Menai Bridge Training Band goes to the Euros!
Our training band is off to Birmingham on Sunday 1st May to perform at the European Brass Band Festival.
The performance, on the community stage, will be the band's first concert in over 2 years. Our members are looking forward to it very much and have been working hard on a varied programme, including Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the Wellerman and Calon Lân.
Band Hyfforddi Porthaethwy yn mynd i'r Ewros!
Bydd ein band hyfforddi yn mynd i Birmingham ar ddydd Sul 1af o Fai i berfformio yng Ngŵyl Bandiau Pres Ewrop.
Bydd y perfformiad, ar y llwyfan cymunedol, cyngerdd cyntaf y band ers dros 2 flynedd. Mae ein haelodau yn edrych ymlaen yn fawr iawn ac wedi bod yn gweithio’n galed ar raglen amrywiol, gan gynnwys Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the Wellerman a Calon Lân.
Diolch i Ty Cerdd a CyngorCelfyddydau Cymru em eich cefnogaeth
Thank you to Ty Cerdd and Arts Council of Wales for their support and the band being recipients of a Resource grant to help us prepare for getting together when restrictions allow.
Hymns for Remembrance 2020
For the first time in many years the Band will not be taking part in a Remembrance Day parade this year. Restrictions in place as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic mean that events to mark this important day are strictly limited in terms of the numbers of people that can take part, with social distancing measures also having to be in place. Nevertheless, we will have representation at a number of events, with certain individuals attending to play the Last Post and Reveille.
However, what we have done is produce a number of online collaboration videos featuring hymns that are associated with Remembrance, and these videos can be accessed from this web site and also from our presence on Facebook and Twitter.
The first video features both the Senior and Training Bands, joining together for a performance of William H Monk's 'Eventide'.
Many thanks to Training Band Conductor Sue Hughes for putting all the individual performances together into one video.
For the first time in many years the Band will not be taking part in a Remembrance Day parade this year. Restrictions in place as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic mean that events to mark this important day are strictly limited in terms of the numbers of people that can take part, with social distancing measures also having to be in place. Nevertheless, we will have representation at a number of events, with certain individuals attending to play the Last Post and Reveille.
However, what we have done is produce a number of online collaboration videos featuring hymns that are associated with Remembrance, and these videos can be accessed from this web site and also from our presence on Facebook and Twitter.
The first video features both the Senior and Training Bands, joining together for a performance of William H Monk's 'Eventide'.
Many thanks to Training Band Conductor Sue Hughes for putting all the individual performances together into one video.
Band Pres Porthaethwy / Menai Bridge Band Update - 27th June 2020
The 16th March 2020 seems an awfully long time ago, but it was on that date that the Band took the difficult decision, based on advice from relevant authorities regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, to cancel all Band activity for the foreseeable future for both the Senior and Training Bands. Our Band was not alone, as all bands across the UK were forced to accept that they could no longer meet safely for rehearsals or concerts. When the Senior Band finished its rehearsal the previous Friday (Friday 13th, ironically), we had no idea that we would not be meeting-up for months, and the reality is that we still don’t know when either Band might next be able to hold a full rehearsal.
Aside from us missing all our friends, the main effect on our organisation has been a financial one, in that being unable to fulfil engagements has resulted in a potential loss of thousands of pounds of income, working on the assumption that we might not resume a full programme of rehearsals and engagements until the beginning of 2021. We still have outgoings of course, such as for utilities and maintenance of the bandroom, along with insurance, and we’re also having to consider what steps we need to take to ensure that the bandroom is a safe place to return to once we are given the green light to resume our music-making activities. Among the steps being considered are: improvements to the building’s ventilation, shielding to minimise the risk to players from airborne droplets, improvements to the flooring to make it easier to keep clean, and upgrading of the toilet facilities. All these proposals require funding, so the Committee has been looking at, and will continue to seek out, alternative means of raising money. There have been a number of grants made available to organisations such as ours to help deal with the difficulties that have arisen as a result of the lockdown measures, and we will continue to investigate what assistance we are able to apply for.
Have we done nothing during lockdown then? No, of course not! Senior Band members have used the Zoom videoconferencing tool to meet online each Friday, which has given us the opportunity to catch up with how we all are, to participate in a weekly quiz, and even have online duck races! Our Musical Director, Chris Williams, has also arranged a number of question and answer sessions with former Band members who have gone on to achieve great success in their respective fields, again through Zoom, and those sessions have proved to be extremely interesting and enjoyable. Sue Hughes, the Training Band Conductor, has been keeping in touch with her players using the WhatsApp application, and used the technology to drum-up support for the making of a lockdown video.
Many bands, in the UK and elsewhere, have produced lockdown videos, whereby each player has recorded themselves playing their part to a piece of music, after which a not-so-lucky individual has then spent a considerable amount of time putting all the performances together into one video. Sue did this for the Training Band quite early into lockdown with a piece called ‘Swing a Little’, and the subsequent video was then posted onto social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube), where it received considerable praise from across the banding world. The Senior Band followed suit by making a video of it performing the march ‘Castell Caerffili’, which was then entered into an online Whit Friday competition run by the Foden’s Band (some of you will know that the Whit Friday march contests are a major event in the brass band calendar, but they also had to be cancelled due to the lockdown). The Band came 62nd overall out of 90 bands from across all sections but came 3rd in the 4th Section element of the competition.
What does the future hold? Well, in the short-term, band members will continue to meet online and will be kept up to date with developments through social media. If possible, and funds permitting, we shall carry out the necessary improvements to the bandroom to facilitate a return to banding as soon as guidance and regulations allow. Like everyone at the moment, we simply don’t know when we might return to normal, or even what the new ‘normal’ might look like, but please rest assured that as soon as we are able to resume our music-making in a safe manner for all concerned we will do so.
The lockdown videos of the Senior and Training Bands can be watched here - menaibridgeband.weebly.com/gallery-and-media.html
Dr Gwilym Roberts
It is with great sadness that Band Pres Porthaethwy must announce that it has been informed of the passing of one of the stalwarts of the Band, Dr Gwilym Roberts.
Gwilym first became associated with the Band when he brought his sons, Gareth, Owain and Dafydd, along to rehearsals. He stayed long after his sons had moved on, taking on the role of Contest Secretary and also playing Bb Bass for many years. He was heavily involved with the Junior and Intermediate Bands and fulfilled the role of Band Trustee of late. He was also an ever-present at contests in North Wales and beyond, most recently helping out at the 2019 Welsh Regional Contest in Wrexham.
This sad news has hit the Band hard, but the words most frequently used today to describe Gwil have been 'gentleman' and 'a gentle man'. He will be sorely missed by the Band and throughout the North Wales banding community. Our thoughts are with Enyd, Gareth, Owain and Dafydd at this time.
Rest in Peace Gwilym.
It is with great sadness that Band Pres Porthaethwy must announce that it has been informed of the passing of one of the stalwarts of the Band, Dr Gwilym Roberts.
Gwilym first became associated with the Band when he brought his sons, Gareth, Owain and Dafydd, along to rehearsals. He stayed long after his sons had moved on, taking on the role of Contest Secretary and also playing Bb Bass for many years. He was heavily involved with the Junior and Intermediate Bands and fulfilled the role of Band Trustee of late. He was also an ever-present at contests in North Wales and beyond, most recently helping out at the 2019 Welsh Regional Contest in Wrexham.
This sad news has hit the Band hard, but the words most frequently used today to describe Gwil have been 'gentleman' and 'a gentle man'. He will be sorely missed by the Band and throughout the North Wales banding community. Our thoughts are with Enyd, Gareth, Owain and Dafydd at this time.
Rest in Peace Gwilym.