Spring news

As I’m sure most of you are aware we have been without our musical director Phil for a few weeks whilst he recovers from a medical emergency - we are delighted to report he is well on the mend and will be back with us shortly, in the meantime I have really enjoyed conducting the band ( a bucket list item) and thank all members for their support and patience during this time. They have endulged me by playing various pieces that haven’t seen the light of day for a while. I’ve also been playing with AI to see whether it may help produce Grace Notes more efficiently - here is the header it generated

Here’s what AI says we should be doing

Tips for Brass Musicians

Here are some useful tips to enhance your brass playing skills:

• Warm-Up Routine: Start with long tones and lip slurs to ensure your lips are flexible and ready for performance.

• Breathing Exercises: Practice deep breathing to improve your lung capacity and support your sound production.

• Consistent Practice: Set aside regular time each day to practice, focusing on both technical exercises and musical pieces.

It could have been written by Phil!!

Development Band News

Led by Musical Director Sara Cawte

The Olney Brass Development Band continues to flourish under the expert guidance of Sara Cawte. This term has seen remarkable progress from our dedicated learners, with several members now confidently tackling Grade 2 and 3 pieces.

We are thrilled to welcome five new members who joined us in February, bringing fresh enthusiasm to our Tuesday evening sessions. The band has been working diligently on a varied repertoire including traditional marches and contemporary

arrangements.

Sara reports that the ensemble sound has improved tremendously, with particular praise for our growing cornet section. New players of all ages and abilities are always welcome to join our supportive learning environment.

Congratulations to our four fabulous beginner brass musicians, who officially graduated from Stage 2 of our 'Learn to Play Brass' programme (devised by David Rose).

Very well done to our four superstars!

I am very proud to be a big part of their journey since September and helping them to develop their playing skills further. Our next complete beginner brass group will start in October 2026. Please email us to register your interest in advance (see below)...

The band room is now all set tonight for our graduates to 'debut' at Olney Brass Open Band, in addition to our existing improving players who have returned for the new term, following a nice long Easter break. We always welcome new/returning brass players, of all ages to our Open Band (including trumpets, french horns and even alto trombones).

Our rehearsals are 630-730pm, Tuesdays (term time only), at Lovat Fields Retirement Village in Willen, MK.

Please PM via social media or email olneybrassinfo@gmail.com for more information.

THE DEVELOPMENT BAND WILL BE JOINED BY THE SENIOR BAND AT THE SUMMER SHOWCASE ON TUESDAY 23 JUNE at 6.30 in LOVAT FIELDS (keep an eye out for details)

Now the contest season is over thoughts turn to our summer season, currently in the pads

When I’m Sixty Four!

Congratulations to Andy and Simon on reaching their 64 birthdays, one of the reasons it will be appearing on this year’s play list

Following the AGM in March the following members have been elected to serve on the

committee

Keith Underwood, Andy Harris, Simon Harris, James Taylor, Sara Cawte Sharon Occleshaw and Alaisdair Fraser-Lowe

If you have any suggestions, ideas or thoughts please get in touch

It is great that at the moment local bands are acknowledging the importance of working together to help the movement thrive in this area. Maintaining a good relationship means that we can ‘borrow’ or lend players as busy lives don’t always allow us to attend all of our engagements.

Recently Ross, Andy and Barney have helped Towcester with their contests whilst we often borrow players from them to fill our seats as many of you know I conduct the Towcester Studio Band on Friday mornings where players new and old (mainly old) gather to play in a more relaxed atmosphere - it’s great to see former players from the area and members of Bradwell Silver Band attending regularly.

Our friends at Bradwell have reached a real milestone this year as they celebrate 125 years of banding in Bradwell. A few of us attended their ‘launch’ party and we were able to play alongside the band in an informal concert and enjoy a slice of their birthday cake.

Meeting old friends

David ‘Tug’ Wilson (chairman and principal cornet BSB) Maria Belton Me Debbie Hodder and Andy

Brian Keech conductor with BSB has asked if we could share details of their upcoming concert to celebrate this milestone

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.