30th January

Junior Band star hits fame

At the recent Royal Northern College of Music Festival of Brass our own Junior Band Tuba star Lucas Boylan was intervied for the most visited Brass Website 4barsrest.com as part of their coverage of the event.

Lucas was filmed with his teacher Les Neish who himself has assisted Lions in the past; watch the video below.

JRNCM Tuba Star from 4barsrest.com on Vimeo.

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30th January

Youth Band continue Fodens partnership

Following their performance at the recent Butlins Youth Contest, Lions Youth Brass have announced that that they will be engaging associated composers, players and conductors of Foden's Band to help them in preparation for this year’s National Youth Championships in April.

Along with the test piece 'Oceans' by Goff Richards, Lions will be performing works by Dr Peter Meechan, and will premiere pieces by Andy Scott and Ian Raisbeck. Players from Foden's will be performing a workshop for the band in March and some extra rehearsals will be taken by Mark Bousie and Mike Fowles. The band will also welcome Helen Williams who will work on a special featured item.

Speaking on behalf of the band MD Nigel Birch said: "Lions already have an excellent relationship with Foden's and see this latest initiative as strengthening it. The wealth of knowledge and experience that they bring to Lions is invaluable."

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16th January

Junior's in Workshop with Fodens

Lions Youth Brass recently continued their strong partnership with our friends from Fodens Band. Yesterday (Sunday 15th) saw a team of Fodens tutors spend the afternoon with Lions' Junior Brass (who's Musical Director is Fodens Cornet player Ian Raisbeck).

The Junior Band received sectional workshops from principal players from Fodens before being put through their paces by Mark Bousie on pieces for their forthcoming visit to the National Youth Championships. The afternoon was completed with a fantastic performance for parents and friends of the band, displaying the incredible progress made during the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Lions Youth Brass have recently benefited from several visits by Michael Fowles (Musical Director, Fodens and Associate Conductor, Lions Youth Brass). Mike has been assisting the Youth Band with their preparation for the Butlins Mineworkers Championships which take place next weekend.

Lions are very proud of their partnership with Fodens; and are looking forward to more collaboration in the future including a joint concert in May.

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9th January

Beginners Workshop

The Beginner Band are right back in the swing of things after their latest workshop took place on Friday 6th December. Splitting into small groups the band were put through their paces by a team of tutors on a new piece which has been written for them to perform at the Nationals Finals by composer-in-residence, Ian Raisbeck. Entitled 'Heroic March,' it tells the tale of a village and it's hero, who returns triumphant from battle, and poses a considerable challenge to the band. After sectional work, the band was then led in a rehearsal by Ian, bringing all the hard work by both tutors and children together. At the end of the workshop the band had shown considerable improvement and the piece was sounding fantastic, good enough for there to be an impromptu performance for all parents.

I'd like to express a huge thank you to Ian, Hayley, Ashley and Tom, as well as former tutor Matthew Darlington and former youth band member Amy Ball, all of whom gave up their Friday evening to come and pass on their talents, knowledge and experience to the band. It was obvious how hard they worked with the children by the standard of their playing at the end of the rehearsal. Thank you all very much.

Chris Thompson (Musical Director, Lions Beginner Brass)

1st January

Funding from the Co-operative

We are delighted to announce that Lions Youth Brass have recently been awarded a grant from the Co-Operative Community Fund for £900. The money will be used cover the cost of transport for all 3 bands to the National Championships in April 2012, and to cover the costs of commissioning a new piece of music for the Junior Band to play at the Nationals.

This is wonderful news and we are very grateful to the Co-Op for their continuing support.

Lions Youth Brass Committee

1st January

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from all at LYB.

All at Lions Youth Brass are looking forward to another exciting year; in particular - All three Bands return to the National Championships in April with the Youth Band competing at the highest level for the first time, there will be the usual hectic schedule of rehearsals / concerts / contests and workshops for all three bands, and of course, the annual Youth Band tour which will take on a very special Olympic flavour this year.

Don't forget to check out our review of 2011 here

Keep an eye on this website for all of the news, results, pictures etc. any suggestions / contributions are welcome by email to lionsyouthbrass@yahoo.co.uk

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