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Brass and Voices Concert!

5/3/2020

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Unfortunately this concert was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Stay safe.

On 4th April, we will be performing at St Michael's Centre in aid of the British Heart Foundation alongside the Lydbrook Band, Bristol Royal Mail Choir, and Bristol Airbus Choir. Why not join us for some great music for a great cause! 

Tickets are £10, and free for under 16s. Available from:
  • Online: Eventbrite (please click here)
  • Phone: +44(0)7901622122 (contact Samantha Ford) 
  • Email: filtonconcertbrass@gmail.com

Tickets - £10, under 16s free.

VENUE DETAILS: 

Saturday 4th April 2020, doors open at 6.30pm and concert starts at 7pmSt Michael’s Centre, Stoke Gifford, North Road, England, BS34 8PD


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There is limited on-road parking at the venue. Parking is available nearby at:
  • Bristol Parkway car park, Hatchet Rd, Stoke Gifford, Bristol BS34 8PU (2 mins drive, 4 mins walk from venue)
  • Stoke Gifford car park, Hunts Ground Rd, Stoke Gifford, Bristol BS34 8XX (4 min drive, 12 min walk from venue)
  • Mead Park car park, Stoke Gifford, Bristol BS34 8NF (2 mins drive, 10 min walk from venue)
Refreshments will be available at the concert.


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Dutch Link for Filton!

18/2/2020

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The band are delighted to announce that we will be teaming up with Dutch conductor Erik van de Kolk for the upcoming West of England Regional Championships in Torquay! Everyone in the band is looking forward to welcoming Erik to Bristol!

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Erik studied conducting at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and in 2011 won the European Brass Band Championship Conductors Competition in Montreux, taking home not only the jury honours, but also the band and audience prizes.


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He spent a decade at Brassband Rijnmond until the summer of 2019 and in 2012 conducted the European Youth Brass Band and was guest conductor with the Royal Military Band between 2015 and 2016. He has also worked with Stavanger Band in Norway, aiding their preparations for the 2018 European Championships.

Erik is currently conductor of Noordlimburgse Brassband, as well as Gelders Fanfare Orchestra, Emergo Castricum Fanfare Orchestra, and the Vriezenveen Symphonic Wind Band. This will be his conducting debut in the UK.


Speaking about the exciting link, Band Chairman James Bryant commented: "We're delighted to secure the services of such a talented conductor. Erik's enthusiasm and work ethic are an ideal fit for us after retaining the Welsh Open title. We're really looking forward to welcoming Erik to Bristol and working with him in the run up to Torquay."

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Welsh Open Hat-Trick Champions!

15/2/2020

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The band are delighted to announce that we are Welsh Open Brass Band Entertainment Championship Champions once again! This makes a hat-trick of Welsh Open titles following our 2018 and 2019 wins, and four wins in five years. Furthermore, our solo euphonium player Anthony Smith was deservedly awarded the Best Soloist prize for his performance of Philip Sparke's 'Blue Heart'. A big thank you to our conductor Lewis Wilkinson Music and all the players for their hard work ! Congratulations also to the other prizewinners and bands throughout the day.

For a detailed overview of the day, click here for the 4barsrest.com report!

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A New Resident for Filton!

12/9/2019

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​Filton Concert Brass has announced that the talented Lewis Wilkinson will team up with the band as their new Resident Conductor.

Lewis started his conducting career aged 18 whilst studying music at Durham University. In his time there he conducted the university brass band, symphony orchestra, and opera ensemble, accumulating several awards for his contributions to the institution. Upon graduating Lewis started his own ensemble, Orchestra Cipriani, specialising in early 19th century repertoire. 
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He was also invited to conduct several brass bands in the North East, including Fishburn and North Skelton, notably winning 7 contests in the last 2 years. From September, Lewis will be undertaking a Master’s Degree in conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama under the guidance of Dr Robert Childs.
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Commenting on his appointment, Lewis stated “I’m really looking forward to starting work with such a well organised and forward thinking band. Hopefully this will be the start of a very successful partnership.”
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Filton band manager Thomas Dunne said “We are delighted to have secured the services of this rising star of the conducting world. We knew we needed someone with the enthusiasm and drive that has been crucial to maintaining the success the band has achieved in recent years, and Lewis fits the bill perfectly. He has already contributed a wealth of ideas, and we eagerly anticipate working together in the coming season.”
Lewis will work closely with a new professional conducting team, who shall be announced in due course, and his first appearance with Filton will be at the Wychavon Festival of Brass, where the band will be aiming to defend the title they won in 2018.
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A feature on 4barsrest.com

16/7/2019

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Filton Concert Brass has bid a fond thank you and farewell to outgoing musical director Tom Davoren in an article on 4barsrest.com, celebrating the success the band has achieved over the past seven years under his leadership. 

Click here to read the article and find out more!
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A Fond Farewell to MD Tom Davoren

25/5/2019

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This week, the band said farewell to our musical director Tom Davoren after 7 wonderful years, as he is soon to move to America for the next stage in his musical career.

Tom has led the band since 2012. At this point in time, the band was just starting out in the First Section, and was a project band that only met once or twice a year. Setting out, Tom stated his goal was to always strive to take musical risks and be 
in the top 6 at contests, to enter and progress through the British Open Spring Festival, and get the band to the Royal Albert Hall – objectives that seemed almost impossible at the time.

Now, the record speaks for itself - out of Tom’s 22 contests with the band, 18 of those have seen the band in the top 6 places, 14 in the top 3, and 8 victories! Some of many highlights include winning consecutive First Section regionals in 2013 and 2014, becoming First Section National Champions in 2014 and being promoted to the Championship Section for the first time, winning the British Open Senior Trophy in 2016 and the Senior Cup in 2017, qualifying for the National Finals in 2017 and performing at the Royal Albert Hall for the first time, and competing in the British Open Grand Shield for the first time in 2018. Aside from contesting, Tom has led the band through our first foreign tour - performing the Gala Concert at the Lithuanian National Championships in Palanga in 2018, and our first CD recording – with ‘Tales from the West Country’ being released in 2018.

Most importantly however, Tom has helped form the band into a close-knit circle of friends who thoroughly enjoy music making together, and strive for musical excellence at the highest level. Tom says: “I don’t have the words to describe what everyone who has passed through this band means to me. It’s been a constant in my life of true happiness… thank you for the wonderful gift and know that I’ll never experience anything quite like this again”.

In our band curry this week, we presented Tom with a framed photo of him conducting the band at the Royal Albert Hall atop a list of his contest achievements with the band – a true testament to his success. We also presented him with a ‘Filton Concert Brass’ beanie hat (though if there ever was anyone that didn’t need something to keep their head warm..!).

Tom, from all of us here at Filton, past and present, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you have done for us – the music, the contests, the concerts, friendship, and many, many laughs! We wish you all the best in your new adventure, and are sure we’ll meet again soon!

Over the coming days/weeks we will be sharing some of our highlights together – so keep an eye out!
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Grand Shield 2019 - Down but not out!

20/5/2019

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On the 18th May 2019 the band travelled to Blackpool to compete at the British Open Grand Shield competition. 

The band thoroughly enjoyed preparing Thierry Deleruyelle's dark and evocative test-piece Fraternity and were drawn to perform number 5 out of 20.
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While the performance contained moments of brilliance and some very fine individual playing from soloists, not everything came off as planned on stage - as is the nature of live music performance at times.

The band did however attract some favourable comments from the online pundits.  4barsrest.com stated "A performance painted in bold and often darkly majestic tones by Filton. Not without blemishes but portrayed with abundant emotion", while Brass Band World Magazine opined "Plenty to enjoy from Filton on Fraternity. It wasn't without fragilities at times but the music was portrayed with bold drama and tones of darkly hued majesty". Unfortunately the performance on this occasion did not find favour with the adjudicators and the band was placed 17th, which means relegation to the Senior Cup in 2020. 

This is not all bad news however, as we have fond memories of the Senior Cup, which the band won on it's first attempt in 2017. We shall look forward to attempted to repeat this feat next year! 

Thank you for all the positive comments from pundits and audience members alike, to the players for all their weeks of hard work, and to our wonderful MD Tom Davoren.
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Third Prize at the Regionals

12/3/2019

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On the 10th March, the band competed at the annual West of England Regional Championship at the Riviera Centre in Torquay, performing Seascapes by Ray Steadman-Allen. 

Drawn 12th out of 13 bands, the band delivered a passionate performance that the players absolutely loved. This was enough to gain much favour with the audience and pundits alike, with music journalism website 4barsrest later stating: 
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Filton Concert Brass performing 'Seascapes' under Tom Davoren
"There was also something of a musical revelation from Filton. Tom Davoren's poetic approach, dynamically light and delicately phrased impressed many (4BR included)"

The contest proved hard fought however, with the band eventually being placed third - only just missing out on qualification for the National Finals in London. According to the adjudicators it was extremely close between 2nd and 3rd, so despite not qualifying this year the band remain very proud indeed of their performance and the improvements they have made. The band would like to extend our congratulations to our friends at Flowers and Aldbourne bands for the 1st and 2nd spots!

The band's next contest appearance will be at the prestigious British Open Grand Shield on the 18th May at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, performing Thierry Deleruyelle's famous Fraternity - the former European Championships and British Open set work. 

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Welsh Open Champions 2019!

18/2/2019

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​On the 16th February, the band was crowned as Welsh Open Entertainment Competition champions for the second year running, and the third time in four years!

Winning by a full three points, the band was also delighted to claim the 'Best Entertainment' award, and a well-deserved 'Best Horn Section' prize.
Performing excellently from the number 14 draw, the band reprised its successful Wychavon Festival of Brass programme from 2018. Opening with the driving rhythms of Joel Collier's Thy Matchless King, euphonium soloist Anthony Smith then followed with an outstanding rendition of Finale from Rituals by Tom Davoren. Geoffry Nobes' Prelude on Quem Pastores provided a moment of tranquillity, before the tongue-in-cheek fun of Queen's Bring Back That Leroy Brown. Lastly, Benjamin Tubb's Variations on Danse Macabre brought the programme to a thunderous close.

This proved more than enough to impress Philip Harper, who in his pre-results speech stated that there was a "clear winner" that had won by a "long, long way". Separate entertainment adjudicator Sarah Hayward concurred, awarding the band the 'Best Entertainment' prize.

A huge thank you must go to everyone in the band for all the hard work, MD Tom Davoren, and all who supported us on the day. Congratulations also to all the other prize winners!

The band will now continue working hard over the next few weeks ahead of the West of England Regional Championship in Torquay on the 10th March.
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Wychavon Festival of Brass Champions 2018!

6/11/2018

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On 3rd November, Filton Concert Brass were crowned Wychavon Festival of Brass Champions in the Championship Section for the first time. 

With our regular MD Tom Davoren working abroad, the band were very fortunate to secure the services of Russell Gray, fresh from his victory at the National Championships with the Foden's Band. 

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Russell immediately impressed every member with his approach and musicianship, and over the course of a week worked up the programme of:
​Click here for more photos!
Thy Matchless King (Joel Collier), Finale from Rituals (Tom Davoren) - featuring solo euphonium Anthony Smith, Prelude on Quem Pastores (Geoffrey Nobes), Bring Back that Leroy Brown (Queen), and Danse Macabre Variations (Benjamin Tubb). 

Playing from the number 17 draw, the hard work paid dividends and the band performed excellently, receiving a warm reception from the audience and impressed adjudicator Michael Fowles sufficiently to claim a title that had continuously eluded the band in the past. A special congratulations must go to solo euphonium Anthony Smith, who was awarded the very well deserved 'Best Soloist' accolade (you can listen to his performance below - mobile devices please click here).

The band would like to extend our sincere thanks to Russell Gray, not only a consummate musician, but a really great guy, and to Tom Davoren for helping prepare the programme in advance of Russell's arrival with his usual care and dedication. Congratulations also to our friends in Aldbourne and City of Cardiff bands on the podium places, and to the Wychavon organisers for running such an excellent contest. 
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    • CD Combo
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    • Donate £50