Milnrow Band Opens Up For 2015.

Milnrow Band, under Musical Director Mark Bentham, commenced its season of concerts for 2015 at Boarshurst Band Club on Sunday, and from the rousing first item, 'Enter the Galaxies', by Paul Lovatt Cooper, to the final curtain call offering, an arrangement of 'Deep Harmony', the band was in fine form and gave its usual impeccable performance.

Introduced and welcomed by Boarshurst Club's Janet Payne, the band settled in to entertain the audience with a complete and brand new programme chosen by MD Mark Bentham to give a new and fresh impetus and approach for 2015.

After the first item, the overture 'A Morning Noon and Night' (in Vienna) followed. One of composer Franz Von Suppe's earliest works it kept up the pace.

This was followed by a beautiful solo rendering on soprano cornet by Kenny Pain of 'On with the Motley', from Leon Cavallo's Italian opera Pagliacci, and arranged for brass band by Ray Farr. This item expresses the heartbreak of a clown and the original opera premiered in 1892.

Kenneth J Alford's (alias Frederick Joseph Ricketts 1891-1945) march 'The Thin Red Line' preceded the second solo item 'Slavische Fantasie' (composed by Carl Hohne) which featured the immaculate and dexterous playing of Mick Morris on Euphonium.

We were then treated to a little used musical offering titled 'Five and Threes' a jovial composition by the late John Golland, originally written and scored for the James Shepherd Versatile Brass, and spotlighting individual section soloists.

To complete the first half, the band gave its first public performance of the North West Regional Championships test piece 'The Torchbearer', by Peter Graham, which will see the band in competition with other top class bands from the North West Region at the Winter Gardens Blackpool on Sunday 1 March.

Milnrow Band at the Royal Albert Hall in 2013.

After a short interval the band launched into an unannounced quick fire item, the title of which had the more mature of the audience wondering, although they did realise it was the introductory music for the BBC's 'Dick Barton Special Agent' back in the late 1940s and 1950s. The title was announced, and of course it was 'Devil's Galop', since used by the BBC in later radio productions.

Natalie Beer on Flugel Horn chose the lovely Scottish traditional piece 'My Ain Folk' with which to beguile the audience and received well earned applause from the knowledgeable crowd.

Film Music was then highlighted, as the audience intently listened to the themes from 'Harry Potter' and then 'Superman' (arranged by Ray Farr), both from the pen of John Williams. Born in 1932 the prolific Williams has composed for many of the block buster movies associated with producer Steven Spielberg.

Between the two aforementioned items, Gordon Clarke took centre stage with his EEb Tuba and wowed us with his version of the exacting 'Largo Al Factotum' from Rossini's Opera 'Barber of Seville', which was followed by a full band version of 'Scarborough Fair', to complete this well received first concert of 2015.

Janet Payne thanked the band and soloists for putting on a "brilliant concert" and stressed the importance of "good support playing behind each soloist".

Report courtesy of Ken Watts, President of Milnrow Band.