Blackburn and Scotch Joint Concert

There was a great atmosphere in Beaumont Hall on Thursday  3^rd August when the two advanced bands from both BHS and Scotch joined forces in a high-powered showcase concert. Present were over 100 musicians and an enthusiastic audience of 130+. This is the third year that the night has been staged, and each time the venue rotates. This year, it was back at Beaumont Hall.

The BHS Symphonic Band opened the batting with a very lyrical version of Alfred Reed’s Greensleeves and moved through a selection drawn from over three centuries of literature: The Earle of Oxford’s March (from the William Byrd Suite), the fiery and virtuosic Vientos Y Tangos, followed by the first performance by the band of Ceremonial. This major work is to be performed at South Street this year, and is a series of variations, first stated in the piece by outstanding our bassoonist. Each variation gets thicker in texture, until the finale which combines all the band’s forces in terms of forceful dynamics and colour. After the audience had been suitably confronted with 44 musicians giving plenty in terms of energy and dynamics, the band closed on some light relief with The Incredibles, propelled by driving drumming.

The Scotch Symphonic Wind then followed. They are a big ensemble of some 60 players and performed a series of wind gems including the older medley, A Leroy Anderson Portrait and Eric Whitacre’s very entertaining Ghost-train. It was great for both bands to see and hear each other, and apart from anything else, to have representatives of both educational systems getting together and staging such a top concert.