Contesting season approaches

By the time you have read this the band will have taken part in their first contest of the season, the Oxford and District Brass Band Association contest at Cokethorpe School. It gives us the opportunity to play the Regional test piece 20,000 Leagues under the Sea - ‘A tribute to Jules Verne’. Following the hectic Christmas season, the band spend most of the New Year preparing for the qualifying competition at Stevenage in order to maintain their position as a second section band.

Loved by some and loathed by others, contesting is always a bit of a lottery, but it focuses the and’s attention on their playing ability and their ability to paint a musical picture that captures the adjudicator’s attention. Having had some empty seats for a while we are delighted to have Rosemary and David Fisher (Soprano and Repiano respectively) playing with us for their first contest in many years and also the support of Kathy (Flugel) and Heidi Udall (3 cornet) . We were pleased to welcome back Charlie on front row ,where Finn was also making his debut. In a relaxation of rules, bands are able to help other bands at a contest and so we were able to help out our friends at Towcester Studio band Andy (Bb Bass) and Ross and Barney (percussion) all answered the call for assistance. We wish everyone well!

As an open contest, bands from other regions are allowed to take part and so we play against second section bands from the Midlands and the West, the full line up is listed below:

Competing Bands

1 Harborough Band Ben Smith

2 Towcester Studio Band Ian Knapton

3 Shrewton Silver Band Kevin Robbins

4 Alder Valley Brass David Hamilton

LUNCH BREAK approx 1.30-2.15pm

5 Olney Brass Philip Devine

6 Verwood Town Band Kevin Smith

7 Welwyn Garden City Band William Douglas

8 Wotton-under-edge and District Jim Bennett

Overview of the Composition

Philip Harper's composition, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," is a tribute to Jules Verne's iconic 1869 novel. The piece is structured into five main sections, each capturing different elements of the

story:

1.The Nautilus: Introduces the fantastical submarine, setting the stage for the underwater journey.

2.The Coral Kingdom: Explores the beauty of underwater coral formations.

3.Squid Attack: Dramatically depicts the Nautilus being attacked by giant squids.

4.Captain Nemo: Delves into the character of Captain Nemo, portraying him as an enigmatic and powerful figure.

5.Maelstrom: Concludes with the Nautilus

being caught in a deadly whirlpool, showcasing the dangers of the ocean.

A few gratuitous holiday snaps to show the lengths some people go to in order to

evoke the atmosphere of the piece

This photo from 2019 shows a few members of the band at a previous ODBBA contest when we were lucky enough to be in the prize winners. Second from left is our then soprano player Martin Mills who left the band a couple of years ago. We were saddened to learn that Martin has suffered a stroke and is now recovering in hospital we all send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery

Competition time - since beginning to write this newsletter we have now competed in the contest, here are the adjudicator’s remarks together with an independent review from the British Bandsmen There’s a prize for any one who can actually read it lol!

Congratulations to our friends at Towcester Studio Band who won the section and to their percussion for winning best instrumentalists of the day - Well done Ross and Barney !

Happy new year

The band celebrated the life of it’s former chairman, Dick Ivory with a small group performing at his funeral on Monday 5 January. Serving players and ex players accompanied the hymns, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind and Jerusalem as well as playing some further hymns to friends and family who remained after the service.

Richard’s eldest son Stewart, former principal trombone with, the then Stantonbury Brass, joined with three of his ex pupils to play an arrangement of Londonderry Air for trombone quartet - one of Dick’s favourites.

Dick’s involvement with the band came aboutonce two of his sons, Stewart and Graham, became members of Stantonbury |Brass and hereadily accepted the position of chairman, fundraiser, compere and host particularly of theannual band barbecue, which together with his wife, Heather, they hosted in their garden. Nostranger to banding himself he played Bb bass with Hathersage Band and was a firm advocateof ‘wiggling’ the valves!

Even the ‘themed’ events didn’t put him off and as well as showing his knees for our Roman Barbecue he also donned the most amazing wizard’s hat for a Halloween special.

On a more serious note as well as compering our concerts, he joined us on our European tours and presented prizes for the Annual Solo Competition, the photo below shows Dick together with Alan Jenkin waiting to announce the eagerly anticipated results of the 1987 competition, when the solo prize was awarded to Andrew Greig.

Once Stewart and Graham moved on, Dick decided he would concentrate on other interests, he was Tower Captain in the belfry at St Mary’s church Wavendon and enjoyed gardening and began wood turning but he still maintained his interest in the band and attended further barbecues and concerts. Dick was delighted to be invited to the band’s 50 birthday celebrations and it was great to see him and to include him in our reunion photo - we send sincere condolences to Stewart, Ian, Graham, James and their families on the loss

of their father and to quote Stewart after the funeral, ‘there are no sad tears here - just lovely memories’

In a round up of other news, Olney Brass committed to playing at a variety of venues for their Christmas Season, new to this year we were delighted to be asked to play at Olney Meadows Retirement home, Sherington craft fayre (in the snow!) and Podington garden Centre where we were lucky enough to meet a very jovial santa - we are grateful to Colleen Wood (mum of Finn and Barney) who has taken photography to a new level this year.

Fundraiser a success musically and financially

We are delighted to announce that Saturday’s Afternoon at the Movies concert was very well supported, ticket sales raised £730.00 and has been sent to Children in Need as part of the annual BBC appeal. The concert featured two of our soloists, with Ross Thompson playing the xylophone solo On the track and Kate Medley playing the trombone solo The Acrobat. The Open Band also performed for the first time under the direction of Sara Stokes, our principal cornet, who took over the baton in September. They added to the theme with, amongst others, Pirates of the Caribbean and Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang. Thanks go to all volunteers including Alaisdair who compered the concert and, of course the band’s musical director Philip Devine who prepared the repertoire with the Senior Band. In a break with tradition our red jackets were replaced by a selection of coloured tops!

We will remember them.

Before we launch into the Christmas season, the band will once again support the Royal British Legion with their Act of Rememberance on Horsefair Green in Stony Stratford. As well as accompanying the hymns during the service, Sara, our principal cornet will play the Last Post and Reveille around the two minute silence. Sunday 9th November 2025 at 2.45pm.

Olney Phonebox

The following article was written for the Phonebox magazine but did not appear in full

OLNEY BRASS brought their summer season to a close with their annual visit to Emberton Fete. eturning annually for almost 40 years it would seem that they love a brass band in Emberton. hether it be in the churchyard for Bangers and Brass, in the pub car park for their beer festival, in the village hall for the Senior Citizen's annual Christmas lunch or in the street for the long lamented Street Fayre. It was the last of a dozen summer engagements which started back in May when we played at the Denton VE day celebrations. Each of the events can be seen on our website under the Engagements Tab which also lists our upcoming events. Hopefully you have managed to hear us at some point and we thank you for your continued support. When you read this you may have already been to our Afternoon at the Movies concert in St Peter and St Paul, on Saturday 1st November and you can now anticipate the Festive Season and our Melodies and Mince Pies concert which takes place in the church on Saturday 13th December 3 - 5pm. Once again we will be playing around the streets as the big day approaches.

More recently the band has moved into its new home at Lovat Fields Residential home, Willen, they have a lovely space for rehearsals and it means that all three of our bands can now rehearse in the same hall as well as being able to store some of our equipment and open our rehearsals to interested residents. We still feel a special tie to Olney and it is a long term goal to find a rehearsal, storage space (with parking) in the town that we could call 'The Home of Olney Brass' we would love residents to be able to pop in during rehearsals and hopefully be inspired to join our Beginner or Open Bands, or to help complete our line up in the Senior Band if you are an experienced player. If any readers have ideas for this please do not hesitate to get in touch. You may be interested to know that in the 1890's the band rehearsed in the British School building on Weston Road. Please do use our website for updates and information, we have recently added an archive feature, and although this only starts in the 1970's as (Stantonbury Brass) it is hoped that we can eventually add details of Olney Silver Band.

Last Post and Reveille

As usual we are grateful to Sara, our principal cornet player for sounding the Last Post and Reveille. Sara attends the Great Brickhill service in the morning and then leads Olney Brass in

their playing at Stony Stratford a job she has been doing splendidly for over twenty years. The Last Post is sounded to honour those who have died in military service, marking the end of the day’s activities and serving as a tribute to the fallen. Following a period of silence, Reveille is played to signify the start of a new day and to celebrate the lives of those who have served.

Thoughts turn to Christmas

Our main funding raising season begins shortly and we are already looking forward to starting in

Olney on Thursday 28 November when the town will be promoting local traders with their Late Night shopping event. So, if you just can’t wait to hear your favourite carol pop along and make a request. Don’t forget to join us for our annual Christmas Concert - details opposite.