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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.
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 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 |
