27th July

LYB return from Tour

The Youth Band have recently returned from their annual tour which (for the third time in a row) was to the Costa Blanca in Spain.

The tour was a fantastic success with numerous concerts as well as social occasions throughout the week.

There was much drama at the end of the tour as the flight scheduled to bring the band home was delayed by 8 hours resulting in the traditional 'End of Tour' concert being cancelled. Due to some quick thinking and hard work between the Committee in Spain, the Sandbach Rotary Club and Sandbach Boys School we were luckily able to reschedule the end of tour meal and concert for the following day (Sunday). Despite this last minute change the concert was well attended and a massive success.

Full details (and pictures) of the tour will appear on the Tour 2010 page as soon as I have them.

Webmaster

14th July

Youth Band set for tour

The Youth Band will have an early start on Saturday as they assemble at Sandbach Common at 3:30am to embark on their 3rd tour of the Costa Blanca (South East Spain).

Everybody involved is now very excited at the prospect after two very successful visits to the same area. The End of Tour Concert takes place on Saturday 24th July at 7pm at Sandbach Girls School; once again the concert is hosted by the Rotary Club but for the first time all proceeds will be donated to the Lions Youth Brass.

After the return the Tours section of this site will be updated with pictures and stories from the week away.

Webmaster

14th July

New Videos Online

Thanks to a project involving students from Macclesfield College this website has now benefited from a number of new videos. The project was the brainchild of Joe Mace, parent of a Youth Band member and lecturer in Media at Macclesfield College.

After several filming visits and weeks of editing the band now has a purpose designed promotional DVD to attract new members, accompanying literature, and the videos clips that can now be found on various pages throughout this site.

Thanks to Joe and his Students who have done an excellent job! Videos can be viewed on various pages of the site but in the most part are collected together on the brand new Videos page and Instruments page.

If anybody has problems viewing these videos please let us know by emailing us at lionsyouthbrass@yahoo.co.uk

Webmaster

9th July

Bandsperson of the Year

During Tuesday nights Brass Celebration Principal Percussionist Mark Thomas was awarded 'Bandsperson of the Year 2010'. Mark has been playing with the Youth Band for a number of years now and has consistently been of the bands leading players; during recent years he has also wowed audiences with his Xylophone solo's.

Congratulations to Mark!

Webmaster

9th July

Brass Celebration Success

Tuesday evening (6th) saw all three Lions bands performing alongside local primary schools in a concert billed as 'Brass Celebration 2010'. The event was set up in partnership with Cheshire East Music Service who have provided 'Wider Opportunities' brass tuition to several primary schools in the Sandbach area.

Each of the primary schools involved performed a selection of their work from the year which included brass playing, singing and percussion. They were then treated to performances from our Lions Beginner, Junior and Youth Bands.

Every primary participant has been invited to join Lions from September; it is hoped that many will take us up on this opportunity to develop their brass playing further, have fun and meet new friends.

At the end of the concert all participants (around 200!) joined forces for a performance of 'Is This The Way To Amarillo'. It was a memorable end to a fantastic night.

Cheshire East Music Service kindly agreed to donate £400 to Lions to make this event free to the public, in addition to this £465 was raised for band funds from a Raffle, Cake Stall, Tombola and Refreshments donations.

It is hoped that this can become an annual event and develop links with the Cheshire East Music Service further.

Ian Raisbeck (Event Co-ordinator Brass Celebration 2010)

27th June

Beginners and Juniors show off their new uniforms

Representatives from the Co-op Community Fund visited the Junior and Beginners bands last Tuesday (22nd) to see the new uniforms that they funded.

Thanks to a large donation both bands were kitted out with Waistcoasts and Bow Ties in time for the National Youth Brass Band Championships last April.

Many thanks to the Co-op for their generous support.

Webmaster

14th June

Youth Band perform with Black Dyke

Yesterday (13th) saw the Youth Band up early to travel to Leeds Town Hall at the invite of David Thornton (Principal Euphonium of Black Dyke Band and Musical Associate of Lions Youth Brass). The event was part of the Black Dyke Band's annual festival and featured several spectacular concerts.

David Thornton was not the only familiar face in the Black Dyke Band yesterday; former Lions Youth Brass player Katie Raisbeck was playing Baritone for Black Dyke, a message to any LYB member that hard work can take you right to the top!

Further pictures have been added to the Photo Gallery

Webmaster

14th June

Tour venues announced

This years annual tour will be to the Costa Blanca, South East Spain for a third consecutive year. Concerts have now been arranged as follows:

17 July Albir Beach 20.30
18 July Denia Theatre (c/Calderon, 4) 21.00
19 July Amphitheatre, Benidorm 21.30
20 July alongside Castle Moraira 20.00
21 July Amphitheatre, Calpe 20.30
22 July Lady Elizabeth School, Lliber 12.30
22 July Church Square, Jalon 20.30

A poster for this years tour concerts can be downloaded here. And all details (as they become available) will be posted on the Tour 2010 page.

Webmaster

7th June

200 players set for Celebration 2010

The event is being hosted by the Lions Youth Brass in partnership with Cheshire East Music Service and will take place on Tuesday 6th July at Sandbach (Boys) School, Crewe Road, Sandbach beginning at 7pm. Entry to this event is free of charge.

Five local primary schools have received brass tuition through the ‘Wider Opportunities’ scheme which involves an entire class learning to play together. Peover Superior, Wheelock, Elworth Hall, Offley and Sandbach Community Primary schools will all perform a selection of their hard work from this academic year.

Also performing will be the award winning Lions Youth Brass who recently gained a Gold Certificate at the National Youth Brass Band Championships. They will be joined at this event by their two feeder bands; Lions Junior Brass and Lions Beginner Brass.

All participants will then join forces for a grand finale!

With around 200 young brass players performing and free entry it is certain to be a spectacular evening.

Full details are available at http://www.lionsyouthbrass.co.uk

Ian Raisbeck (Event Co-ordinator)

7th June

21st Birthday Reunion

Lions Youth Brass have announced plans for a 21st Birthday Reunion concert in July 2011

The event will be along the same lines as the 15th Birthday Reunion we celebrated in 2004. The event will feature all 3 of the current Lions Bands, a special Reunion band made up of past members and a guest soloist from a leading UK Brass Band. All past members are invited to take part in the reunion band. Please send an email to n-birch1@sky.com if you are interested.

Webmaster

7th June

Duck Race Success!

Yesterday afternoons Duck Race at Macon Meadows was a real success raising a grand total of £574

Ducks Sold = £527
Raffle = £42
Tombola = £65

First Prize went to Matthew Darlington winning £30 and a bottle
Second Prize went to Katie Raisbeck winning £20 and a bottle
Third Prize went to Brian Mottershaw, Jessica Barnes sold the ticket and he won £10 and a bottle
Next to last duck home was Anne Garnham, Laura Baty’s Mum
And the last duck over the lane was Debbie Preston, Rebecca’s Mum; both winning prizes

A special thank you to Mr. Stafford for organising the ducks. Well done to Ellie Baker and Sam Boylan both selling 20 ducks each and Chris Parker who sold 26 ducks. Also Thank you to Charlotte, Morgan & Franczeka for running the tombola and Matthew Darlington for fishing the ducks out at the finishing post (and after his wining Duck has crossed over the line, for those who were wondering!)

Thanks

Lions Youth Brass Committee

6th May

Beginner Band Update

The Lions Beginner Band would like to pass on their congratulations to three of its members who have all acheived promotion to the Junior Band. Principal cornet Jack, second man down Peter, and trombonist Emma all impressed Ian sufficiently during training band rehearsals to earn themselves a permanent move. Ian assures us the transfer fee is in the post... we've heard that before! Well done to all three of you - you've all been excellent members of the Beginners and you will all be missed - we hope you'll pop back and say hello some time!

It's not all goodbyes though as we have four new faces in the band. Tess, Anne, James and Ashleigh have all joined the band since the Nationals. We'd like to say a big hello to them and hope they have an enjoyable and succesful time with us. All four children have fitted in extremely well and they all have big smiles on their face - a big smile is an essential peice of equipment in the Beginners.

Finally, in a move that is designed to push the band to their limits, the music the band will be playing has gone extensive change. All the recent concert favourites have gone and now we have a folder of music packed with varied music - including the ever popular Pop Rock. The band are also looking forward to a new suite being written exclusively for them by Lions Composer in Residence Ian Raisbeck. The suite is all about colours, so stay tuned for further information about both the details of it and also for when we will be performing it in concerts!

Chris Thompson (Musical Director, Lions Beginner Brass)

19th April

Nationals Results

Yesterday the big day finally arrived! It was a very early start for the Youth Band who were drawn 2nd out of 15 bands. Their performance of 'Adventures in Brass' by Ray Farr and 'Dreamcatchers' by Paul Lovatt-Cooper was judged to have reached the highest standard possible and therefore given a Gold Award. Unfortunately this time they were not placed in the top three but should be very pleased with their hard work which is appreciated in some very positive remarks from adjudicators Malcolm Brownbill and Dr. Peter Meechan.

Following the Youth Band's performance the players assembled in the RNCM Concert hall to support the Junior and Beginners joint effort in the Training Band section. Cheered on by their colleagues and in a packed hall the band performed brilliantly in a performance that was full of energy and enjoyment for all involved. As with the Youth Band very positive comments were awarded from judges Mark Peacock and Simone Rebello but unfortunately the result was not in their favour again.

Despite the results all players returned home pleased with their performances and many parents were very proud to have witnessed the culmination of much hard work.

A Diary of the training bands day has been added to the Reviews page.

Congratulations to the winning bands, full results were as follows:

Training Section
RNCM Concert Hall
Start: 9.25am

15 minutes own choice playing time
Adjudicators: Simone Rebello and Mark Peacock

1. Coleshill Youth Brass (Stephen Fagg)

Coleshill were awarded the 'Band of the Day' Prize. No Gold, Silver or Bronze awards are made in this section.

Other competitors:

Lions Junior/Beginners (Ian Raisbeck)
Warren Wood Primary School (Peter Christian)
Macclesfield Youth Training (Liz Hudson)
Stockport Schools Junior (Rachel Pavey)
Bolton Intermediate Brass (Toby Hobson)
Poynton Youth Junior (Joyce Hall)

Withdrew: Enderby Junior Band (Sam McClumpha)

Intermediate Section
RNCM Theatre
Start: 9.15am

'Adventures in Brass' and Own Choice programme

20 minutes playing time
Adjudicators: Malcolm Brownbill and Dr Peter Meechan

1. Elland Silver Youth (Samantha Harrison) - Gold Certificate
2. Rochdale Borough Youth (Eric Landon) - Gold Certificate
3. Wardle High School (Lee Rigg) - Gold Certificate

Band with Most Potential: Egglescliffe School

Other competitors

Lions Youth Brass (Nigel Birch) - Gold Certificate
Poynton Youth (Andy Hirst) - Gold Certificate

Enderby Youth (Trevor Hounsome) - Silver Certificate
Macclesfield Youth (Louise Renshaw) - Silver Certificate
Tewit Youth (Craig Ratcliffe) - Silver Certificate

Egglescliffe School (Matthew Haworth) - Bronze Certificate
Great Western Youth (Paul Collis-Smith) - Bronze Certificate
Lydbrook Youth (Robert Morgan) - Bronze Certificate
Worcestershire Youth Brass (Nicky Daw) - Bronze Certificate

Cumnock Academy Brass (Craig Anderson) - Merit Certificate
Fred Longworth High School (Helen Robinson) - Merit Certificate
M.K. Youth Brass (David Rose) - Merit Certificate

Best Instrumentalist: Philip Varley (cornet) - Elland Silver Youth

Results courtesy of 4barsrest.com

A video of the Training Band performance can now be viewed on the Videos page.

Webmaster

16th April

Final Preparations for Nationals

All three bands are now nearing the end of their preparations for this Sunday's National Youth Brass Band Championships in Manchester.

The Youth Band recently benefited from guest conductor Garry Cutt (Professional Conductor of Fodens Band) who shared his expertise with the band on Tuesday. Meanwhile the Junior and Beginner Bands (who are performing together this Sunday) enjoyed another very productive workshop last Sunday morning and will soon be decked out in brand new uniforms made specially for the occasion.

This Sunday will certainly be a momentous day for all of our members.

Webmaster

16th April

Exam Success

Several members have recently passed ABRSM Music exams on their instruments. Congratulations to:

Sarah Edwards - Grade 8 Baritone
Michael Davies - Grade 5 Cornet
Morgan Smedley - Grade 5 Cornet
Matthew Thomas - Grade 5 Tenor Horn
Oliver Smedley - Grade 4 Tenor Horn

If you can add to this list please email us at lionsyouthbrass@yahoo.co.uk

Webmaster

7th April

Neil wins Principal seat

Congratulations go to Youth Band member Neil Raisbeck who has been appointed Principal Tenor Horn of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain for their Easter course. This is a great honour for Neil and Lions Youth Brass wish him all the best in this prestigious role. Neil is joined on the course by fellow LYB member Timothy Bartley.

If you know of any achievements by LYB players please email them to lionsyouthbrass@yahoo.co.uk.

Webmaster

3rd April

Nationals Details announced

The details for this year's at the Royal Northern College of Music on Sunday 18th April have been announced on 4barsrest.com and summarized below;.

The BFBB is delighted to announce that for the fourth year in a row, The Co-operative will sponsor the event, which starts just after 9am and will be completed by 8.30pm.

This year will see forty bands competing from around the UK with a number of debutants on show although winners from last year, Carnoustie and District Youth and Camborne Youth will not be in attendance.

As is the norm at the event, all sections will have open adjudication and the judges have also been announced. Major Peter Parkes and Sheona White will judge the Premier Section whilst for the first time at the event, Dr Peter Meechan and Mark Peacock will precide over the proceedings. Derek Broadbent, Malcolm Brownbill, Simone Rebello and Mark Wilkinson are the remaining adjudicators who will be in attendance.

Tickets are  Adults £8, 16 and under £4, 11 and under £2.

The two sections, which Lions will be playing in, are;

23rd March

Lions players in the prizes

Last Saturday (20th March) several Lions players took part in the annual Newcastle-Under-Lyme music festival. This year Lions did not enter any of the bands but several individuals took it upon themselves to enter solo and duet classes.

Congratulations to Catherine Flanders who came 2nd in the 15 and under brass category and joint 3rd in the 12 and under any instrument category. In addition to this Catherine was also awarded the Lions Youth Brass Trophy for the 'Most Promising Brass Player at the Festival' which means this trophy has now been awarded to a Lions Youth Brass member 6 times in the last 8 years!

Congratulations also go to Wilson Taylor who won the under 18 brass category; Wilson also won the duet class playing along side tutor Tom Hancock and in the same duet category Junior Band members Sophie Barwick and Ruth Rhodes came 3rd, a fantastic achievement.

If you know of any achievements by LYB players please email them to lionsyouthbrass@yahoo.co.uk.

Webmaster

11th March

Lions Players set for North West area

Sunday will see no fewer than 9 current Lions Youth Brass players and 20 past members competing for various bands in the Championship section at the North West Regional Qualifying event for the National Finals. This statistic is even more impressive when you consider that there are only 12 bands in the championship section!

This is a clear sign that many players who leave Lions aged 18/19 are inspired to continue their playing at the very highest level of UK banding. Best of luck to all involved in this section and the many more competing in sections 1-4 on the same day.

Webmaster

3rd March

AGM next week

Next Tuesday evening the Annual General Meeting of Lions Youth Brass will take place at 7pm at Sandbach Boys School. This is an open meeting during which reports will be read from representatives of all 3 bands, treasurer and chairperson and the committee will be agreed on for the next 12 months.

All reports have been emailed to everybody on the distriution list and are now available on the Downloads page of this website.

Webmaster

7th February

Training Band Workshop Success

Today the Junior and Beginner bands have taken part in a very successful workshop in preparation for their performance at the National Youth Brass Championships in April. Guest conductor for the day was James Cunningham who inspired the band members with his energy and enthusiasm and produced fantastic progress in just a couple of hours of rehearsal time.

Many thanks to James, all of the Tutors/Conductors who were on hand to help out and the Committee for running such a good event.

Webmaster

25th January

Sponsored Blow

All three of the bands will be taking part in a sponsored Blow on 16th February to raise funds for the band. For those who have not participated in a sponsored blow before the aim is to play successive items of music between the times stated.

For the Junior Band and Beginner Band the money raised will go towards a uniform for the Nationals. For the Youth Band the money raised by members will be deducted from the balance they need to pay for tour. However, you cannot claim any money back for tour if for any reason you do not attend on the night of the event.

Sponsor forms must be presented on the night for endorsement. We appreciate this is half term, therefore if anyone is unable to attend the event can you please let your respective musical director know as soon as possible

Please find a sponsor form in the Downloads section.

Lions Youth Brass Committee

25th January

Lions Runners Up at Butlins

The Youth Band travelled to the Butlins holiday resort at Skegness yesterday to take part in the 2010 Butlins Mineworkers Championship. After several weeks of hard work they put in an outstanding performance only just missing out on top spot to the highly talented 'Youth Brass 2000'.

The programme consisted of 'Processional', 'La Belle Americaine' (soloist Alex Holsgrove was on top form), 'Blaze Away', Welsh Hymn' and 'Adventures in Brass' which will be the test piece for the forthcoming National Youth Brass Band Championships in April.

This was the first time Lions had ever entered a band a Butlins and thanks must go to Les Neish, Katie Raisbeck, Chris Thompson, Andrew Felton and Matthew Darlington who assisted on the day and Mike Fowles, David Thornton and tutors from Black Dyke who assisted in the preparations for the performance.

Pictures are now online in the 2010 section of the Gallery

Full results were:

Youth Section:

Venue: Reds, Butlins Skyline Resort
Date: Sunday, 24th January
Draw: Pre-drawn
Commence: c13.00hrs
Programme of Music not to exceed 20 minutes but must include a march and a hymn tune
Adjudicators: Major Peter Parkes and Kevin Wadsworth

1. Youth Brass 2000, Chris Jeans
2. Lions Youth Brass, Nigel Birch
3. Enderby Youth, Trevor Hounsome
4. Shirland Miners Welfare, Andrew Dennis

Unplaced:

Coleshill Town Youth, Stephen Fagg, 4
Gresley Colliery Youth, Peter Hylton, 5

Webmaster

2nd January

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from all at LYB. An exciting year beckons with a Competition for the Youth Band at the end of January kicking everything off and the Beginners and Junior working together towards their first ever performances at the National Youth Brass Band Championships.

Keep an eye on this website for all of the news, results, pictures etc. any suggestions / contributions are welcome by email to lionsyouthbrass@yahoo.co.uk

Webmaster

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