brass Band later in the year.

2nd MARCH 2009, LOOKING BACK TO 2002
A photo has been unearthed of the band, lining up before the 2002 Area Finals. Its old enough for the changes to be obvious and new enough to still embarrass many of our current players. Click to here to point and laugh.

1st MARCH 2009, MORE NEW SIGNINGS
We are pleased to announce the signing of Charlotte Baggott (Solo Cornet).

16th JANUARY 2009, NEW SIGNINGS
We are pleased to announce the signing of Andrew James (First Horn) and Peter Gittins (Second Cornet), as well as the return of Julia Pegler (now on Second Baritone).

17th DECEMBER 2008, FOREST CHURCH CHRISTMAS CONCERT
The yearly Forest Church concert once again played host to the Band, the Drybrook & District Ladies Choir and the Drybrook Male Voice Choir. Click below for several clips of the band performing...

Merry Christmas Everybody - Click
Frosty the Snowman - Click
Stop the Cavalry - Click
The 12 Days of Christmas - Click