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Dunston Siver Band ( supported by Bristol Street Motors ) have made changes to their musical leadership team. Unfortunately  Lee Morris has had to stand down as Musical Director but we are delighted that he will be staying with the band concentrating on his playing,composing and arranging. We can announce now that Fraser Hodgson will be returning to Dunston Silver Band,  where it all began for him as a 6/7 year old. The new team is therefore Mr Fraser Hodgson ( Musical Director) assisted by Mr Dean Jones ( Professional Conductor )  and we’re looking to exciting times ahead.

If you would like to be part of this energetic team and you play Bass or cornet you will be given a warm welcome.. To express an interest, in confidence, please contact our Chairman Dave Jakeman on  Mob. 07808 720568 or email davejakeman@blueyonder.co.uk 

 

 

Dunston Silver Band ( supported by Bristol Street Motors) currently has vacancies for Eb Bass, Soprano and Tutti cornet players. We are keen to boost numbers before our  participation at the YHBBA contest and upcoming prestigious concerts at Newcastle Cathedral and Newcastle City Hall.

We are a highly committed and ambitious  team of musicians that works hard and has fun, including a varied concert diary and a balanced contest schedule with us currently competing in the Second section.

Rehearsals are Monday and Wednesday 19:30-21:30 at Dunston Community Centre, Dunston, Gateshead just 10 minutes from  Newcastle.

Interested parties will be given a warm welcome and lifts from surrounding areas can be arranged. To express an interest, in confidence, please contact our friendly Chairman Dave Jakeman on  Mob. 07808 720568 or email davejakeman@blueyonder.co.uk 

Dunston Silver Band have been working hard in the past couple of month so here is and update with what’s been going on!

In September we played at the lovely venue of Belsay Hall, one our personal favorites as a well-presented English Heritage site. After that event we had the great privilege of playing at two of our trombonists wedding as they married each other. We are always so grateful to be able to be part in their day and have the chance to show them how important they are to our band family. They have definitely given many of our pieces more meaning and hope they have many happy years together.

Into October and we played at a joint concert with Voices Together and Dunston Silver youth band also displaying their abundance of talent. The brass band and choir combo was hugely popular in front of a local crowd in Dunston where we also previewed Vitae Aeternum the test piece that we will be playing at the Yorkshire and Humberside Brass Band Open contest, travelling across counties to take on Yorkshire’s best!

The Paul Lovett Cooper test piece is a great test for us that also displays great strengths including the atmospheric sounds created with dynamic contrast, which we aim to wow the audience with our interpretation. We are also looking forward to Dunston Silver Youth Band as many of the band are taking part in Music Through the Ages on November 3^rd which has been a great opportunity for further development for the members of the band. We are all thrilled at the massive development within the band and congratulations should go to the leaders and players for all of their hard work!

We are really looking forward our busy Christmas period with events all the way through the month where we look forward to seeing some familiar faces!

Keep up to date with all of our events at:

https://www.dunstonsilverband.co.uk/staging/events/

DSB

DSB – August Blog

Wow we are into August already and we had a really exciting July. We started the month with both our Senior and Youth bands playing at St Thomas More School in Blaydon. This was a great opportunity for the youth band to gain valuable experience performing their well-rehearsed programme. This was a poignant performance as we are again approaching our annual summer school. If you haven’t seen details yet please visit our face book page. It looks to be our biggest yet and definitely not to be missed if you are a young brass player.

In the middle of July we had the great pleasure of marching Ryhope banner into The Durham Miners Gala. This event celebrates the communities that took part in this event in the past and promote mining heritage and union participation, although we are there for the great music and spirit on offer as nearly 200,000 people lined the streets of Durham as we marched through stopping to play in front of the crowds on an absolutely melting day. We all put our heart and soul into that event as we love the day even in the march back out of Durham was a struggle in the 30 degree heat!

Our final engagement of July was at Beamish Museum, again the weather blessed us with a glorious day; sun, picnics and music, what more could you want. We presented a period themed programme playing music from the early 20^th century and this was a great opportunity for us to go back to our banding roots and play traditional marches to a superb standard.

As we look ahead to august the band is taking a short break after our performance at South Shields Ampitheatre on Sunday 5^th August at 2pm. We hope to see you there otherwise we will join you again as we work even harder as we head towards winter!

After a few months without a blog due to our hectic schedule we have taken a moment to let you know what has happened over the last three months!

April saw our first engagement at Ponteland Beer Festival playing on one of the warmest weekends of the year so far. Entertaining a sellout crowd of 2000 people we opened the event playing popular music from The Beatles, Lionel Richie and Rose Royce. As well as the popular music we presented we featured new pieces such as Balkan Dance, a feature that is deeply rooted in folk music and has proved a welcome challenge for the band stretching our ability with its complexities. The event was a great success and we are privileged to have a long-term affiliation with this festival.

In May our summer engagements continued with a sunny day at Wallsend bandstand. We enjoyed the sunshine and the crowd that amassed got chance to see our latest programme of music in a great setting. As well as our performance commitments summer is a great time to put in work in the band room with Aidan keen on developing us by playing new test pieces as well as perfecting our concert repertoire with one of our new favorites being A little star went out, a Phillip Harper piece that helped win Cory Brass in concert with their Roald Dahl themed programme. This flugal solo is a marvel definitely to be heard and is sure to be a crowd pleaser at our upcoming gigs.

Onto June and we were able to help out another charity performing a concert at the Immaculate heart of Mary Church in Lobley Hill. We entertained the audience with a variety of pieces for a great cause and it was also a further opportunity to fine-tune our playing ahead of our concert with The Low Fell Singers. We also performed at Belsay Hall for their blooming Belsay event with a busy Belsay providing a picturesque setting for us to perform to a new audience sharing brass band music with a wider audience is always great and a superb opportunity for us to gain new fans and inspire others.

At the end of the month we occupied St Thomas the Martyrs Church in Newcastle where we played alongside The Low Fell Singers performing music from stage and screen. This concert is fast becoming an annual event as this is the second year in which we have collaborated. With DSB playing pieces from Brave, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Incredibles with The Low Fell Singers presenting The Trolley Song, as well as selections from West Side Story amongst other crowd pleasers. We would like to once again thank them for their help in providing this concert as it was gratefully received by the full audience that marveled at the performances and gave us great feedback.

This month we look forward to many more concerts as well as doing the hard hours in the practice room. As always keep up to date with our engagements on both our website and social media pages and look out for the blog next month!

 

March is such a busy month for everyone involved in brass bands as we crammed in plenty of practice in time for the North of England brass band championships. After months of hard work and the build up of both anticipation and nerves we took to the stage at Durham’s Gala Theatre to perform our interpretation of Brass Metamorphosis; our daunting challenge this year. We played the piece with great enthusiasm and emotion particularly in challenging solo lines with huge credit going to our soloists and conductor Aidan for his guidance and interpretation of a difficult test piece to decipher.

Our performance was greatly received and gained many positive comments from the audience and judges alike although we were unfortunately placed 6^th on the day with great bands earning a deserved victory. Although as a highly competitive band we were disappointed with the result but it will be a great stepping-stone to continue our improvement and development as a first section band.

The band has been preparing for a busy summer with many concerts and performances scheduled it is key that we achieve the right sound but sometimes the conditions that we play in can be challenging in unusual ways as Adam, our E flat bass player, and stage lighting expert (with over 30 years experience) has written in the feature below.

Who needs to see the music anyway?

The issue is about what we can see on stage, and the importance of having the stage lighting set up well for us, to help us produce our best. It isn’t just about contest venues, but these are where it matters most. Of course, in practice, it’s going to be a matter of degree, but the better the lighting, the less chance there is that it will unsettle the performers.

Stage lighting isn’t a dark art, but it is so often involved with creating an illusion, part of the ‘magic of theatre’, and as such, the mechanics of stage lighting are intended to be hidden. There is also a whole raft of technical jargon, which can also feel like a bit of a barrier. And the lighting all takes time to set up, and that needs to be done before any performers arrive. It’s usually really impractical to make anything but small changes shortly before a performance.

What I suggest is that it’s really down to a matter of good communication. Communication with the venue, in good time, so that their lighting engineer/technician can then understand properly what our lighting needs are and prepare accordingly. What we need to have is a little awareness of the mechanics of stage lighting, and a means with which to communicate our requirements.

In general, what we need is

• Good light on our music
• Good light on the conductor, so we can see them, and so they can see the score
• No distracting glare – we need to be ‘in the zone’.

The band will set up in a large semi-circle, in a space approx 8m wide and 6m deep.

Lighting objective		Lanterns
1	Musicians to read their music	A minimum of four Fresnel or PC spots set wide angle, located slightly behind musicians, to cover all music stands, but carefully shuttered to prevent glare into anyone’s eyes. Open white. Good level required for reading. On throughout.
2	Musicians to see the conductor and the conductor to see his/her music	Spot, at steep angle from above the centre of the band, set wide enough to cover conductor’s arms. Open white. Level sufficient for reading, and balanced with the Fresnel/PC spots. On throughout.

 

This should be useful for bands, contest organisers and contest venues generally.   I’d suggest it’s about being more professional in our preparations.

The lighting on stage really matters, and if the lighting gets better, then the performances will get better. Adams expertise is something, which we are keen to utilise in our performances coming up this summer to ensure that our audience have the best possible experience listening to us play.

Here is a list of our upcoming events with further details that as always can be found on our website!

Saturday 21^st April – Ponteland Beer Festival at Ponteland Rugby Club

Saturday 12^th May – Sound of Summer – Wallsend Bandstand in Richardson Dees Park

Sunday 24^th June – Afternoon performance – Belsay Hall

Saturday 30^th June – An evening with Dunston Silver Band accompanied by the Low fell Singers – Church of St Thomas the Martyrs, Low Fell

Firstly I would like to congratulate the youth band on receiving the High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear award with experienced members Ava (Baritone) and William (Principle Cornet) representing the band with William performing a solo of Blaydon Races and Havana at the event. It is great to have such young enthusiastic members, in school years 6 and 9 respectively, be rewarded for their talent, progress and commitment; long may it continue.

Already this year we are edging towards spring, I know the weather doesn’t particularly look springy but we are definitely into march or as brass band players know it as “Regionals month” with our North of England brass band championships taking place on the 17^th March at Durham’s Gala theatre. We have been preparing hard for it with sectionals and a busy few weeks ahead. Our conductor Aidan has picked out key parts similar to most pieces its always won and lost in the slow movements. This is where the intricacies are really highlighted, in our case the lyrical Euphonium solo being a particular highlight something that the whole band has spent a lot of time on in recent weeks.

The structure of test pieces all seem similar with new pieces changing the textures of what we can hear to maintain interest and it is a particularly traditional way of doing things so I ask what will brass banding look like in 50 years time, or at least what do I think it could look like…

Contests

So in 50 years time the music will change drastically with more modern pieces as well as music being more complicated as the standard of playing increases further. Could there be inclusions of technology in contests like inclusion of video competitions competing internationally in an almost “Champions league” esque competition across Europe’s top leagues with shorter pieces. Further to this the competitions could include new features like new instruments included or even synth’s as some kind of percussion.

Performance

In future the way we perform could be even more interactive with bands being able to play in a way that immerses the audience rather than only in front of an audience. The sound and lighting really adding to the experience like an almost cirque du soleil experience moving away from tradition.

Learning

Practicing and learning have changed even with devices allowing silent practice to stop noise restraints and with the inclusion of youtube and other video learning devices helping inspire and teach people could this be further improved with a new guide that is holographic allowing a physical interaction with videos through virtual reality.

These are just three possibilities in the way that brass banding could change and are only speculation. For me brass banding needs to combine the progress music makes and incorperate technology in a tasteful way but must ensure that traditions are upheld as it might change too much.

There are definitely ways in which it can benefit both bands and players but it is an issue that will need sensitivity to appease players of all generations. We would love to hear any ways that you think banding might change over the next 50 years so let us know!

After a disappointing result at Butlins, we spent January working hard to prepare for the North of England Brass Band Championships and our rendition of Brass Metamorphosis by James Curnow. We thought this month’s blog would be a great opportunity to revisit our Meet The Band segment, featuring our front row cornet section.

This section is made up of Laura (Principal Cornet), Natasha, Michael, Emily and Mike who have given their unique insight into the Dunston Dragons.

CB: When did you all join Dunston Silver Band?

LAURA: About 5 or 6 years ago.

NATASHA: Almost five years ago and the committee three years ago.

MICHAEL: A year or two ago.

EMILY: Almost 10 years ago.

MIKE: One year ago.

CB: Why did you guys join DSB?

LAURA: I saw the band perform Dark Side of the Moon at the Peterlee contest and thought they were blinking awesome! So I called Keith and joined the week after. He even tried to persuade me to play sop… (needless to say she said no!)

NATASHA: I tried out a few North East bands but DSB stood out as the nicest bunch of people.

MICHAEL: I just wanted to start playing again and knew that Layla played for a nice band.

EMILY: I was asked to help out for a contest and I haven’t managed to leave yet!

MIKE: I am able to turn the heating off at home twice a week!

CB: Why did you pick the cornet? And if not the cornet what instrument would you play?

LAURA: I started playing the cornet in primary school as I saw some girls walking to school in my village carrying their cases, which I thought looked cool. If I didn’t play cornet I’d pinch Sarah’s flugel.

NATASHA: I wanted to play trombone when brass lessons were offered at my primary school but they told me I was too small and gave me a cornet instead. If I didn’t play cornet, I’d play the flugel or the horn I think.

MICHAEL: I was given a cornet in school to play and stuck with it through various bands in school and uni.

EMILY: I don’t think I ever chose to play cornet but was given one when I started lessons when I was 8. If I didn’t play cornet, I’d love to have a go at horn I think – nothing bigger cos it wouldn’t fit in my car!

MIKE: I play the corner because it is the closest relation to my “ proper” instrument, the trumpet.

CB: What is your favourite brass band piece?

LAURA: My favourite piece is Sandy Smith’s version of Gresford; it always brings a tear to my eye.

NATASHA: My favourite brass band piece would be a tie between Year of the Dragon and Fire in the Blood. And maybe Local Hero. Oh and Orange Juice..the list goes on..!

MICHAEL: Bandology

EMILY: My favourite piece is Fire in the Blood, which links to my favourite moment…

MIKE: Journey to the Centre of the Earth

CB: What is your best brass band moment?

LAURA: My proudest/best DSB moment is a tough call between winning the second section area OR having the band play me down the aisle at my wedding.

NATASHA: I have many favourite DSB moments – pretty much every Durham Miners Gala, including meeting Kay in the loos there and talking her into coming to DSB a few years back! Also playing Fire in the Blood at Butlins contest a couple of years ago, when the Band came off stage and were so pleased with our performance and what we’d achieved together (despite then coming 18th out of 24 – this didn’t matter in the slightest!)

MICHAEL: Probably the social side of the band outside of the bandroom.

EMILY: My favourite moment was probably playing Fire in the Blood at Laura’s wedding – such a magical moment! Who would have thought it would fit so perfectly?

MIKE: Playing as a “ringer” at a Belle Vue contest and winning! (Two for the price of one!)

CB: What is your brass band ambition?

NATASHA: I don’t really have any brass band-related ambitions other than to keep enjoying being in a band that works hard, keeps improving, and has fun whilst doing it.

MICHAEL: My only brass band ambition is to keep pushing to not come last at anything.

EMILY: My brass banding ambition is to still be enjoying playing and enjoying banding in 10 years time!

MIKE: To be able to spot a down-beat (other than his clothes!) and to continue to enjoy making music.

We hope you enjoyed this feature and you have learnt more about the Dunston Dragons!

First and foremost a massive Happy New Year to all of our friends and family. We here at DSB hope that you have enjoyed your festive period as much as we have.

Secondly, a quick look back on the final month of 2017, a month that any musician can testify is always a busy one! In December the band spread joy far and wide entertaining crowds in Ovingham, Castletown and our very own Dunston with carols and Christmas music. A highlight was Dunston Silver Youth band playing both with the senior band as well as independently giving us renditions of classic Christmas songs including Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer. Such a fantastic way to cap off the year with their musical director Will Roberts noting that the band has more than doubled in size within the year, showing much promise for the future.

Another feature of the concerts was a short preview of our 2018 programme as we perfected the Phillip Harper masterpiece A little star went out, a piece based on the life of Roald Dahl and part of their 2016 Brass in Concert victory. This flugal solo, performed by our award winning flugal player Sarah Foster (who you might remember from our Meet the Band segment in August’s blog), really caught the imagination of the audience and is definitely a spectacle not to be missed. As well as this piece there are a few others that we have began to prepare for what promises to be and exciting 2018 so stay tuned to find out more!

December has also been a month of work as we prepare diligently for Butlins in January. It is a piece that has stretched our ability to stylise the way in which we play but we are putting the finishing touches on what we hope will be a winning performance.

As the new year is welcomed in many people make resolutions to challenge their current or future lifestyle. One for myself could be giving up playing incorrect notes or practicing more but these individual wishes might be great for self-improvement but what if everyone had a collective goal? For instance if every band member practiced an extra 5 minutes a day so for an average band of 26 players the total is 130 minutes a week which is equivalent to one of our rehearsals a week, a lot of time! Sometimes it can be these marginal gains made by each player that collectively make the difference in both placing at competitions and more importantly the quality of performances.

Finally I’d encourage any brass musicians seeking a band to get in touch with us, we are always wanting to share our music with as many people as possible so get in contact as we’d love to see you. If you’d rather watch the band in comfort keep an eye on our calendar page on our website to see what’s coming up, we will be out in force in 2018!

There you have it New Year, not so new blog! That’s the best way, as we wouldn’t want everything to change! ‘Til next month

DSB