Milnrow Brass Band concert

Milnrow Band

Milnrow Band, conducted by Mareika Gray, thrilled a packed audience at Boarshurst Band Club.

The band has already seen an extraordinary run of success in the first half this year.

Boarshurst Band Club put on the fundraising concert for Milnrow Band to help raise funds for the band's appearance in the finals at the Albert Hall, London in October.

The proceedings began in fine style with the rhythmical “Declaration Overture” by Claude Thomas Smith, arranged for brass band by Barrie Gott. This well-known wind band composition was brought to life by the magnificent sounds of Milnrow Band.

Conductor, Mareika Gray believes that no brass band concert is complete without a march and she chose an absolute cracker in Hermann Ludwig Blankenburg’s ‘the Gladiators Farewell’. It was written in 1904 and was the winner of the ‘Hawkes & Sons’ contest in London in 1906. Milnrow Band really brought out the stature of the piece with some amazing piccolo runs from soprano cornet player Kenny Pain.

Randall Wallace is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and song-writer. His hymn “Mansions of The Lord” was written for the 2002 film “We Were Soldiers”, and was set to music by Nick Glennie-Smith, an English film-score composer. The audience was treated to a beautiful arrangement by the very talented Belgian cornet player and composer/arranger Luc Vertommen. The breadth and balance of sound from the band was perfect for this music.

The first soloist was tenor horn player Mick Morris. He decided that the tenor horn was his instrument of choice and after putting in his application for the solo horn seat at Milnrow, he has firmly established himself as one of the finest tenor horn players in the country.

Mick chose to perform “Capriccio Brillante” (Carnival of Naples) by Herman Bellstedt, arranged for band by another tenor horn legend, Sandy Smith. The audience were thrilled with Mick’s lyrical playing and technical prowess.

To calm things down a little, the next piece of music was from the pen of Eric Whitacre, entitled “The Seal Lullaby”. The text of the song is by Rudyard Kipling and has been included on the ‘Lullabies Album’ by Catrin Finch.

After a well-earned break the Milnrow Band restarted with “Valero” composed by James Swearingen, in a fabulous arrangement by Sandy Smith. Natalie Beer on flugel horn shone through in flamboyant style in the middle of this superb up-tempo number, putting the audience in a great mood for the second half.

New Zealand Salvation Army composer Dean Goffin is another ‘brass band giant’. His major works include: Meditation - The Light of the World; Symphony of Thanksgiving, written for the International Staff Band of The Salvation Army in 1951 for their Diamond Jubilee Celebration; and Rhapsody In Brass, selected for the 1949 British Open Brass Band Championships at Belle Vue. .

The Milnrow Band is has a variety of talented musicians. The second solo spot  belonged to solo trombonist Chris Binns. He chose to perform a fabulous arrangement by Alan Fernie of “Over the Rainbow”. This was trombone playing of the highest calibre, and the audience loved every note.

Next the audience was treated to the unlikely sounds of ‘Queen’ and Freddie Mercury in the quirky song “Bring Back That Leroy Brown” from Queens’ third album “Shear Heart Attack”. In this clever arrangement for brass band by Svien H. Giske, the strict foot tapping tempo throughout with fantastic percussion work and clever obbligato muted cornets created a fabulous atmosphere.

Kenny Pain is the band's soprano cornet player. He is a former player in the Band of The Coldstream Guards. Throughout the concert he proved what a truly valuable role he plays in this great band.

Next we returned to the tradition of Sunday concerts at Boarshurst with a rendition of a hymn tune in a lovely setting by Salvation Army composer and arranger William Himes of “Amazing Grace”. The warmth of the Milnrow Band sound was perfect for the occasion.

To complete an absolutely fantastic night of music, the Milnrow Band played a brilliant medley entitled “James Bond Collection” arranged by Goff Richards. The music of Monty Norman and John Barry was brought to life in style by this very versatile brass band. The audience were more than satisfied, and after a call for ‘more, more’,

The Broadhurst Silver Band and Broadhurst Band Club have since congratulated Milnrow Brass Band and director Mareika Gray for putting on such a fabulous concert.