30th December

Christmas Busking Results

Thank you to all band members, parents & Grandparents who helped with the busking and bag packing over Christmas.

We raised;

26-11-09 - Nantwich - £146.00
5-12-09 - Rode Hall - £308.91
12-12-09 - Juniors at Congleton - £312.90
19-12-09 - Mark’s & Spencer - £751.54
20-12-09 - Waitrose - £796.70
22-12-09 - Sainsbury’s - £605.10
24-12-09 - Waitrose - £1482.90

Which means together with all the various concerts we can pay into band funds a total of £1504.60 and into Tour money £3269.51. Also everyone who played at Marks will have £5 per hour deducted from their tour payment. Well done everyone for your hard work.

We have also kept a total of the number of hours everyone has worked so that later if tour funds allow we will deduct amounts on a prorate basis.

Lions Youth Brass Committee

24th December

Merry Christmas from all at LYB!

The last Christmas Busking has now finished, stay tuned for results of donations which will be crucial in keeping all 3 bands going over the next 12 months.

Also stay tuned for reviews of 2009, and throughout 2010 another busy year of rehearsals, concerts, competitions and tours, Happy New Year!

And finally, as a christmas treat, an exclusive behind the scenes video of what happened when the Beginner Band tutors got together for a Christmas Party! (this video will expire on 15/1/2010)

17th December

Junior Busking Success

Last Saturday (12th) the Junior Band embarked upon a 3 hour Busking session in Congleton in order to raise funds for the coming year.

Assisted by some Youth Band players, with parent collectors the day was a big success raising a total of £312!

Many thanks for all that played. The Junior's can now relax and look forward to their joint project with the beginners next term which will culminate in a performance at the National Youth Brass Band Championships.

Ian Raisbeck (Musical Director, Lions Junior Brass)

29th November

Junior Band busy in Christmas build up

The Junior Band have started the Christmas period off by performing for 2 different town's Christmas lights celebrations. Friday (27th) saw us perform in the main street in Congleton to a very large crowd who appreciated our Christmas music building to the big switch on, complete with fireworks. The next morning the Junior Band were up early to begin the celebrations in Sandbach Town Centre at 11am, during our half hour slot the band drew quite a crowd again. A couple more pictures of this event are now on the Gallery

Next up for the Junior Band is the Christmas Concert on 8th December, which I hope will be filled with lots of festive fun for the band and audience

Ian Raisbeck (Musical Director, Lions Junior Brass)

26th November

Beginner's Hard at Work

The Lions Beginner Band are hard at work on their chosen programme for the Christmas concert. Since Hayley, Andrew and Chris have taken over they have always looked to carry on the band's long held tradition of doing 'something a little bit different' at Christmas time, and this year is no different. Audience members can rest assured that this year they will not be asked to sing-a-long with the band... as much as previous years. On top of that, without wishing to give too much away, you might find yourself going further a field than Sandbach throughout the duration of our spots. The concert gives the band a great chance to show how hard they have been working recently and show that despite the recent loss of several players to the Junior Band things are looking very rosy for 2010! We look forward to seeing you on the eighth!

Chris Thompson (Musical Director, Lions Beginner Brass)

19th November

Neish to assist Tuba drive

Lions Youth Brass has announced the appointment of star performer Les Neish as their tuba tutor and consultant.

Over the past 12 months the band has struggled to recruit tuba players so we see it as a positive initiative, and with Les's reputation as a performer and tutor we are positive this will attract budding tuba players to Lions.

As well as Les, we also have David Thornton as our Musical Associate, and along with the countries very best bands we hope this will help the organisation sustain its current level of performance and development.

Meanwhile, the band is looking forward to Butlins and National contests as well as taking part in The Black Dyke Arts Festival and a tour of Spain in 2010.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

10th November

Recording suggestions please

Following the tour to Spain in the summer the youth band will be making a recording with Doyen recordings, although at the moment we are able to get a grant to cover the majority of the costs.

If any one has a request or suggestion for music for the recording then please mail me. Details on Contact page

The three criteria for choice of music is that it must something that we could play on tour, as we will be able to play and rehearse the music in Spain , secondly it must be something that we could play to a very good standard, and thirdly it doesn't take weeks and weeks of practice!

I know that this seems along time away but these things soon come around very quickly.

Also we will need a photograph for the front and also a title, so any thoughts and suggestions will be welcome.

Thanks

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

10th November

Lions and Fodens team up for spectacular concert

Last friday the Youth Band performed a concert at Congleton Town Hall alongside the world famous Fodens Band. The concert featured Lions in the first half and Fodens in the second half as well as several massed items.

A full review is now available on the Reviews page and several photo's are now up on the 2009 Gallery.

Special mention must go to Tim Bartley who not only played with Lions but was asked at very short notice to play with Fodens in the second half as one of their bass players had not made it to the concert.

Webmaster

6th October

Feedback Requested

We would like to thank all those who took part in yesterdays slow melody contest and last night’s concert. Well done to all those who took part, especially those who had entered a contest for the very first time, you all did a great performance. We would also like to thank all the committee, parents and musical directors who all helped throughout the day.

We would appreciate any feedback on the event, and in particular the format used in the concert last night of having all three bands on stage at the same time. The aim was to make the beginner and junior band feel better incorporated into the overall organisation, and to give them the experience of playing longer on a bigger stage. Was this as success? Should we do this again? we would welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

On Tuesday night can Junior Band member please arrive 10 minutes earlier in order to try your new waste coat uniform. This does not apply to those junior band members who are in the process of moving to the youth band. Please also note that the practise this week will run until 08.30.

Finally, Brian Stubbs would like to thank everyone who contributed to his birthday present. Last Tuesday we presented Brian him with a voucher for a hot air balloon flight, which he plans to use next spring.

Kind regards

Lions Youth Brass Committee

6th October

Brian's Birthday

Last Tuesday, Brian Stubbs (long time committee member, supporter and instrument manager) was presented with a voucher for a hot air balloon ride, cards and cake during the rehearsal to mark his 60th Birthday. Rehearsals for all three bands were halted to mark this special occasion for Brian who has been a key member of the Lions team for many years now.

Thanks to all who donated money towards the gift

Congratulations Brian!

Webmaster

4th October

Another Successful Slow Melody

Yesterday (3rd) saw a very long but extremely successful day of competition and concert play out for members of all three bands. Beginning at 10am the slow melody contest featured members of all ages and abilities all of whom did themselves proud. Adjudicator Roy Sparkes awarded the following prizes:

Section 1 (8 years and under)
1. Rosie Darracott-Gray
2. Monica Capewell
3. Leanne Smith and Cerys Smedley

Section 2 (9 and 10 years beginner band)
1. Sophie Barwick
2. Ruth Rhodes
3. Christopher Parker and Isabel Capewell

Section 3 (9 and 10 years junior band)
1. Catherine Flanders
2. Joe Cawley
3. Ewan Kerry and Cameron Brooks

Section 4 (11 and 12 years)
1. Jack Gresty
2. Harry Mace
3. Edwin Morris

Section 5 (13 and 14 years)
1. Wilson Taylor
2. Michael Davies
3. Ellie Baker and Morgan Smedley

Section 6 (15 and 16 years)
1. Michael Potts
2. Amy Ball
3. Abbie Edwards and Laura Baty

Section 7 (17 years and over)
1. Alex Holsgrove
2. Sarah Edwards
3. Charles Gorse and Mark Baty

Section 10 (Open Duet)
1. Catherine Flanders and Catherine Metcalf
2. Sophie Barwick and Ruth Rhodes

Section 1 - 3 playoff
1. Catherine Flanders

Section 4 - 7 playoff
1. Alex Holsgrove

The evening concert featured all three bands performing as well as presentations to prize winners from the competition and also for annual awards given by each of the Musical Directors. These awards went to:

Beginner Band

Most Improved Player: Sophie Barwick
Showing Promise: Franczeska Birch, Rosie Darracot- Gray, Monica Capewell

Junior Band

Bandsperson of the Year: Gavin Finch
Most Improved Player: Rebecca Preston
Showing Promise: Rhys Kerry, James Walker, Charlotte Birch

Youth Band

Most Improved Players: Ellie Baker, Michael Davies
Showing Promise: Morgan Smedley, Emma Ashcroft, Harry Mace

After all of this, the grand finale featured all three bands playing together in a new arrangement of 'Is This The Way To Amarillo'. More pictures are available in the Gallery section.

Webmaster

1st October

Is Anyone up for a Challenge?

Lions Youth Brass urgently requires Tuba players

Anyone who is interested in playing a brass tuba would receive free tuition paid for by the band with a top class tutor and then fast tracked through to the Youth Band

We have instruments available at no cost.

Then you can take part in great concerts, competitions, recordings and tours.

Anyone interested should contact;

Nigel Birch, 01270 509573, n-birch1@sky.com
Ian Raisbeck, 07734 918701. mail@ianraisbeck.co.uk
Jane Stubbs, 01270 760636. jane.stubbs@talktalk.net

Normally it takes a number of months or sometimes years to get into the youth band, if you take up the challenge of playing the tuba you could be playing with them within weeks.

Lions Youth Brass Committee

1st October

Slow Melody day this Saturday

This Saturday (3rd October) the annual Lions Youth Brass Slow Melody Contest and evening Concert will take place. After weeks of planning all of the entries are in and the competition gets underway at 10am for the 8 years and under category progressing through to a new play-off section at the end for winners of various sections.

It promises to be a good day which will be topped off by an evening concert featuring all three bands. Awards from the competition will also be presented as well as annual awards. The concert starts at 7pm (not 7:30 as advertised) and will feature a new format which sees all three bands performing in both halves and performing together at the end in a special arrangement made for the occasion.

Tickets are £3 on the door (children free) and everybody is welcome

Webmaster

17th September

All Three Bands off the mark

It has already been an eventful start to the new term for all 3 of our bands. After just a couple of rehearsals we performed together at Tatton Park as background music for Cheshire East Council's Children's Achievement Awards, it was a great honour to be the only musical organisation in the county asked to perform and will hopefully result in further opportunities to collaborate with the council. This was followed by another concert featuring all bands at Audlem Primary School; this was another event in our series of local school concerts which are aimed at spreading the reputation of the Lions Youth Brass and promoting it to potential new recruits throughout south Cheshire.

After such a busy start all three bands are now rehearsing for the Slow Melody Contest and Concert on 3rd October, this is a big night for the organisation as various awards for the year are presented during the evening concert.

In other news; the Youth Band have added two new events to there busy diary, the first is a joint concert with the famous Fodens Band. Fodens are the 2008 British Open Champions and one of the most famous names in the Brass Band world, they also happen to be from Sandbach. The concert will take place at Congleton Town Hall with our Youth Band performing during the first half before Fodens take the stage for the second half. The second important event is that Youth Band will travel to Butlins in Skegness this January to compete in the Mineworkers Brass Band Competition. This is a prestigious contest and the Youth Band will be aiming to get a good result against some of the countries top youth bands.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

1st September

New Term Starts Tonight

Tonight is the first rehearsal night after the summer break for all 3 Bands and a chance to catch up with friends before starting the hard work again in preparation for another year of concerts, competitions, workshops, masterclasses and social events.

Many members attended a workshop event last Sunday (30th) to kick start the year; this was a big success with the Beginner and Junior Band's performing a short concert for parents at the end.

During the summer there have been a couple of new additions to the teaching staff at LYB; Ian Raisbeck has now taken over as the Musical Director of the Junior Band after sharing the role with his sister Sarah for the last half term while she relocated to the North East. Matthew Darlington has also joined the Beginner Band team as a tutor; Matthew is another former player (up until recently he was Principal Cornet of the Youth Band) and is now keen to pass on the skills he has learned during his time playing.

There is a busier start to the year than normal for all 3 bands this year as we will perform together at Tatton Park on Sunday 13th September as well as at Audlem School on Tuesday 15th September. Then the annual Slow Melody Contest and Concert will take place on October 3rd.

With an exciting year ahead the hard work starts tonight in rehearsals.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

1st September

LYB to play alongside Black Dyke

I am absolutely delighted to announce that Lions Youth Brass have been invited to perform with The Black Dyke Band at The Black Dyke Arts Festival.

A number of LYB members and parents attended the event last year and had a great time, and this year our Youth Band will be part of it. It takes place on the 13th June 2010, more details will be announced nearer the time.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

10th August

Success for LYB members

The latest terms Music exams are now out and several LYB members have been successful; they are:

Sophie Barwick Beginner Band Grade 1 Cornet
Edwin Morris Junior Band Grade 3 Euphonium
Ellie Baker Youth Band Grade 5 Theory
Michael Potts Youth Band Grade 5 Euphonium
Charlotte Birch Junior Band Grade 3 Vocal
Alex Flanders Youth Band Grade 8 Cornet
Dale Peters Junior Band Grade 5 Trumpet
Tim Hagan Junior Band Grade 1 Cornet

In addition to this; Neil Raisbeck and Timothy Bartley recently took part in the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain's summer course, and Alex Flanders recently took part in the National Children's Band of Great Britain's summer course

Congratulations to them all, if you (or somebody you know) has a musical achievement please email us at lionsyouthbrass@yahoo.co.uk

Lions Youth Brass Committee

10th August

Slow Melody details announced

The details of the 2009 Lions Youth Brass Slow Melody Contest have been announced. The event will take place on Saturday 3rd October and will be open to all Lions Youth Brass members and locally invited schools. The Brass Band 'Slow Melody Contest' is a tradition which has been upheld for many years and promotes the qualities associated with the finest Brass Bands, mainly the ability to play a 'slow melody' with exceptional tone quality and musicality.

These events still take place throughout the country and Lions now have their own event to continue this tradition. This years adjudicators will be the Percussion virtuoso Simone Ribello and a Roy Sparkes, formerly a Tuba player with Fodens. The competition will be split into 10 categories depending on age and standard, this is to give every competitor the chance to play against players of a similar standard.

Full details, including rules are available on the Downloads page.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster)

26th July

Youth Band return from successful tour

Last night (25th) the traditional 'end of tour' concert took place at Sandbach Girls School to mark the end of a week which saw the Youth Band tour the Costa Blanca region of Spain for the 2nd consecutive year.

The Tour has been a great success with some fantastic concerts as well as many social activities taking place throughout the week.

Lots more news / stories / tour diaries / pictures will be added to the Tours section over the coming weeks.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

15th July

Term ends with Concert for all three Bands

Last night all three Bands met at Sandbach Boys School for their final Tuesday night until September. A concert was held to celebrate the year and awards were given for long service and special achievement.

The Beginners Band opened the Concert and displayed to everybody the hard work they have put in this year and progress that every member has made. They were followed by the Junior Band who were conducted by Sarah Raisbeck for the last time.

Sarah is leaving Lions after several years as a player and then conductor of the Junior Band. She will be taking up her first classroom teaching post at a primary school in the North East after completing her primary teaching degree a few weeks ago. She will be missed by all of the members of the Junior Band and by Lions as a whole but everybody wishes her good luck and hopes to see her soon.

After the interval the Youth Band took to the stage and previewed many of the pieces that they will be performing in Spain next week. Many new pieces were played for the first time and several soloists played their solo's for the first time.

At various point in the concert awards were given to members of the organisation that have given 5 or 7 years as a player. Presentations were also made to the two Band Representatives for their work with the Committee.

A special award was made to Wesley Ashbrook for his vast improvement over the year and for the first time the 'Bandsman of the Year' award was shared between two people; Alistair Miles and Danielle Unwin. Congratulations to all.

More pictures of the event can be found in the Gallery

Rehearsals will begin on 1st September but a workshop is being planned for the final weekend in August to kick start the year; in the mean time, keep watching this space for all of the news about the tour.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

3rd July

Junior Band to play on New Cobbles

It has been announced that on Saturday 11th July the Junior Band have been invited to perform on the brand new Sandbach Cobbles as part of the grand re-opening celebrations.

The council have spent over £30,000 rejuvinating the famous Sandbach landmark and will celebrate the re-opening with performances from local community organisations throughout the day.

The Junior Band will perform between 2:15pm and 2:45pm.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

25th June

Beginner Band in action

The Beginner Band has been hard at work recently and a concert at Macclesfield band stand on the 21st on June saw the band given the perfect chance to show off the dividends this hard work has reaped.

Starting with 'I Like Fish and Chips' the programme then saw the exceptionally talented front row section play 'Lightly Row.' Andrew took charge for the descriptive 'Totem Pole' and then the band ripped through the circus style march 'The Big Top.' Once again the front row shone in the round 'Frere Jacques' before Hayley conducted the final item of the bands spot 'The Haunted House.' This went down well with the large audience, no doubt due to the atmospheric sound effects and screaming included!

The event was a huge success and a big thank you is owed to Macclesfield Youth Band for organising what was a lovely afternoon out. We hope we will be able to return next year!

Pictures have been added to the 2009 Gallery, see the Gallery section

Chris Thompson (Musical Director, Lions Beginner Brass)

12th June

Changes for Junior Band

Lions Youth Brass would like to announce that Sarah Raisbeck will be leaving her post of Musical Director of their Junior Band in July, due to taking up a teaching post in Durham. Sarah has been with the organisation for a long time, including playing Principal Cornet for the Youth Band. All at Lions wish to thank Sarah for her total commitment to the organisation, and wish her the best of luck for the future.

Sarah’s replacement is her brother, Ian, also a former Lions Principal Cornet, who has spent four years at The Birmingham Conservatoire and is now a peripatetic Brass Teacher. He is also the bands composer in residence, and along with his wife Katie has just joined The Fairey Band.

Speaking on behalf of the band, Nigel Birch says; We are very pleased to appoint Ian as Musical Director of our Junior Band, and we are all looking forward to Ian developing the band, and we are very sure Ian will be able to take the band forward and continue to produce quality players who can go on to the youth band. Also as our composer in residence he will be able to write music suitable for the standard of the junior band.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

18th May

Youth Band busy performing around the area

The Youth Band have recently been very busy performing a number of concerts in Bidulph, Nantwich and Sandbach over the last two weekends. Thanks must go to Kevin Birch (Brother of usual conductor Nigel) for assisting us during some of these concerts while Nigel has been unavailable.

During the Sandbach concert Lions Youth Brass received a cheque for £400 from the local Lions Club towards Band funds.

Lions Youth Brass Committee

19th April

Success for LYB members

As the Easter Holidays come to and end and the Bands are beginning to focus on the preparing for a busy summer term it is worth just celebrating some recent success for individual members of the Band.

Associated Board Music exams are useful stepping stones that most young players (of every kind kind of instrument possible) take. The exams are graded 1 - 8 in difficulty with grade 1 being relatively beginner and grade 8 being almost professional level of performance.

Congratulations to Laura Baty, Jordan Edge and Rebecca Murphy from the Junior Brass, and Cerys Finch and Ashley Taylor from the Lions Youth Brass on passing their Associated Board practical examinations. Laura received a pass at grade four, Jordan a distinction at grade 3, Rebecca a merit at grade 2, Cerys a pass at grade 5, and Ashley a merit at grade 5.

Two more members to mention; Neil Raisbeck and Timothy Bartley recently spent a week in Harrogate as members of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, a review of their concert can be found at http://www.4barsrest.com/reviews/concerts/con556.asp

Well done to all of you, because you worked very hard to achieve these results.

If you know of a LYB member (in any of the three bands) who has an achievement to mention here then please feel free to email it to us at lionsyouthbrass@yahoo.co.uk

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass) / Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

6th April

3rd place at National Championships

The Youth Band performed brilliantly yesterday to claim yet another podium finish at the National Youth Brass Band Championships in Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music.

In a tough field of 15 bands Lions produced an exciting and innovative programme which featured two outstanding solo performances from Neil Raisbeck and Alex Holsgrove. But the strength Lions have over other youth bands is their strength in depth, a good balance throughout the band.

The full results were:

1. Gloucestershire Youth (Ian Porthouse) Gold
2. Smithills School, (Chris Wormald) Gold
3. Lions Youth (Nigel Birch) Silver

Elland Youth (Samantha Harrison) Silver
Poynton Youth (Andy Hirst) Silver
Wardle High School (Lee Rigg) Silver
Worcestershire Youth Band (Nicky Daw) Silver
Dobcross Youth (Brian Lamb) Bronze
Enderby Youth (Trevor Hounsome) Bronze
Fred Longworth Youth Band (Helen Robinson) Bronze
Oldham Music Centre (Martyn Evans) Bronze
Chalford Youth (Steve Tubb) Merit
Horbury Victoria (Tom Greaterox) Merit
Macclesfield Youth (Louise Renshaw) Merit
Tewitt Youth (Craig Ratcliffe) Merit

Best Instrumentalist: Philip Varley, Principal Cornet, Elland Youth

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

3rd April

Youth Band set for National Championships

The Lions Youth Brass have been busy rehearsing hard for their annual trip to Manchester this Sunday (5th April) to compete in the National Youth Championships.

The Programme is:

Roar by Andy Scott
Andy Scott lives in Sandbach and is a professional Saxophone player. He is a tutor at The Royal Northern College Of Music in Manchester, and is also the composer in residence for The Fodens Band.
Roar is something very different and has taken the band a little time to get used to. It has some interesting chord structures, and lots of detail to achieve, both rhythmically and dynamically.As we have become more comfortable with this piece it is becoming evident what a fine composition it is, although a little different.
This piece has been commissioned by Lions Youth Brass for The 2009 National Championships.

Fantasia On A British March by Ian Raisbeck
Ian is currently working as a peripatetic brass tutor in a number of local schools, playing assistant principal cornet for the Wingates Band, and continues to be the band's composer in residence.
His latest composition is a tenor horn solo for his brother Neil. Many of you will remember The Caprice which Ian wrote. Like Caprice Ian has set Neil some very stern tests in this composition and pushes the boundaries even further. The solo is based around the well known march, The British Grenadiers. The main melody appears in a couple of different styles and then the solo develops into some very tricky variations. The solo is idealy suited for this type of competition, and gives Neil an opportunity to show of his considerable talents.
Like the first piece this solo has been commissioned by Lions Youth Brass for The 2009 National Championships.

The Pioneers by Phillip Sparke
Phillip Sparke is a major composer within the brass band movement, having written test-pieces for The Championship Section National Finals. The Pioneers was commissioned by The National Children's Band Of Great Britain on its formation in 2004.
It is a typical Phillip Sparke piece with lots of rhythmic and dynamic detail to achieve, but must be kept under control with sensible speeds for the music and not over playing the dynamics. My only criticism of the piece is that has no slow section and not too many solo lines for the band's excellent soloists to shine. When the piece was announced as the test piece a lot of people said it was too easy, but i have never come across an easy test piece and there are plenty of tests for all bands in our contest to overcome.

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes from The Musical Cinderella by Walt Disney.
This is another part of the program where i have tried to come up with a fresh idea in order for the program to have some originality.
This will be an unaccompanied short piece for Alex Holsgrove. As far as i am aware this has never been done before at this competition, and is again a test for Alex. However,as you all know Alex is superb player of slow melodies and i have written this in a range which really suits him.
At the conclusion of this piece i am working with Mark Thomas on a link to the final piece, which may involve some clapping from the band, but I've been holding this back from the band so that it is again fresh for the performance.

Music by John Miles
The final piece is the last two sections from Music by John Miles. This is a fantastic arrangement by Derek Broadbent, and i would have liked to play all of the piece, but due to time restrictions, i can only play these two movements. However, you will get to hear the full piece on the concerts leading up to Spain.

This is a very demanding program for the band, but a program that has a lot of individuality. Certainly with the with Roar and the two solos, no other band's will replicate what we are trying to perform.

The Youth Band will be hosting an open run through at the end of their rehearsal this evening (Friday 3rd April) and 8:30pm. This will take place at the Maxwell Davies Centre in Sandbach Boys School.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

9th February

Annual General Meeting

Tomorrow evening (10th) will be the Lions Youth Brass Annual General Meeting.

Everybody is welcome to attend and put themselves forward to join the committee if they wish. Annual reports from Chairperson Musical Director and Treasurer are available below or from the downloads page.

Musical Directors report - Chairman's report - Treasurers report - Financial Breakdown

Lions Youth Brass Committee

2nd February

Youth and Juniors in action over the Weekend

On Saturday (31st) the Youth Band travelled to Gwent to defend the title they won last year. Unfortunately they finished in 2nd place this year behind Abergavenny Borough Youth Band but can be very proud of the hard work they have put into performing another very entertaining programme.

Lions performed a programme consisting of:

Show The Way To Go Home
Valero
A Time For Peace, soloist Neil Raisbeck
The Glenn Miller Special
The Bare Necessities, soloist Timothy Bartley
Can Can

Results were as follows:

Section 1 (9 bands)
1. Abergavenny Borough Youth - G. Ritter
2. Lions Youth - N. Birch
3. Usk Youth - J. Jones
4. Flowers Youth - T. Davoren

The following day saw our Junior Band hold a workshop in preparation for their performance at the Newcastle Music Festival. They were helped out by tutors from the beginners band and as in past years are working hard on a brand new piece written especially for them.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

10th January

Youth Band Set for Duel Premiere

Lions Youth Brass, and their MD, Nigel Birch, have announced two new pieces which they are commissioning for the National Youth Championships in Manchester in 2009.

The first is to be written by Andy Scott who is the composer in residence with Fodens Band. The Lions Band have been able to forge this partnership with Andy as he lives in Sandbach, and also with the help of John Barber, Principal Trombone with Fodens, who is also Head of Music at Sandbach Boys School, where Lions rehearse.

The second piece is a composition by the band's own composer in residence Ian Raisbeck. Ian is currently playing second man at Wingates and is a former Principal Cornet player of the youth band.

Ian's composition is a new solo for his brother Neil, who plays solo horn in the band, plays solo horn for The Roberts Bakery Band and is a member of The National Youth Brass Band Of Great Britain.

The band is very excited by these new pieces and are looking forward to seeing the parts in the new year.

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

3rd January

Meeting Cancelled

Unfortunately the committee meeting planned for Sunday 4th January has had to be cancelled due to illness. Our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Lions Youth Brass Committee

3rd January

Tutors for Workshop

The Tutors for tomorrows workshop have been announced; they will be:

Richard Poole - Cornets. Richard is Assistant Principal at Fodens.
Leslie Howie - Horns. Leslie is Solo Horn at Fodens
Paul Taylor - Trombone. Paul is head of music at Sandbach High School and fills in on second Trombone at Fodens when required.
Les Neish - Solo Tuba at Fodens
David Thornton - Solo Euphonium at Black Dyke.
Robert Smith - Percussion.

We shall be working on:

Valero
A Time For Peace
Show Me The Way to go Home
Bare Necessaties
Glenn Miller

Nigel Birch (Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass)

1st January

Happy New Year!

Lions Youth Brass would like to wish all of its members, parents and supportors a very happy new year.

As ever this site willl keep you up to date with all of the concerts, competitions, tours, recordings etc. so stay tuned to hear all about 2009 right here!

Just a reminder; On Sunday 4th January 2009 the Youth Band will be having a workshop between 9.30am and 3.30pm. There will also be a committee meeting on that day at 1.30pm, any Parent, Grandparent, or anyone else interested in being on the committee next year should attend this meeting.

Committee meetings are held on a Tuesday evening during band practice times, so as not to disrupt our busy lives!!! If you are interested please call Jane on 07720886577.

Ian Raisbeck (Webmaster, Lions Youth Brass)

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