28th December

The band are pleased to announce that we have broken all previous records in regards to fundraising this year.

On Saturday 22nd we bag packed and played carols at Sainsbury’s in Nantwich and raised just over £1600

On the same day we played at Nantwich Town Football Club and raised £76.

On Christmas Eve we played at Waitrose in Sandbach and raised another staggering £1600.

A big thank you to all players from all the bands that were able to play and bag pack, we seemed to be much better organised this year and had all the time slots covered. Thanks to Susannah and Ruth for that.

Thank you to all musical directors, and also Katie and Ian for keep things ticking along.

Thank You to Mr Finch for organising the Nantwich Town Football event, and to Mrs. Finch, Gavin Finch, Alistair Raisbeck and Paul Darlington for helping collect and support us at the football.

Last and not least to all parents who bag packed, collected, and brought you child for their slot, thank you very much.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

27th December

I am absolutely delighted to announce that Lianne Withnell is to rejoin the Youth Band.

Lianne left the band during the summer to concentrate on her studies, but now feels she is able to return.

She will team up again with her colleagues on the horn section

Welcome back Lianne!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

27th December

December is always a busy month with the carol concerts, bag packing and school concerts and this year was no different.

The Youth Band played at two carol services. The first at Nantwich, and the second at Sandbach. The second was the last time that Rex Buckley was officiating at a Church service and the band would like to thank him for all the support which has given them in his time at Sandbach church.

The organisation’s Christmas concert was held on the 18th at The Sandbach High School. This concert was very well attended, with all three bands playing. The beginners always give us something special at Christmas, and they didn’t disappoint this year, with their special version of The Twelve Days Of Christmas.

The Junior Brass with Sarah continues to show good progress and a mixture of well known tunes and Christmas carols went down well with the audience.

As for the Youth Band, well they gave us a new band formation, with Cornets and Trombones standing and also a few new pieces, with The Irish Blessing, Singing In The Rain and a new solo for Mark Thomas called The Sparks, but this time played on the xylophone.

It was an excellent evening, and everyone went home happy

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

3rd December

Recently some band members have been raising money for the tour to Spain.

Ashley and Wilson Taylor held a fundraising event at their house on Bonfire Night and raised £35, and Abbie Edwards, Danielle Unwin, Abbie Unwin and Michael Potts went busking today and raised £110.

Well done to the six of you !!!!!

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

27th November

Yesterday, The Youth Band competed at The Tameside Youth Festival. As usual the competition was tough, but there was some superb playing by all the bands.

The day began with a short practice at 8.00 before travelling to the Hippodrome at Ashton-under-Lyme. The first band to play was Fred Longworth School, who struggled last year, but had really improved this year. Next to play was the reigning champions, Smithills Schools. They are a very good band and again gave an extremely good account of themselves, but I felt this year, they had left the door open for someone else to take their crown.

The next band were Youth Brass 2000, under the guidance of Chris Jeans. They played a rather an unusual programme, two test pieces. The was first Dimensions and then Scenes De Lac, but they played them both really well.

Next it was our turn, and the band and both our soloist's played really well. Band no.5 Dobcross Silver, has a great tradition, but like all Youth Band's are in a transitional period, but I'm sure they will get back to the best before long.

Band no.6 was Stockport Schools and they had a rather unusual soloist, a tuba player singing through the instrument, it was very effective. NO.7 was Macclesfield Youth Band, and this is a band on the up. They have only been formed for about three years, but are showing great potential.

NO.8 was Poynton Youth, and although they started rather weakly, they ended very strong with Riverdance. Band no.9 was Elland Silver. This was a really young band and you can see that this band will be one to watch out for in the coming contests. Band no.10 was Sellers and they were really impressive, and had a really good solo cornet. The last band was Boarshurst Youth Band, and like most bands had good and bad moments.

Having listened to 10 of the 11 bands this was my prediction.

1st Smithills
2nd Sellers
3rd Youth Brass 2OOO
4th Lions
5th Poynton

The actual result was;

1st Sellers
2nd Youth Brass 2000
3rd Poynton
4th Smithills
5th Lions
It was very good competition and we did very well to come 5th,

Thanks to Katie Smallwood for compering, and Richard Evans and David Thornton for advising the band, in particular the band for their great effort.

22nd November

I am pleased to announce that David Thornton, Principal Euphonium of The Black Dyke Band, will be working as musical associate with the band for the foreseeable future. This role will mean that David will work with the band before competitions, but it is also hoped he will be able to enhance the band's reputation on the concert stage, by assisting the band's soloists and the band's visual presentation.

There were many people I could have approached to take on this role, but I feel that David is the right person for Lions Youth Brass. He is a fantastic performer and he also has a vast knowledge of all forms of music. He is also able to communicate at the band's level, and pass on his expertise to the young players. The band are really excited at the prospect of working with David.

The band are also pleased to announce that Nicholas Childs, Principal Conductor of The Black Dyke Band, will be visiting the band on 1st April to assist in the preparation for The National Youth Championships, and that Richard Evans will continue visiting the band as and when his hectic schedule will allow.

Finally, the band will undertake a workshop in February with players from The Fodens Richardson Band.

I like to plan ahead and these plans for the next few months ensures the band and myself, receives the best possible assistance from the movements finest musicians in order to ensure the band maintains its high standards and also try to reach achieve new goals.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

21st November

Congratulations to Rory Rolfe and Alex Flanders who have passed their auditions for The National Children's Band Of Great Britain, which is a younger version of The National Youth Band Of Great Britain.

Well done to both of you
Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

19th November

Congratulations to Timothy Bartley and Alex Holsgrove, who both reached the standard for entry into The National Youth Brass Band Of Great Britain. As yet they do not know whether they are in the band for the next course, but to have reached the required standard is an excellent achievement by both of them. This makes three current Lions players as members of NYBB an Neil Raisbeck has already been in the band for about two years.

Congratulations to Richard Evans, who is advising the Youth Band for the next competition on the winning the Brass In Concert Championship, with his band, The Brighouse and Rastrick Band. Lets hope some of his magic can inspire us for Tameside next week.

There is now a review of the recent concert in Newcastle available on the Reviews page

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

5th November

On Sunday 4th November the Lions Youth Band received a workshop from members of the Fodens Richardson band. The workshop began at 10p.m.with David Morton and Anna Hughes taking the cornets, Rob Fleming was tutoring the horns and Natsumi Inaba was taking the Euphoniums and baritones. Les Neish was the Tuba tutor and John Barber was in charge of the Trombones. Finally, it was a pleasure for the band to welcome Simonne Rebello as the percussion tutor.

The band worked until lunch time on their programme for The Tameside Contest later this month, although Les Neish took time out to give Timothy Bartley some one to one tuition in preparation for his audition with The National Youth Brass Band next Saturday.

Following a lunch break the band had an hour's rehearsal to consolidate the work that had been undertaken in the sectional. Speaking on behalf of the Youth band Nigel Birch says, 'this was a slightly different workshop to others as a number of our solo and leading players were unavailable, but this enabled the secondary players to perhaps get more attention than usual and I think this worked very well'.

Next up for the youth band is a rehearsal with Richard Evans on Tuesday, and then David Thornton from Black Dyke will be tutoring Neil Raisbeck on his solo for Tameside competition and Alex Holsgrove in preparation for his audition for The National Youth Brass Band.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

2nd November

As we have just reached November the Youth Band are working hard for the forthcoming competition at Tameside. The band have drawn no. 4 out of 11 band's and as usual it will be a tough competition with the usual band's, such as Smithills, Youth Brass 2000, Stockport Schools, Poynton and others in opposition. This is an own choice programme of 22 minutes maximum, and our programme is a march - Star Lake, Horn Solo - Rhapsody For Soprano Cornet (which soloist Neil and myself have worked together to adapt for tenor horn). This is followed by the lovely hymn tune As The Deer, and then Alex will play The Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair. Our finale is The Pirates Of The Caribbean suite. This weekend the players have a workshop with player's from The Fodens Richardson Band, and on Tuesday Richard Evans will once again visit the band.

The Junior Band under Sarah's guidance are making encouraging progress, and we all look forward to hearing them at Goostrey and the band's Christmas concert.

Also, congratulations to Sarah on her appointment as Principal Cornet of The Roberts Bakery Band. Roberts Bakery now have Tom Hancock, Matthew Darlington, Abbie Edwards, Amy Ball, Neil Raisbeck, Zach Rogerson, Alex Holsgrove, Susanna Ball, Christopher Johnson, Tony Boardman, Jack Robinson and Alistair Miles in their ranks. Congratulations to Neil and Alex who have been appointed Principal Tenor Horn and Principal Euphonium respectively.

The beginner band continues to welcome some new players with my two daughters Charlotte and Franczeska being the latest. I look forward to hearing the band at Goostrey and in particular the Christmas concert where I know they have something special planned.

All those who went to the Royal Albert Hall in October had a very enjoyable day and it is hoped we can run further trips next year. Maybe you would like to mail Ian with your suggestions (lionsyouthbrass@yahoo.co.uk).

Many Thanks for your continued support.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

15th October

Hayley, Andrew and Chris would like to say a big WELL DONE to all the beginner band members who entered the Lions Slow Melody Contest. We were delighted that 8 players chose to perform and we were really pleased with the standard of all the players, regardless of which position they were placed. So, in no particular order, congratulations to Gavin, Olivia, Isobel, Euan, Jack, Sam, Catherine and Henry. We hope you all enjoyed the experience!

We'd also like to congratulate Catherine for picking up the award for 'Most Promising Player' in the band. Catherine has only been with the band for around 12 weeks, and put in a superb performance both in the contest, and when performing her solo in the concert. Also, congratulations to Gavin and Alice for winning our Bandsperson of the year awards. Both Gavin and Alice are excellent young banders, both eager to help out when required and both are armed with a ready smile. Well done to all three prize winners, and well done to the whole band for making such excellent progress this year!

Chris Thompson (Musical Director, Lions Beginner Brass)

8th October

A few months back members of the band were hit by the loss of Jim Gorse. Jim and his family were big supporters of the Lions Youth Brass organisation, their son Charles still plays with the youth band. During the funeral his favourite piece 'Pie Jesu' was performed by Ian and Sarah Raisbeck and donations made were given to the Lions Youth Brass.

During last weekends slow melody the first ever 'Jim Gorse memorial award for the most promising player' was awarded to Emma Ashcroft, pictured left receiving the award from Wendy Gorse. In addition to this 3 further awards were made for 'most improved players' and went to: Matthew Darlington, Simon Greasby and Jack Robinson.

Congratulations to all winners.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

7th October

Yesterday the Lions Youth Brass annual slow melody contest took place. The slow melody contest is a traditional of the brass band movement which involves bands hosting competitions for their own players as well as other players from around the area. Adjudicators for the day were Lions MD Nigel Birch, and Jeff Sparkes (Musical Director of the local Crewe Co-op Band). The results are as follows:

8 years and under

1. Catherine Flanders
2. Jack Miles
3. Sam Ashcroft

10 Years and under

1. Alex Flanders
2. Harry Mace
3. Emma Ashcroft

12 Years and under

1. Wilson Taylor
2. Alex Flanders
3. Cerys Finch

14 Years and under

1. Rory Rolfe
2. Jack Robinson
3. Chris Johnson

16 Years and under

1. Nicholas Birch
2. Alex Holsgrove
3. Neil Raisbeck

19 Years and under

1. Nicholas Birch
2. Neil Raisbeck
3. Alex Holsgrove

Open Section

1. Neil Raisbeck
2. Nicholas Birch
3. Tim Bartley

Quartets

1. Tom Hancock, Matthew Darlington, Neil Raisbeck, Alex Holsgrove
2. Abbie Edwards, Amy Ball, Zach Rodgerson, Susannah Ball

Duets

1. Nicholas Birch, Tony Boardman
2. Tom Hancock, Matthew Darlington
3. Alex Holsgrove Susannah Ball

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

2nd October

At the start of the new term there have been a number of player and positional changes. Cornet players Dan Balding and Will Blackstone have departed. Dan Balding is continuing to perform with Roberts Bakery, but his other sporting interests have taken him away from the band, and Will Blackstone has preferred to take a more orchestral and jazz route for his music. Both players gave excellent service to the band and we wish them both well in their future musical careers. Abbie Unwin has had a change of instrument, she has gone from cornet to horn. This is following the departure of Lianne Withnell. With all those changes on the cornet section we have promoted three players from The Junior Band, Ellis Peake, Harry Mace and Sarah Edwards. They are settling in well at the moment and will becoming fine players in the future. Following the Summer assessments Ellie Baker has moved on to second cornet, Rory Rolfe has moved on to repiano, and Jenny Hindle and Alex Flanders have been promoted to the front row. Elsewhere in the band we have promoted Wesley Ashbrook on percussion, and at the end of the year Robert Hilliard will be leaving us. Rob is twenty one now and unable to play in any youth band competitions and both parties feel it is time for him to move on. He is continuing his tuba playing at Roberts Bakery and all at Lions thank him for his loyal service to the band. Finally on the player front the band is delighted to welcome Tony Boardman to the band. Tony, a pupil at Alsager High School, already players second Trombone for Roberts Bakery so will be an excellent addition to the bands trombone section.

The band are also pleased to announce that their annual trip away in the summer will be a bit further a field next year. The band will travel to Spain on Saturday 19th July for a series of concerts for Spanish Lions Clubs.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

1st October

The new term has started and all bands are working very hard for the first concert of the year at the boys school on Saturday 6th October, which is the evening of the solo competition. This should be an enjoyable evening with all bands presenting awards and the presentation to the winners of the solo competition. Sarah Raisbeck will be making her first appearance with The Junior Band and we all wish her well.

The youth band are working towards the Tameside Competition on 25th November and the band will be hoping to achieve a similar position to last years second place, but as usual the competition will be stiff. To assist in the preparation for the contest the band has a workshop with Fodens players and also will welcome Richard Evans to the band.

Finally, this weekend, the band are having tuition with players from Black Dyke players David Thornton, Brett Baker and Movern Gilchrist.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

28th September

Sarah Raisbeck is the new Musical Director of the Lions Junior Band. Sarah was a player with the Youth Band and was Principal Cornet for a number of years before reaching the leaving age in 2006.

Sarah is currently studying to be a primary school teacher and also teaches brass around the South Cheshire Area. She is currently Assistant Principal Cornet player with the Roberts Bakery Band.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

18th August

Congratulations go to Neil Raisbeck who recently took part in his 4th course with the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, as ever it is a great honour for Lions to be represented in such an ensemble.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

18th August

It has been announced that Katie Smallwood will leave her position as 'Musical Director' of the Lions Junior Band. Katie is leaving to further her growing reputation as one of the countries most promising Baritone players. She is soon to take up the 1st Baritone chair with the famous Wingates Brass Band but before that will be performing at the British open with the Sellers Band, she also recently performed at the Royal Albert Hall with the Black Dyke Band as part of this years proms concerts.

Katie will be missed a lot but we wish her the best of luck in the future.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

20th July

The Youth Band are leaving later today for their annual tour, this time they return to Torquay as they have done twice in recent years. The local Lions around Torquay provide an excellent host and it is sure to be another exciting adventure for all involved. Keep watching this site over the summer for all of the news, photo's and stories.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

20th July

All 3 bands presented an end of year celebration concert at Sandbach School last week. The concert was a huge success, we would like to thank everyone involved and everybody who attended raising £450.50 in the process.

Ruth Jenkins (treasurer, Lions Youth Brass)

30th April

Yesterday saw the Youth Band performing in the National Youth Brass Championships in Manchester. The band played very well against some of the top Youth Brass Bands in the UK and were awarded a silver medal for their efforts.

Congratulations go to Musical Director Nigel, all of the players involved in the hard work and especially to Nicholas Birch who performed the solo 'Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair' superbly with only 1 weeks notice

Full results were as follows:

Community Championship
Adjudicators: Markus Bach and Dr Roy Newsome

1. Camborne Youth, Alan Pope, Gold Certificate
2. Youth Brass 2000, Chris Jeans, Gold Certificate
3. St Dennis Youth, Brian Minnear, Gold Certificate

Mount Charles Youth, Simon Dobson, Gold Certificate
Sellers International, Mark Bousie, Gold Certificate
Enderby Youth, Trevor Hounsome, Silver Certificate
Horbury Victoria Youth, T Greatorex, Silver Certificate
Lions Youth, Nigel Birch, Silver Certificate
Tewitt Youth, Craig Ratcliff, Silver Certificate
Chalford Youth, Steve Tubb, Bronze Certificate
Dobcross Youth, Morgan Griffiths, Bronze Certificate
Fred Longworth Community Youth, M. Wilson, Bronze Certificate
Macclesfield Youth, Louise Renshaw, Bronze Certificate
Poynton Youth, Andy Hirst, Bronze Certificate

Best Instrumentalist: Zoe Hancock, Flugel, St Dennis


Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

27th April

Lions Youth Brass on Facebook.com

Lions Youth Brass now has a group on Facebook.com, a website dedicated to keeping people in touch, sharing photos, memories, stories etc. If you are already on Facebook, simply search for the 'Lions Youth Brass' group and join. If not; why not visit www.Facebook.com and sign up for free.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

27th April

Get Well Soon Alex.

All of us at LYB are wishing Euphonium player Alex Holsgrove a speedy recovery after an operation on his arm following a bike accident. Alex was due to be playing a solo at this Sundays National Youth Brass Championships, the band will miss him very much.

Luckily, we have managed to find a replacement in time, Nicolas Birch (nephew of conductor Nigel) will fill in at very short notice.

In the mean time we look forward to seeing Alex back with the band as soon as possible.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

20th April

Last Friday, 13th April, saw the Youth Band performing at Alsager Community Centre, for The Alsager Lions Club, and as usual there was a capacity crowd who enjoyed the bands program. Soloists were, Neil Raisbeck, Tom Hancock, Timothy Bartley and Mark Thomas. The band were presented with their yearly sponsorship money from Alsager Lions and would like to thank them for their continued support.

This Sunday the Youth Band are performing for the Sandbach Transport Festival, which is always a major event. The band will be playing throughout the day and also leading the parade through Sandbach.

The following Sunday the band will be competing at The National Championships at The Royal Northern College of Music, where they will be competing against thirteen other Youth bands from all over Great Britain. For this, each band is required to perform a 20 minute program, which must include the set test-piece, Scenes De Lac. We will begin our program with a march, The Young Recruit, by Maurice Raynor and also include a solo by Alex Holsgrove, The Jeanie with The Light Brown Hair and then finishing with the test-piece. Over the last few months the band has been working extremely hard to come to terms with the difficulties of the test-piece, and I know that they will put on a performance that they can all be proud of. Whatever the result the band is improving all the time and I am extremely optimistic for the future. Also, I would like to invite all parents to the last part of our final rehearsal on Saturday 28th April so you can hear what the band have been rehearsing for last few months. Please arrive by 8 o'clock.

Many thanks to all of you.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

19th April

EASTER UPDATE:

The Youth Band are currently busy preparing for the National Youth Brass Band Championships which will be held at the Royal Northern College of Music on April 29th. This is the most prestigious event in the calendar for Youth Bands to gain the title National Champions, a title Lions Youth Brass won twice in the 90's. The band have also been placed many times since then, best of luck for this year.

Congratulations to Neil Raisbeck who once again represented Lions as a member of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain

The Junior Band are now working on new music after their recent success at the Newcastle Music Festival, we hope to hear much more from them in the near future.

As always, keep watching this page for news, reviews and the goings on at Lions Youth Brass

Ian Raisbeck

19th March

Congratulations go to Katie Smallwood and the Lions Junior Brass who once again had a successful time at the Newcastle Music Festival.

The Junior Band currently boast the largest ever membership of the band, many members performing for the first time at the festival. The Band performed specially written works by Ian Raisbeck and won the under 14's section, a great present for Katie on the eve of her 21st Birthday!.

Ian Raisbeck

12th March

The year has started very positively for all bands, and each band has taken part in very successful workshops, which have already been reported on our website. The other very encouraging news is that all bands have increased in numbers since Christmas and the membership is now around the mid nineties mark.

The Youth Band has performed one concert so far this year, for Wilmslow Lions Club, which was very successful. The band played a number of new pieces and also featured Tom Hancock, Danielle Unwin and Timothy Bartley playing solos for the first time.

Katie and the Junior Brass are off to defend their titles at The Newcastle Music Festival this weekend and we wish them well, while on the same day The Youth Brass will be playing for the Lions International Convention at The Hill Valley Golf Club in Whitchurch. A win for Katie would be a lovely birthday present for her as she celebrates her 21st birthday later this month.

Ian Raisbeck has just completed his latest composition, Rhapsody For Euphonium, which he has written for Alex Holsgrove and the band will premier this new solo in May/June time.

The Youth Band are very busy and are right in the middle of their preparation for the National Championships. This year the test-piece, Scenes De Lac is very difficult, but the band is working very hard to achieve their usual high standards.

Finally, on Sunday, quite a number of our players and bands who we have a close association with took part in the area championships at Blackpool and can all hold their heads up high. In particular congratulations to our friends from Fodens for winning the championship section, to Roberts Bakery for a very hard earned and well deserved fourth place in the first section, and to Jeff Sparkes, who's son Nick plays for The Junior Band, and his band The United Co-op Band Crewe, who finished fifth in the same section, but more importantly regained their position in The Championship Section for next year. You may wish to know that Roberts Bakery has six current Lions members in its band and 15 ex-Lions members in its current band, so we must be training our players in the right way.

All the best to everyone associated with the band for the current year. Many Thanks.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

8th March

A total of £400.60 was raised last Sunday night (4th) at a Bingo evening held at The Crown Sandbach. This will go a long way to helping with this year's tour, so a big thank you to; all who supported the evening, the people who donated prizes, the landlord of The Crown for letting us use the venue, and in particular Chris Thompson, who it turns out is an excellent Bingo caller!

Paul Darlington (Lions Youth Brass Committee)

27th February

The Lions Beginner Band took place in their annual workshop on Sunday 25th February. The workshop started with a rhythm session with Junior Band MD Katie Smallwood, followed by a quick band rehearsal before splitting into their tutor groups. For the workshop conductors Hayley, Andrew and Chris were delighted that Sarah Raisbeck and Tom Hancock agreed to take sections of the band to pass on their expertise. After the sectionals the band had a final rehearsal before performing a small concert for their parents to showcase their newfound talents. The concert featured every single player in the band performing in the group they had played in in the sectional rehearsals as they had been set the challenge of learning a new piece for the concert.

The workshop was a great success and Hayley, Andrew and Chris would like to express their thanks to Katie, Sarah and Tom for their help during the day.

Chris Thompson (Musical Director, Lions Beginner Brass)

19th February

The Junior Band have been busy in their preparations for the forthcoming Newcastle-under-Lyme music festival, an event which has been very successful for the Junior Band over the last few years.

Member of the Fodens Band are currently in the process of delivering a series of workshops to our organisation and the Junior Band benefited from the 2nd of these workshops on 11th feb.

The Band worked on two specially composed items by composer in residence Ian Raisbeck. Sectional rehearsals with members of Fodens followed by a full rehearsal with George Thackery of Fodens prepared the Band for a short concert with the parents, they were even fortunate enough to have the stars of the Foden Band play along.

They were: Andrew Lofthouse, Anna Hughes and Cai Isfryn (cornets), George Thackery (tenor horns), Natsumi Inaba (Euphoniums and Baritones), Les Neish (lower instruments)

 Ian Raisbeck (Composer In Residence, Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

30th January

The Youth Band spent last Sunday (28th January) receiving expect tuition from members of the Fodens Richardson Band. The band took part in sectional rehearsals as well as full band rehearsal on the test piece for the forthcoming National Youth Championships in Manchester.

As ever the band benefited significantly and hope to work with the Fodens band and their expert tutors again in the future

In other news: The Junior Band have recently benefited from an influx of promotions from the beginner band. The beginner band membership has been rising over the last few months and so many members had progressed that a large number were promoted to the Juniors after auditions with the Junior Band Director Katie Smallwood. This is great news for the whole organisation.

The Junior Band will have their own day of workshops with Fodens tutors on 11th February to prepare them for the defence of their Newcastle Under-Lyme Music Festival title that they have won for the last 2 years. In common with the last 2 successful years they will be performing a world premiere of some pieces especially written for them by composer in residence Ian Raisbeck

Ian Raisbeck (Composer In Residence, Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

2nd January

Happy New Year from all at LYB!

We are all looking forward to another successful year taking in numerous concerts, competitions and trips. Keep checking this website for updates, news and reviews of Lions Youth Brass activities.

Ian Raisbeck (Composer In Residence, Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

Back to the Top