A small group of the band went to West Lodge Care Home this morning, to entertain the wonderful residents this morning. It was lovely to hear them singing along and enjoying what we played.
We hope to see them again soon.
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The band had a fantastic day at the Stanley Brass Band Entertainment Contest today, coming a very creditable 3rd place for playing and 5th overall. Our amazing soloist today was Nicola Evans on Flugel playing Children of Sanchez and she did a fantastic job too.
Today's programme was:
A big thank you to our deps today Beth Marston on Soprano Cornet, Jeremy West on 2nd Horn and Karen Snaith on Percussion. You were all amazing and we really appreciate the time you have given for rehearsals. We also welcomed back one of our own. James on Trombone is back up in Durham for the new term at the university and we were pleased to see him back in the band hall. A big thank you to all our band members for their hard working preparing our set and to Colin for leading the way at his first contest with the band.
Tonight was a very special night for the band. We performed our first joint concert with the wonderful children from West Rainton Primary School. The band and school have made many links together over the years to support each other and it was lovely to join forces with them to provide an amazing evening of music in St Mary's Church, West Rainton.
A big thank you goes to Alan Beaumont for conducting tonight but also for spending many hours arranging three special pieces for the choir to sing with the band and a big thank you goes to David Young for jumping ship from bass to keyboard to accompany the joint pieces. A special mention goes to our dep, Will Harrison, who joined us tonight on solo cornet. We really appreciate your help. Thank you also goes to St Mary's Church for hosting us all. It has got to be one of the warmest churches we have played in. The biggest thanks however, has to go to Alison McDonough - headteacher at West Rainton Primary School, and all the children from the school for all their hard work and preparation for tonight. We look forward to working with the school again in the future and we are so very proud to have shared the stage with such a talented bunch of children. The band would like to say a massive congratulations to our Solo Trombone player Kate.
She has graduated from the University of Hertfordshire with a Degree of Doctor of Heritage. Congratulations Kate! The band entertained the crowds at the Hargreaves Open Day in Esh Winning today. A lovely concert on our doorstep. It is great to support a local company. A big thank you to Karen for helping us out today, we really appreciate your help.
After the band rehearsal this morning, the band popped along to our local pub, The Royal Oak at Cornsay Colliery to enjoy a fabulous Sunday lunch social as a welcome to our new MD, Colin. He has survived his first 6 weeks as he gets to know everyone. A big thank you to our lovely band friends Sonia, Ian and all the girls for your wonderful hospitality and your amazing food as always. We really do recommend you give them a try.
We are currently working hard towards our future projects which are keeping us busy for the next couple of months. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates as they come. Today the sun finally shone for the band, and we were able to play to a very appreciative audience in the gorgeous surroundings of Saltburn Bandstand. A big thank you to David and Karen for helping us out today. We really appreciate your help. We would like to send all the lovely people of Saltburn our best wishes for the rest of the year and we look forward to hopefully performing for you all next summer.
Today, the band entertained the crowds in Wharton Park, Durham. We were so lucky with the weather despite tempting fate by playing Singin' in the Rain.
Our soloists today were David Thomas on Euphonium, Lindsey Rowell on Solo Horn and Nicola Evans on Flugel. All three did an amazing job despite battling with the wind and music stands. A big thank you to Carley and Karen for helping us out today. We really appreciate your time. The band performed in the wonderful Emmanuel Church in Saltburn this afternoon for our first trip to Saltburn. Today also saw the debut for our new conductor Colin, who did an amazing job at leading the band and comparing to our audience.
We featured two soloists, David Thomas on Euphonium and Nicola Evans on Flugel. A big thank you to David on Soprano and Carley on Horn who both helped us out today. We really appreciate it. We will see you all again in two weeks time with a completely different programme for you to enjoy hopefully at the bandstand, weather dependant. The band has had a fabulous day playing at Durham Miners Gala today - taking in the Esh Winning, Adventure and UCU Banners. We managed to dodge a lot of the showers and enjoyed playing outside the County Hotel.
The day is a great opportunity to catch up with our friends from other bands and join forces to entertain the crowds. A big thank you to all the players that joined us to help us out. We really appreciate your time.Roll on next year when we will do it all again.
We were hugely saddened to learn last week of the death of legendary cornet player and bandleader James Shepherd.
Jim was a good friend to our band as well as a personal friend to many band members, having played with us as guest soloist on several occasions and conducted the band in a contest. He will be greatly missed by our band and by the brass band world. In his honour, alongside bands across the world, we have recorded our own version of the hymn 'How Great Thou Art', led by our assistant conductor Michael Evans, who has played alongside Jim on many occasions. After a busy period of auditions the band are delighted to announce the appointment of Colin Harris as the new Musical Director of Bearpark & Esh Colliery Band. Colin brings a wealth of over 30 years brass band experience, along with him graduating from Newcastle University where he studied music, and his main experience has been conducting Backworth Colliery Band on and off. During this time, he has also held conducting positions with other bands in the North East. Colin has a wide range of musical experience ranging from orchestral to contemporary music. As well as playing various instruments. On accepting our invitation Colin stated: "I am overjoyed to accept the position of Musical Director for the incredibly talented Bearpark & Esh Colliery band. Being back in the middle of a band is an absolute thrill, and I am eagerly looking forward to collaborating with such a gifted and inspiring group of musicians." The band look forward to a bright and exciting future ahead of us. All of us at Bearpark & Esh, with heavy hearts, and shared grief across the brass band world, say goodbye to the fantastic James Shepherd. He was one of the all time greats of the brass band movement, a hero and inspiration to so many and no doubt generations to come. He has left a legacy unlike any other. RIP Jim 🖤💛🖤💛🖤💛
Today the band played to a magnificent audience at South Shield's Amphitheatre. Before we set up the heavens opened so we dived for cover and set up.
For the rest of the afternoon, it stayed fine and we could have stayed out in the open, but never mind. Throughout the course of our programme we featured 4 soloists, Leila Davison on Cornet, Lindsey Rowell on Horn, Nicola Evans on Flugel Horn and David Thomas on Euphonium. We would like to say a massive thank you to Alan Beaumont, who is our Kit player, who stepped in last minute to conduct the band, Marion for doing a great job comparing and to Lewis West for helping us out on kit. Thanks must also go to our good friend David Scott, who helped us out on Sop coming straight from playing with his own band at the Beamish Contest. We really appreciate you and the help you've given us. Our next outing will be at Durham Miners Gala on Saturday 8th July where we will be marching with Esh Winning and West Rainton's banners. Today has seen the band perform at it's first public summer concert of the year, in the wonderful grounds of Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens. We played to a very appreciative audience who sat around the band in the colourful rose garden. We featured solos from Lindsey Rowell on Solo Horn, Nicola Evans on Flugel and David Thomas on Solo Euphonium. It was an honour to play at a local venue to us and we hope we will be back again soon.
Photo credits (for the majority of them): L Thornber Tonight, the band boys have had a curry night out at Le Raj at Chester Moor to celebrate Michael's (cornet player) belated stag do.
Today has seen the band perform at a surprise birthday party at the Cross Keys Inn, in Esh Village. A big thank you goes to Kris for stepping in on Horn today.
Today has seen the band perform at the first concert of 2023, in the wonderful Beamish Museum. The afternoon started off so well, but the heavy rain sent our fabulous audience into hiding.
We timed our break to coincide with the emergency alert test from the Government, although we did wonder what they would've done in the 1900s. A big thank you goes to Sue's partner Jeremy for sitting in on horn today. As always, it is such a pleasure to play in the prestigious museum.
The band are also delighted to welcome three new players to the band as well. David Thomas joins us on Principal Euphonium, Sue York on 1st Baritone and Daniel Nixon joins us on the Trombone section. All three made their debuts today at Beamish. We hope you all have a long and happy time with the band.
The band would like to announce that Phillip Tait has left his role as Musical Director of Bearpark & Esh Colliery Band after 6 years.
In that time, Phillip has been a constant presence and driving force behind the band’s on and off stage development and we are extremely grateful to him for his hard work and commitment to the band over the years. We would like to take this opportunity to send our best wishes for whatever the future may hold for him. The band doesn't need an excuse for a social, but we had one today. A group of us went out for a lovely meal at La Spaghettata in Durham to celebrate Olivia's 21st Birthday and then we went for a few drinks afterwards. Happy Birthday Olivia from all of us!
Back in the summer last year, we posted a plea for help with the front of our band hall. After 6 months of trying to find a builder, K.W. Property Developments came to the rescue. They responded to our post and subsequently completed the job. I think you will all agree that it looks amazing.
At the same time, we also had major problems with the flooring inside the band hall, luckily Karl was able to sort this and permanently fix the problem. All of the work carried out was reasonably priced and completed to a high standard. Thank you again for coming to our rescue. Now all of our member can get into the band hall safely. Today has seen the band compete in the 2nd Section of the North of England Brass Band Championships. The final practice was at Ask Italian, in Walkergate, Durham - a big thank you to Ask Italian and Walkergate Durham for hosting us, your help is very much appreciated. It wasn't the result the band wanted, but we went on the stage and played our very best, producing a performance to be proud of. Our soloists were all amazing. Congratulations go to Durham Miners' Association Band for winning, and Tewit Silver on finishing 2nd place. Two worthy winners to represent the North East at the National Finals in September. A big thank you goes to Phillip for all of his hard work preparing us for today, and all our dedicated band members who have put hours of practice both at home and in the bandhall. We have a fantastic team. The band would also like to say a massive thank you to Tim Oldroyd, who stepped in to play Solo Euphonium today. We have used his company to service some of our instruments and part ex for a new upgrade. A first class service. We would highly recommend Oldroyd Brassworks. Thanks again Tim, the band really appreciate your help.
Today, the band attended a workshop style day to prepare for the upcoming Area Contest on our test piece, The Pilgrims Progress. Our members did lots of fantastic work all together as a band, and then in various sections. We would like to say a massive thank you to our tutors Andy Novell and Beth Carabine from Rothwell Temperance Band, Adam Reed from Black Dyke Band, Andrew Hall from Reg Vardy and our very own Michael Evans, for their expert guidance and input. We would also like to say a huge thank you to Alison McDonough, headteacher of West Rainton Primary School for hosting us today and allowing us to take over the school. The trombones even had the year 1 class pet join in with their sectional. Once finished, the band ventured down the road for a well earned Sunday Lunch and a drink at the Italian Farmhouse at West Rainton. At the end of the workshop day, our chairman - Lindsey Rowell, presented a very special award of 30 continuous years as Secretary to Marion Waterworth. She works tirelessly to run a tight ship and is responsible for the reputation we have of being one of the most organised bands in the region. A massive thank you goes to Marion, for all of the work she does behind the scenes and doing the difficult task of keeping all of us in check. We couldn't do it without her.
Bearpark & Esh Colliery Band want to wish a very happy new year to all our supporters, family and friends. Thank you for your support in 2022 - we're looking forward to entertaining you at our engagements in 2023!
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