Tuesday, 13 August 2013

Your chance to win 2 tickets to a 'Glorious' night out!

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Northampton Concert Band is seeking the views of their audience to help them plan for the future as they approach their centenary in 2019. Their online survey hopes to gather those views to feed into what could be a shake-up of what their future concerts will become as well as where they perform and the ticket prices they charge.

Stephen Bell, Musical Director, said: “Our last 12 months have been very successful but we should always look to the future and make sure we are giving value for money. Having an audience is very important to a performer. It is only fair that we listen to them in return.
 “We’re looking to our audience, and our future audience, to tell us what they want.”

A previous 'Last Night of the Proms' concert
at the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton.
As an incentive, Northampton Concert Band has 2 free tickets to a “Last Night of the Proms” themed concert on Saturday 28th September at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton. With a wide range of music performed by Northampton Concert Band and the Cantare Singers, the evening climaxes with the patriotic songs of “Rule Britannia” and “Land of Hope and Glory”.

For your chance to win, complete the online survey available here. The draw will take place on the 7th September.

Tickets for the concert are £10 each and are available by calling 01604 754782,
emailing crusader.round@btinternet.com or sending a stamped self-addressed envelope and cheque to
John Kightley,
22 Lyncrest Avenue,
Northampton
NN5 5PE
Cheques to be made payable to: Holy Sepulchre Restoration Trust
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Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Summer Holiday

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St Mary the Virgin church,
Knox Road, Wellingborough: Interior.
The band will be taking a break from rehearsals for the summer after the 20th July until they return in September.

Before we go you can get a final fix for the summer this Saturday 6th July, 7pm at the American Independence concert at St Mary the Virgin, Knox Road, Wellingborough, NN8 1HU. Where Stephen Bell will not only be conducting but he will also be performing with the band. Something that has not been see in over 10 years when Stephen used to play bassoon with Northampton Concert Band before becoming our musical director.

Even the church is well worth the trip. It has a magnificent interior and a powerful acoustic and on a warm sunny evening it has a light and airy feel. There is plenty of parking on site for those who are making longer journeys.

September
When we do return, tanned, well rested and ready for rehearsals to resume, we'll be preparing for the Last Night of The Proms concert at the Holy Sepulchre church, Sheep Street, Northampton.
This concert is always sold out and tickets are already available through the Church of the Holy Sepulchre website www.stseps.org/concertsetc.htm

Platinum Award?
In November the band hope to wow the adjudicators and audience at the National Concert Band Festival midlands regional heat at the Cripps Hall, Northampton on Sunday 17th November.
No doubt our musical choices will be challenging and great fun at the same time and with hard work we'll get a Platinum award again!
More information about this great event can be found here.
www.ncbf.info/regionalevents.aspx?region=MIDLANDS


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Monday, 24 June 2013

Born in the USA

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Celebrate American Independence with us on Saturday, 6th July in Wellingborough when Northampton Concert Band perform an evening of classics from the best American composers and performers.

Music from: Miller, Sousa, Anderson, Bernstien, Sinatra, Morricone, Williams and more.

Saturday 6th July - 7pm. St Mary's Church, Knox Road, Wellingborough NN8 1HU

Tickets £10 - available on the door.

Conducted by Stephen Bell and Neil Brownless

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Sunday, 23 June 2013

Concert: Family Film Favourites - Feedback

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Avoiding any puns about 'blowing our own trumpet' we'd like to share with you some of the comments we've received from our audience that have been emailed to us or posted via facebook.

More importantly £580 was raised on the night for Autism Concern and our first comment is from Mike Hogg, a volunteer for Autism Concern.

"The audience were fantastic in their generosity to our cause, as was their enthusiasm for the performance of [the] Band. I hope they had an enjoyable evening, they looked and sounded as if they did."
 - M. Hogg, Autism Concern

"Thank you for a fabulous evening! We LOVED every minute and were utterly entranced and transported into some of our favourite films! We'll definitely be back for more at a future concert! Thank you!"
 - G. Price

"Thank you for a very enjoyable musical evening with a great choice of film tunes and good company"
 - E. Bird

"I attended this concert last night with my family and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Being musical ourselves, and having played a few of your pieces (although nowhere near as good!) we thought the band were totally brilliant! The quality of playing was immense. I shall be spreading the word to others to come and see you in action."
 - A. Letts

"Anyone who didn't come to the concert last night really missed out, brilliant concert, thank you."

"...really enjoyed it, wonderful selection of music...couldn't not come with Lion King on the programme!"
 - S. Richards
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Saturday, 22 June 2013

Family Film Favourites - Concert Programme - 22nd June 2013

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Family Film Favourites - in support of Autism Concern
Saturday 22 June 2013
Conducted by Stephen Bell

Disney Around the World
(Various)
Arr. James Christensen
We open tonight’s concert with an overture of popular Disney songs. Most feature in the many films of Disney, though ‘It’s a Small World’ was written for the popular musical boat ride that is located at each of the Disney parks and resorts.
Initially the ride was to feature national anthems of all the countries represented but this resulted in a big noise. Walt requested his staff songwriters to “[Write] one song that can easily be translated into many languages and be played as a round”.
Robin Hood Fanfare | It’s A Small World Alice In Wonderland | Colonel Hathi’s March I Wan’na Be Like You | Let’s Go Fly A Kite Night on a Bald Mountain | Sorcerer’s Apprentice Under The Sea | Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

The Lion King (1994) 
Elton John, Hans Zimmer 
Arr. Calvin Custer 
Lyricist Tim Rice, who was working with composer Alan Menken on songs for Aladdin, was invited to write the songs and accepted on the condition of finding a composing partner. As Menken was unavailable, the producers accepted Rice's suggestion of Elton John. John and Rice wrote five original songs for this film additional music was written by Hans Zimmer.
This Land | Circle Of Life | To Die For Be Prepared | Can You Feel The Love Tonight Hakuna Matata | I Just Can’t Wait To Be King

Beauty and the Beast (1991) 
Alan Menken 
Arr. Jay Bocook
Originally sung by the character Mrs Potts, voiced by Angela Lansbury, in the 1991 film the song was released as a single sung by the relatively unknown Celine Dion. The critical and commercial success of "Beauty and the Beast" has been credited with establishing her career. Menken considered "Beauty and the Beast" a "turning point" in his career, revealing that it was the first time one of his compositions had been re-arranged for such a purpose.

Star Trek (2009) 
Michael Giacchino 
Arr. Jay Bocook 
Giacchino admitted personal pressure in scoring the J.J. Abrams 2009 Star Trek film, as "I grew up listening to all of that great [Trek] music, and that's part of what inspired me to do what I'm doing. You just go in scared. You just hope you do your best. It's one of those things where the film will tell me what to do.”
To Boldly Go | Enterprising Young Men End Credits

Superman (1978) 
John Williams 
Arr. Derek Ashmore 
Superman is well known for its large-scale visual effects sequences, all of which were created before the digital age. The Superman costume was to be a much darker blue, but the use of blue screen made it transparent. Superman also established the superhero film genre as viable outside the world of Saturday matinee serials, although it was a decade before the comparable success of the Batman series and two decades before that of X-Men and Spider-Man.

Sorcerer’s Apprentice 
Paul Dukas 
Arr. James Curnow 
In 1936, Walt Disney felt that the Disney studio's star character Mickey Mouse needed a boost in popularity. He decided to feature the mouse in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a deluxe cartoon short based on the poem written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and set to the orchestral piece by Paul Dukas that was inspired by the original tale. The young apprentice of the sorcerer Yen Sid, attempts some of his master's magic tricks but doesn't know how to control them.

Mary Poppins (1964) 
Richard and Robert Sherman 
Arr. J. W. Duthoit 
The film received 13 Academy Award nominations and won 5 awards. This makes Mary Poppins the most Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated Disney film in history. Julie Andrews won an Oscar for Best Actress and Richard and Robert Sherman won Best Original Song for ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’.
Feed The Birds | A Spoonful Of Sugar Step In Time | I Love To Laugh | Sand Dance Jolly ‘oliday | Step In Time | Chim Chim Cher-ee Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Let’s go fly a kite

INTERMISSION

Aladdin (1992) 
Alan Menken 
Arr. John Moss 
Composer Alan Menken and songwriters Howard Ashman and Tim Rice were praised for creating a soundtrack that is "consistently good, rivaling the best of Disney's other animated musicals from the '90s." Menken and Ashman began work on the film together, with Rice taking over as lyricist after Ashman died in early 1991. Although fourteen songs were written for Aladdin, only six are featured in the movie, three by each lyricist.
Arabian Nights | One Jump Ahead Wedding Announcement | A Whole New World Jafar’s Hour | Prince Ali | On A Dark Night Friend like me | Happy Ending

Doctor Who 
Ron Grainer 
Arr. Denis Burton
Doctor Who fans will be eagerly awaiting the 50th Anniversary episode to be screened later this year with Northampton’s Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor.
Until then, we give you this wind band arrangement that pays homage to Ron Grainer’s original theme (minus all the “Timey-Wimey, Spacey-Wacey” sound effects, unless one of our instruments starts malfunctioning…).

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) 
Frank Churchill 
Arr. J.W Duthoit 
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was to be the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, and as such Walt Disney had to fight to get the film produced. His gamble paid off and at the 11th Academy Awards, the film won an Academy Honorary Award for Walt Disney. Disney received a full-size Oscar statuette and seven miniature statuettes.
Some Day My Prince Will Come Whistle While You Work | I’m Wishing | Heigh-Ho With A Smile And A Song | The Silly Song One Song

Pixar Movie Magic 
Randy Newman and Michael Giacchino 
Arr. Michael Brown
Since 1995 when Toy Story was released, the creative team at Pixar Studios has given us heart-warming stories and unforgettable characters that appeal to audiences of all ages – and the music created for these films is an integral part of their popularity and charm.
The Glory Days (The Incredibles - 2004) The Spirit of Adventure (Up - 2010) Ratatouille Main Theme (Ratatouille - 2007) The Big Race (Cars - 2006) You've Got a Friend in Me (Toy Story - 1995)

Thunderbirds March 
Barry Gray 
Arr. Philip Sparke
Barry Gray (18 July 1908 – 26 April 1984) was a British musician and composer best known for his collaborations with television and film producer Gerry Anderson.
Despite the 2004 live action film adaptation of the marionette-driven cult classic; Thunderbirds flopped at cinemas when transformed into a live action Spy Kids wannabe. Hans Zimmer's score at least paid homage to the original show's brassy, fearless sound by keeping Barry Grey’s Thunderbirds March.

The Simpsons 
Danny Elfman 
Arr. Paul Lavender 
Composed by Danny Elfman in 1989, after series creator Matt Groening approached him requesting a retro-style theme. The piece, which took two days to create, has been noted by Elfman as the most popular of his career.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 
John Williams 
Arr. Victor Lopez
The third and final score in the series to be composed by John Williams. This film's music is not as bright as that of the previous films, with distinct medieval influences in the instrumentation. One of the new themes, "Double Trouble," was written during production so that a children's choir could perform it in Hogwarts's Great Hall in one of the film's earlier scenes (accompanied by giant toads).
The lyrics of "Double Trouble" are from a ritual performed by the ‘Weird Sisters’ in Act 4, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Macbeth.“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”
Hedwigs Theme | Hagrid the Professor Double Trouble | A Window To The Past

Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest 
Hans Zimmer Arr. 
Jay Bocook
This highly anticipated sequel was the biggest movie of the year and features an exciting and dramatic soundtrack from the pen of Hans Zimmer, plus familiar themes from the first movie.
Jack Sparrow | The Kraken | Davy Jones I've Got My Eye On You | Wheel Of Fortune
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