The band journeyed the short distance to Ross-on-Wye to take part in this year's GBBA Entertainment Contest, at the new Larruperz Centre venue.

Playing fourth from a field of seven bands (including 1 second section, 3 third section and 3 fourth section entries), the band hoped to impress adjudicator, Philip Harper. Our programme started with 'Valero' by James Swearingen (arr. Sandy Smith), which was followed by 'Silver Threads Amongst the Gold', (arr. W. A. Alison) our solo piece excellently performed by Andrew Jones, our Solo Horn player. A lively rendition of 'The Simpsons' came next, which contrasted with our fourth piece 'A Gaelic Blessing', by John Rutter (arr. Darrol Barry). Our programme concluded with 'The Mask of Zorro', arranged by Darrol Barry.

When the results were announced, the band were pleased to hear we had been placed second overall, below only fellow Forest band, Bream Silver.

The Adjudicator's Comments will be available shortly from the 'Recent Contest Results' section of the History page. You can find out more about the contest by visiting the GBBA website.

The band would like to thank the two deps who helped us out on the day, Dean Woods and Tim Colebrook. We would also like to wish Beth Laws good luck as she leaves to begin a career in the army and hope she comes back to visit!

Posted: 06 February 2012

The band will be running the Bailey Lane End Music Festival again this year. The event will take place on the 23rd June 2012 in the Drybrook Band Room.

We look forward to a strong entry again this year and are hopeful of increased numbers as the competition grows. Again the emphasis will be on encouraging young players to take part, often playing their first public solo, rather than winning, although prizes are awarded. Solo, duet and quartet sections for varying ages are open for entries.

To find out more, download the syllabus by clicking the image to the right >>>

Posted: 06 February 2012

Each year the band holds its Annual Awards Evening, at which four trophies are presented. In 2011, we were also able to bestow Life Membership upon three of the band's long-serving members.

The 'Roy Sampson Shield', presented to the Bandsman of the Year, as voted by band members went to Chairman, Band Manager, Web Manager and Repiano Cornet player - Hugh James.

The Musician of the Year, decided by the Musical Director, was Robin Hamer, our Principal Euphonium player.

The Most Improved Player of the Year, also decided by the Musical Director, was Becky Sumner, one of our Percussion team.

The Academy Band Player of the Year, chosen by the Academy Band Musical Director, was Ben Evans, our Second Baritone player.

Life Membership was bestowed upon Robin Hamer (Principal Euphonium), David Harding (Secretary and Eb Bass player) and Arthur Sampson (Trustee and Second Trombone player) for their long service to the band and continued dedication and work.

Posted: 29 December 2011

The A.W. Parker (Drybrook) Band said goodbye to the 4th Section with a clean sweep, for the second year running, of the 4th Section prizes at the Gloucestershire Brass Band Association Annual Test Piece & March Contest and are now busy preparing for life in the 3rd Section for 2012.

The band are pleased to be able to welcome a host of new players as the preparations for 2012 take shape. Jenny Higgins joins on 2nd Horn, Roy Smith on Bb Bass and Sophie Collier on Solo Cornet – all join from 3rd Section rivals Pillowell Silver - and Rachel Hayward completes the percussion section after joining from Abergavenny Borough.

The band are also pleased to welcome back to the fold Hannah Etheridge on 3rd Cornet after completing her architecture degree at De Montfort University, Leicester and Abi Sumner on Trombone who returns having completed her degree at the University of Warwick. David West also returns to the band to take the Bass Trombone seat for the area contest. View the Members page to see the new line-up.

After a busy Christmas schedule, the band will return to the contest stage in February when they defend the GBBA Entertainment title before turning their attention to the West of England Regional Contest and are looking forward to a pre-area contest master class with Foden’s resident conductor Michael Fowles.

Posted: 28 November 2011

At last year's contest, the band came away with all 5 trophies from Section C of the GBBA Own Choice Contest. With this in mind and with the contest being our last in the Fourth Section, the band were determined to bring a winning performance to the Forest Theatre in Coleford.

Playing second, after Malvern Hills District and before Thornbury Town and City of Oxford, the band performed "The Army of the Nile", followed by "Dimensions". Our playing impressed the adjudicator, Stephen Roberts, who awarded us with all five trophies for the second year in a row. In total, the band took home the Section C prizes for Best March Performance, Best Test Piece Performance, Best Conductor, Best Instrumentalist (for our Principal Cornet - Martin Musto) and Best Trombone Section.

The band's chairman - Hugh James - was very pleased with the result. "Our performance today was really pleasing. We have worked very hard on both pieces in the band room and its great to replicate this form on stage. We have opened and closed the year with emphatic victories at the two GBBA contests and gained promotion at Torquay. 2011 has been a great year! Now we need to prepare for the step up into the Third Section in 2012 and will be back at the GBBA Entertainment Contest in February."

The Adjudicator's Comments can be downloaded from the 'Recent Contest Results' section of the History page.

Posted: 21 November 2011

On Sunday 9th October, the band travelled to Burford to take part in the annual ODBBA Entertainment Contest. Playing third, our program was a re-run of the one performed at Wychavon in September and consisted of 'Valero', solo feature 'Carrickfergus' (Martin Musto), xylophone duet 'The Two Imps' (Kathryn Harding & Becky Sumner), 'A Gaelic Blessing' and 'The Mask of Zorro'.

As the trophies were awarded we were happy to receive the Percussion Prize (well done Kathryn, Becky and Becky!) and the Most Entertaining Band trophy. We were also awarded the Overall Third Place prize, beaten by Wantage B and Malvern Hills District.

Adjudicator Comments and Audio Clips will follow shortly on the History and Gallery pages.

Posted: 10 October 2011

The band took to the stage in Pershore on Sunday 18th September to compete in the Fourth Section of the Wychavon Festival of Brass. Our programme consisted of 'Valero', solo feature 'Carrickfergus' (Martin Musto), xylophone duet 'The Two Imps' (Kathryn Harding & Becky Sumner), 'A Gaelic Blessing' and was finished off with 'The Mask of Zorro'. It was Steve Ruck's first contest with us as Musical Director and we also welcomed Andrew James as our compere for the performance.

As the results were drawn, we narrowly missed out on the section Percussion Prize, (although our xylophone players, Kathryn and Becky, were mentioned by adjudicator, Roger Thorne) and were awarded Second Place, beating our neighbours Cheltenham Silver into third and losing out to Cleobury Mortimer Concert Brass. Congratulations to all the prize winners and we hope to improve on our second place finish at the Oxford & District Brass Band Association Contest, which will be held in Burford on the 9th October.

Adjudicator Comments and Audio Clips are now available on the History and Gallery pages.

Posted: 20 September 2011

The band have entered the ODBBA's Entertainment contest this year, which will be held at Burford School on the 9th October.

The band will be competing against Witney Town, Malvern Hills District, Hook Norton, Wantage Silver 'B' and the highest-ranked rivals, Swindon Pegasus.

The band will are scheduled to play 3rd and be on stage at 1pm.

Posted: 12 September 2011

The entries for this year's Wychavon Festival of Brass have been made public. Nine bands will take part in the Fourth section, which will be held on Sunday 18th September at the Riverside Leisure Centre, Pershore. The section will start at 11.30am and the adjudicator will be Mr Roger Thorne.

The band will face competition from Bradwell Silver, Burbage Silver, Trentham Brass, Cleobury Mortimer Concert, Coleshill Town, Worcestershire Youth Brass, Tottington Public and our neighbours Cheltenham Silver.

In the first contest under our new Musical Director - Steve Ruck - the band look to repeat the success of last year, which saw us claim first prize.

Posted: 18 August 2011

This year's Bailey Lane End Music Festival took place at the AW Parker (Drybrook) Bandroom on Saturday 25th June 2011. Once again the event was run by the AW Parker (Drybrook) Band. Adjudicator for the day was Steve Legge, Assistant Head of Gloucestershire Music Services.

Results were as follows: -

Class 1 - Junior Brass Solo Under 11 Years
1st - Alexander Waring
2nd - Rebecca Jessop
3rd - Alice Gwynne-Duggan

Class 2 - Junior Brass Solo 11 - 12 Years
1st - Rory Gordon
2nd - Liam Bowers
3rd - David Crowe

Class 3 - Junior Brass Solo 13 - 16 Years
1st - Ben Stratford
2nd - Elodie Gwynne
3rd - George Stratford

Class 4 - Brass Duet 16 Year & Under
1st - Elodie Gwynne & Henry Kirk
2nd - David Crowe & Samantha Ford
3rd - Ciaran & Maia Barcoe

Class 5 – Brass Quartet 16 Years & Under
1st - Pillowell Silver Band
2nd - Lydney Training Band

Class 6 - Brass Solo Open 11 - 21 Years
1st - Ben Stratford
2nd = Rory Gordon
2nd = Oliver Pugh

Class 7 – Duet Adult & Child Under 16
1st - Elodie Gwynne & Clive Lewis
2nd - Neil & David Crowe
3rd - Roger & George Stratford

Class 8 – Open Brass Solo
1st - Ben Stratford

Posted: 13 July 2011

The AW Parker (Drybrook) Band is delighted to announce the appointment of Steve Ruck as their new Musical Director.

The appointment sees a return to the band for Steve who played on the Solo Cornet line when still at school. Steve’s playing career, on leaving Drybrook, took him to Sun Life Stanshawe Band in 1979 and in more recent years to Tredegar Town before moving to Flowers in 2010.

Steve’s appointment as MD at AW Parker (Drybrook) follows a successful spell as MD at Pillowell Silver Band during 2009 & 2010.

Steve said ‘I am really looking forward to the challenge of conducting the AW Parker (Drybrook) Band. They have enjoyed fantastic success over the last twelve months and I hope to build on this in the future. The enthusiasm and dedication within the bandroom is second to none; the opportunity to conduct a band with such wonderful facilities and well attended rehearsals was too good to miss.’

The band’s first contest under their new MD will be the Wychavon Festival of Brass, followed quickly by the SEWBBA Blaenavon and GBBA contests as they prepare for promotion to the 3rd Section in 2012.

Band Secretary David Harding said ‘We are thrilled to appoint Steve as our new Musical Director and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with him. It is always difficult when changing MD but after a lengthy audition process we are sure that we have made the right appointment.’

The band would also like to take the opportunity to thank Colin Hogg who has been deputising whilst the search for a new MD has been taking place.

Posted: 04 July 2011

The A.W. Parker (Drybrook) Band have announced that they have parted company amicably with Musical Director, Kevin White after over seven years in the middle, a partnership that has seen the band twice promoted to the 3rd Section, attend two National Finals and win five of its last seven contests.

A spokesperson informed 4BR: "It is always difficult to end any relationship, especially one that has been as long and rewarding as the one that we have enjoyed. However, looking forward to our return to the 3rd Section in 2012, the band feels a change of direction is needed in order to build further on our recent successes. We would like to place on record our appreciation of the hard work and effort Kevin has given the band over the last seven and a half years and wish him and his family well for the future”.

The band are now seeking applications for the position of Musical Director. Applications should be forwarded in confidence before 17th June 2011 to .

Posted: 25 May 2011

On Saturday 7th May, the band travelled to Ebbw Vale to compete in the first Welsh League contest of the season. In a fourth section comprised of 5 bands, we played last, hoping our performance of 'Dark Side of the Moon' by Paul Lovett-Cooper would impress the adjudicator, Philip Harper. Unfortunately the outcome was not in our favour and we were placed fourth. Many thanks go to Jim Mason and Phil Morley for helping us once again on Soprano Cornet and Bb Bass.

1. Oakdale (Nigel Seaman) - 182pts
2. Melingriffith 2 (Dewi Griffiths) - 181pts
3. Severn Tunnel (Alex McGhee) - 180pts
4. A. W. Parker (Drybrook) (Kevin White) - 178pts
5. Cwmtawe (Wayne Pedrick) - 177pts

The Adjudicator's Comments are available to read and you can also watch our performance.

Posted: 09 April 2011

You can now help raise funds for the band by buying online goods through Easyfundraising. The system is very simple and you do not pay any more than you normally would.

To find out more, download our flyer or vist the website directly.

Posted: 06 April 2011

The 2011 West of England Regional Finals took place in Torquay over the weekend of the 12/13 March 2011. Playing on the Saturday in the Fourth Section, the band performed 'Prelude, Song & Dance' by John Golland. The band came fourth from twenty-two bands and while we were disappointed to miss out on a National Finals place, we are delighted to have gained promotion to the Third Section once again. We will now look to build on our successes throughout the rest of the year to prepare for next year's step up. Congratulations to everyone in the band!

You can now read the Adjudicator's Comments and to find out about our previous contesting results, take a look at our Recent Contest Results section. For full results for the this year's Regional Finals, click here.

Posted: 14 March 2011

The AW Parker (Drybrook) Band managed a shock result at the GBBA Entertainment Contest, which was held at the Forest Theatre in Coleford on the 6th February 2011.

Competing against not only three fellow Fourth Section bands but also against a Third Section band and four Second Section bands, we came away with the Open Section Winners Prize. We also claimed the Most Entertaining Band Prize, the Fourth Section Winners Prize and our conductor, Kevin White, won the Best Conductor Prize.

The result is one of the band's best in recent memory and follows on from four contest wins in 2010. The band will now look to take this form into next month's Regional Championships at Torquay, where a high finish will guarantee promotion to the Third Section.

To read more and to view the full results, visit the Gloucestershire Brass band Association Contest pages.

You can now also see our multi-trophy winning GBBA performance on our Gallery page.

Posted: 07 February 2011