The band travelled to Wychavon Festival of Brass on Saturday 29th October 2016 to compete in the 4th Section of the annual entertainments contest. The event was held at the De Montfort School in Evesham and the contest was adjudicated by Sarah Groarke-Booth. The musical programme was based around the band colours of blue, black and gold and went as follows:
Brooklyn - Youngblood Brass Band - Arr. Dave Collins
Don't it make my brown eye's blue - Richard Leigh - Arr. Darrol Barry
March Goldcrest - James Anderson
Sunrise over Blue Ridge - Dan Price
Paint it, Black - Mick Jagger and Keith Richards - Arr. Leigh Baker
The band are proud to announce that they achieved 2nd place in the contest, receiving The Lumsden Cup and £200 prize money. MD Nigel Butler is now looking to build on this great result as we move into the regional contest season in the new year.
Rode Hall Silver Band are very pleased to announce that they will be hosting an evening of music in St. Mary's Church, Astbury Village near Congleton on the 24th September at 7:30pm. The band promise a varied programme of brass band music in order to raise money for our instrument fund.
The concert will feature Mark Wilkinson, Principal Cornet of the Foden's band as our guest soloist.
About Mark Wilkinson...
Mark started playing the cornet aged 6 with his local band Ellenbrook and Boothstown before moving to the Walkden Band and then Besses Boys aged 13 where he stayed for 5 years on Principal Cornet. During this time Mark was also appointed Principal Cornet with the 'National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain.' When he was 18 Mark joined the Wingates Band on Principal Cornet for 2 years before accepting Howard Snells offer to join the Britannia Building Society Band (now Foden's) on Principal Cornet in 1992. During this time he has been privileged to have won every major contest with Foden's including the British Open, National Finals, European Championships, Swiss, French and American Opens as well as numerous victories at the All England Masters Contest, Area Contest and Brass in Concert entertainment competitions.
As well as performing in France, America, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Italy and Ireland as a soloist Mark is also heavily involved in Youth education. Mark enjoyed 3 years as the cornet tutor with the 'National Children's Brass Band of Great Britain' and has been an entrance examiner and cornet tutor with the 'National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain' since 2000. Mark has also appeared as a cornet tutor with the 'National Youth Brass Band of Wales' 'National Youth Band of Switzerland' as well as a guest soloist with the 'National Youth Brass Band of Denmark.'As well as being a founder member of the 'Northern Ireland Armagh Summer School' Mark is in demand on various summer schools in this country and abroad.
In 2010 Mark was appointed as 'Visiting Cornet Tutor' at the Royal Northern College of Music, Cornet Tutor at the 'University of Salford' and Cornet/Trumpet Tutor at 'Manchester Metropolitan University.'
Mark is in demand in this country and abroad as a cornet soloist, teacher, conductor and clinician. Mark is also in demand as an adjudicator and has adjudicated at a number of leading contests including various Area Contests, National Finals, Swiss and Belgium Nationals, Grand Shield, Pontins and the All England International Masters and is also as a fully credited member of the Association of Brass Band Adjudicators.
In 2013 Mark released a Solo cd entitled 'Milestone' which received critical acclaim and designed and produced a range of cornet mouthpieces produced by 'Pickett Brass.'
Mark is presently the Band Manager of Foden's Band.
After a great dress rehearsal last night the band and cast from Congleton Players are all set for five performances of Brassed Off. Tickets have sold really well and if you want to see the show there may be a few left at Congleton Tourist Information Centre or available on the night at the Daneside Theatre box office. We've had loads of fun rehearsing and promoting the play with the cast and below are a few photos of our journey......
Rode Hall Band will hold an open rehearsal ahead of competing at the North West Regional Championships. All are welcome to come along for a listen while we rehearse our test piece for the contest, "The Journal of Philleas Fogg" by Peter Graham.
When: 25th February at 7:30pm
Where: Cygnet Club, Swan Bank, Congleton, CW12 1AH
£2 entrance fee
Rode Hall Silver Band are excited to be supporting the Congleton Players Amateur Theatre Club this year in their production of Brassed Off by Paul Allen. The show will be performed at the Daneside Theatre in Congleton from 19th to 23rd April 2016.
djudicate the top flight bands, with Sandy Smith overseeing the First Section and Kevin Wadsworth the Second. John Doyle will be in the Charter Theatre to make the all important decisions in both the Third and Fourth Sections.
Our friends at Keele University Brass Band will be hosting a joint Concert of Remembrance with us at Keele University Chapel on Saturday 14th November. The concert promises an enjoyable evening of music, reflection and commemoration.
Tickets at £7 for adults and £5 for students/concessions. These can be bought on the door or by emailing soc.brassband@keele.ac.uk
On the 29th May Rode Hall Silver Band boarded a coach bound for Saddleworth to take part in the annual Saddleworth & District Whit Friday Brass Band Contests. The contests are also known as ‘The Greatest Free Show on Earth’ because around 100 bands from all over the country, and beyond, travel from village to village playing two marches at each contest to both a ‘blind’ adjudicator and an appreciative crowd, before boarding their bus and moving on to the next village. Each contest typically hosts between 50 and 70 bands, from non-contesting to world class bands.
This year Rode weren’t able to perform at as many venues as previous years, due to congestion and queues at the venues, however we did manage to achieve our minimum target of six contests. These were Diggle, Uppermill, Dobcross, Scouthead, Lydgate & Denshaw. The band are particularly proud of their second place prize in the 4th Section at Lydgate. The weather was pretty cool all evening, but dry until our very last performance at Denshaw. As we watched the penultimate band perform, the heavens opened. Torrential rain turned to an onslaught of hail stones as our band played on to a handful of equally plucky spectators. As the last band of the contest, we brought the contest to a close with a soggy National Anthem.
The band would like to say a big thank you to our MD Nigel Butler, our band manager Steve Twemlow for organising the coach, and to our guests on the evening.
See our Lydgate performance below and keep an eye on our Media Gallery for more videos and photos from the day.
Rode Hall Silver Band are very pleased to announce that they will be hosting an evening of music in St. Mary's Church, Astbury Village near Congleton on the 24th September at 7:30pm. The band promise a varied programme of brass band music in order to raise money for our instrument fund.
