Flowers Band Annual Awards 2022

Flowers Band Annual Awards 2022

On Thursday evening we gave our final performance of the year at the Bacon Theatre in Cheltenham. During the second half of the concert we took the opportunity to present our annual awards.

The Players’ Player award is voted for by members of the band, and is therefore highly coveted. 9 different members of the band received nominations this year which speaks to the calibre of player we are so lucky to have. This year’s recipient is our amazing percussionist Coco Chan.

The Player of the Year award is selected by our MD, Paul Holland, and recognises individual excellence in playing. This year the winner is our Brass in Concert soloist and soprano cornet star, Paul Richards. Paul has forged an international reputation as one of the best soprano cornetists around, and time and time again gives stunning performances on both the concert and contest stage.

The Dave Lee Memorial award was presented for the first time this year in memory of Dave Lee, a former member of the band, who sadly passed away in August. It recognises the playing of someone who sits on an inner part and may not have the opportunity to shine individually, but makes an invaluable contribution to the ensemble. It seems fitting that the first recipient should be a cornet player as this was Dave’s instrument. Congratulations to our 4th Solo Cornet player, Erin Maloney. Erin joined the band in June this year and since then has made a big impression on the band.

Bandsman of the Year is awarded to someone who contributes to the ‘behind the scenes’ work that keeps the band running. From concert bookings to player management, advertising to finances, there are many voluntary roles needed to maintain a top level band. This year’s Bandsman of the Year, for a second year in a row, is our band manager Gregor Spence. Gregor has been a member of the band for 4 years, and took over the role of band manager earlier this year, being the youngest in the bands history.

Last, but by no means least, is the Section of the Year prize. On this occasion it went to the Basses (Tony Pemberton, Gregor Spence, Ieuan Walton and Tom Stone). In our Musical Directors own words, the Basses won this award because they, “caused the least headaches this year!”

Congratulations to all of the award winners, and thank you so much to everyone who has supported the band this year!

Butlins Champions!

Flowers returned to Butlins after a Covid-enforced cancellation last year to retain the title of Champion Band 2022, picking up awards for Best Overall, Best Test Piece, Best Entertainment, Most Entertaining as well as a belated Soloist prize for Jamie Smith.

As reigning Champions from January 2020, we provided the Friday night concert featuring ABBA, Manhatten Skyline, and the premier of Bright Lights, Big City!, a piece from the pen of Richard Taylor and a brilliant crowd pleaser, as well as MD pleaser!

Paganini Variations was the set work for the Saturday and posed a challenge for all sections of the band. With 16 variations to master, we had an array of chances to extract music and drama from the page. Each section had a variation in which to demonstrate technicality and emotion and everyone performed incredibly well. Matt Rowe was on imperious form on Euphonium, as well as Paul Richards once again proving why he remains one of the best Soprano players in the banding movement. Tony Pemberton even made a rare appearance as a soloist on Bbb Bass!

We had a number 5 draw for Saturday, and after we played, made our way back to North Shore Golf Club to our rehearsal venue to work on the Sunday Entertainments programme.

Monopoly was the theme and each piece represented a square on the famous board. We began, where else, but GO! (Rags to Riches) with a funky new commission from Christian Overhead to fire us into our set. After flying around the board and with a flurry of Monopoly cash thrown into the crowd, the Flowers Band were flying high at Mayfair. Jamie Nuss was the inquisitive diner in a posh restaurant as Mark Cowley served up a delicious and excellently timed staging to the backdrop of Paul Saggers’ arrangement to an Eric Coates classic. Even the Champagne cork was in time!

St. Paul’s from Fleet Street was our soloist piece. The new Andy Wareham composition reflected the beauty of the protected view of St. Paul’s Cathedral, although the beauty was perhaps better realised by our Principal Cornet, Jamie Smith. A truly captivating performance of utter nerve and musicianship left the audience and band spellbound. The effect was so intense it even appeared to have confused the administrators of the event, as after the contest an incorrectly awarded soloist prize was presented to a rival band’s cornet player, despite having not played a solo! After the initial recipient queried the award, the Contest controllers realised their mistake of mixing up Band drawn number 2 and Band placed number 2, and presented Jamie with the Geoff Dove Soloist Challenge Shield.

Jonathon Bates, a regular in Flowers Band’s repertoire, was once again called upon to pen an item to show off the strength in depth that we have here at Flowers. Pel Mel, a famous W.Hogarth Lear piece, was adapted to become our fourth piece; Pall Mall. A whirlwind of sectional virtuosity, (including the Trombones playing directly into a forgotten microphone!) allowed every member of the band to navigate around the stage and deliver some awesome playing whilst the capacity audience at Butlin’s Centre Stage watched on.

The Monopoly board game usually finishes with the game falling apart and everyone becoming enemies. This is where we at Flowers broke this tradition and rounded off our entertainment set where we began; with Christian Overhead. To Jail! (Riches to RAGE!) depicted the player being in jail (Jamie Nuss once again adopting the actor role and dressed in a black and white striped prison jumpsuit) to show the fall from the riches of Mayfair earlier in the programme; chains were used as percussion to show the need to roll a double in order to get ourselves back in the game. Our finale urged onwards, rising in tension and desperation until, inevitably, we had to admit it was GAME OVER! The audience cheered their approval and we could finally relax and await the results.

Flowers Band had no less than 8 active players performing in the 25 strong National Youth Reunion Band later in the evening (including Luke Barker, Josie Allen, Lauren Chinn, Emily Evans, Gregor Spence, Alex Walton and Ruth Mellor) as well as alumni (including Bethany Peck and Brett Baker), more than any other band in the country. During the interval, Flowers Band were announced as winners of the Championship Section, including Best Test Piece, Best Entertainment and (eventually!) Best Soloist. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported us and spoke to our players over the weekend to congratulate and say how much they enjoyed our playing. We put so much time and effort in, as well as every other band this weekend, so for it to pay off shows the dedication of our MD Paul Holland and his vision for where Flowers Band can be. Each and every member of Flowers, player or otherwise, is committed to performing to the best of our ability and to compete against the very best in the world. We have achieved so much at Butlin’s over the years and we are hopeful that although the contest won’t be held next year, will make a strong return in 2024.

Thank you for the support, we are now getting ready to challenge for the West of England Championship in March!

Read the report of our win from 4barsrest

Oxford Exit for James

One of the most important members of Flowers Band is making the unenviable decision to leave the Band.

James Harris joined Flowers in October 2017 following a move from the University of Birmingham, where he studied Medical Science, to the University of Oxford to study for a DPhil in Clinical Medicine.

After taking up the Bass Trombone seat following this move, James’ appointment allowed Flowers to begin building the Trombone section. Solo Trombone Rob Wilshaw said, “We will miss having James as part of Flowers Band. His dedication and talent made him a great part of the section, but also his work behind the scenes has been tireless. He has been excellent at ensuring the committee is running smoothly and tying together the different aspects of running a Band like Flowers.”

MD Paul Holland said, “I would like to give my thanks to James for his commitment as both Bass Trombone and Band Manager at Flowers. I wish him every success developing his professional career and hope he finds time to keep up his love of music somewhere suitable.”

During his time on an incredibly tough and demanding course, James managed to become a model Band member. He adapted quickly to the playing demands of Flowers, as well as dedicating more time to joining the committee. His organisational qualities helped the committee and lead to James being appointed the youngest ever Band Manager in Flowers’ history, at the tender age of 23.

James leaves the Band in considerably better condition than when he joined, and has been integral to the resurgence of Flowers Band in recent years. All at Flowers wish him well for the future and look forward to seeing him around the banding scene.

This means we are now gauging interest in the Bass Trombone vacancy. Rehearsals will begin once we are out of the National Lockdown, with auditionees meeting for a one-to-one try-out with MD Paul Holland at the bandroom at Gloucester Academy of Music before going on to audition in a full band setting.

Anyone interested should message Flowers Band through any of the Social Media accounts, or can fill out the contact form below.

All applications will be treated in strict confidence.

Covid Coping without Flowers

Unprecedented, bizarre, extraordinary. It seems the media is running out of ways to describe the impact that Covid-19 has had on our day to day lives.

Brass Bands have had to adapt and overcome, just as nearly every other aspect of life has.

We’ve seen plenty of submissions by bands all over the country, utilising online video calls in order to bring everyone together. Cory Band have compiled an array of videos to keep up interest, Foden’s Band hosted their own online Whit Friday Contest drawing in nearly 100 bands and entrants from as far as Japan. Brighouse and Rastrick Band created a virtual “play with B&R” performance where they showcased videos sent in from players from all bands.

Here at Flowers Band, we have been keeping ourselves busy by starting Flowers Masterclass Series, featuring Paul Richards, Coco Chan Matt Rowe, and Rob Wilshaw. Our players have been able to talk about their own techniques and how they approach learning new pieces. We’ve had a great response with players from all over the banding world sending in their videos which we have featured on our Facebook page.

Internally, we have kept ourselves entertained by doing a Flowers Quiz every Friday night. When band is in full flow, the rehearsals and demanding schedule can often leave us yearning for a break, however now a huge break has been forced upon us, maintaining relationships and friendships within the band has become incredibly important. The Friday evening quiz has allowed us to have a focus point and to have a sense of normality. We each take turns hosting the quiz, meaning we have had a great variety of topics covered. It has been a lot of fun!

Everyone at Flowers Band would like to encourage everyone to stay safe and make sure you keep in touch with friends and family!

See you all soon,

Flowers Band

In the Ascendancy

Butlins.

Of course, everyone has a different experience of the Butlins weekend, but for most that attend it often involves catching up with people you haven’t seen for a decade (sometimes significantly more), dashing around to rehearsals, putting in the best performance you can, a pint in the Jellyfish Bar and fun and frolics in the novelty of chalet living for three days. For sections one to four a more relaxing day on the Sunday lets you to take in the Championship section performances and some quality entertainment in the evening. For us, a combination of the two extremes of intense, focused rehearsal and some serious letting our hair down proved to be a winning combination and one that the current incarnation of The Flowers Band has been building to since Paul Holland’s return to the helm at the end of 2018.

The band’s steady rise over the past twelve months has not only been a musical phenomenon but one that, we feel, comes from us gelling as a group of people. It’s no secret that the high turnover of players in recent times has taken a while to settle, but there’s a satisfying buzz around the stands that is confidently reassuring, inherently respectful (but with copious banter) and hugely exciting as we continue to discover what this combination of musicians are actually capable of.

Band Manager, James Harris describes it as ‘community banding mixed up with top, top section playing’. We all know that it takes more than the dots on the page to make a performance; it even takes more than the right man in the middle to find the layers of musicality in a score. Might we have found a unique amalgamation of musicians to seriously challenge our contemporaries in 2020? Time will tell, but for a brief moment we’re relishing our recent clean sweep at the Butlins Mineworkers Championship.

We were placed first in both the Test Piece and Entertainment sections and there was a soloist prize for Emily Evans, our Principal Horn, for her sublime playing in Jonathan Bates’ “ Songs of Ascent”.  Huge congratulations to her. For our Entertainment programme, we used our highly successful Brass in Concert Captain Nemo’s Forgotten Journey to great effect, securing Most Entertaining Band and Overall Champions.

We send our heartfelt thanks and good wishes to Harmen Vanhoorne for his awesome (in the true sense of the word) musicianship as our Principal Cornet for weekend. This was his final contest in the northern hemisphere before his imminent emigration to New Zealand and we wish him the very best.

We should also congratulate our quartet members, Luke Barker, Lauren Chinn, Emily Evans and Matt Rowe for their engaging performance of “Capriccio” by Roger Payne, which saw them awarded with the British Open Champion Quartet Trophy. Bravo!

What a great weekend and such a promising start to the year. Congratulations to all the prizewinners from the championship. It’s back to some hard graft for us to be the best we can be in 2020! 

See what the internet thought of our performances by clicking this link!

Contest Review 2019

It’s been a whirlwind year for Flowers Band. As we charge into 2020, I’m using this time to reflect on the past year’s contest results under MD Paul Holland’s second tenure.

There have been a vast number of changes throughout the band which have strengthened the band in key areas. We are now pushing for the very highest accolades in the Banding world with one of the youngest average ages of any band.

January

Butlins Mineworkers Contest.

Test Piece Result - 7th Place

An extremely rare last place started our year with the Test Piece Benvenuto Cellini.

Entertainment Result - Music (2nd Place) & Entertainment (3rd Place)

Freedom programme -

Red Hills of Georgia (Jonathan Bates) Let Freedom Ring (Jonathan Bates)
Soloist: Paul Richards
The War Dance of the Red Cossacks (Jonathan Bates)
I Wish I Knew How it would feel to be Free (Nina Simone arr. Jonathan Bates)
That Promised Land (Jonathan Bates)

Overall Placing - 4th Place. Uncharacteristically poor from Flowers as we usually fight for the title at Butlins. A poor test piece rendition was the nail in the coffin for our weekend despite a much stronger showing in the Sunday’s entertainment.

March

West of England Area Contest.

Result - 1st Place

We get back to winning ways at the West of England Area contest on Seascapes. This qualifies us for the National Finals later in the year.

Read the article here

June

French Open Contest

March Result - 1st Place

A French holiday for Flowers Band. We performed a March (The Cossack) and were awarded 1st place with 98/100 points

Test Piece Result - 1st Place

Philip Wilby’s Ascension was our chosen Test Piece. Tom Fountain was our soloist with Threnody (Ben Hollings) and was awarded Best Soloist.

Read the article here

Band Of The Year Contest

Result - 9th Place

Revamping Ascension and Threnody, Flowers were part of a select group of bands chosen to compete in the inaugural BrassPass Band of the Year Contest during an incredibly stressful weekend for Flowers Band. MD Paul Holland slipped a disc in his back before the previous Thursday’s rehearsal, meaning he was unable to take the band. Marieka Gray stepped in at quite literally the eleventh hour to take us on a test piece she’d never seen before. We were lucky to have played at all, so the result didn’t hold too much significance.

Read the article here

September

British Open

Result - 5th Place

A turning point? We manage to pull off one of the surprise results of the contest by showing a glimpse of what we’re capable of on a new commission, Peter Graham’s Dynasty.

Read the article here

October

National Championship Finals of Great Britain

Result - 5th Place

Progress was the word on everyone’s lips as a resurgent Flowers Band once again achieve a podium finish on the devilishly difficult Titan’s Progress at the Royal Albert Hall. Representing the West of England as Champions, we are aiming to return as WoE Champions next year, too.

Read the article here

November

Brass In Concert

Result - 3rd Place

Captain Nemo serves as inspiration as we claim a fantastic 3rd place at the highly competitive Brass in Concert. Jamie Smith shines as our soloist.

Captain Nemo's Forgotten Journal

Dawn of a Voyage (Dan Price)
The Descent (Christopher Bond)
Soloist: Jamie Smith (cornet)
Monster Thrash (Paul Saggers)
La Cathedrale Engloutie (Debussy arr. Dan Price)
Escape the Kraken (Dan Price)

Read the article here

Dizzying Heights from the Deepest Depths

Another successful outing for Flowers Band sees us claim 3rd place at this year’s Brass in Concert with a fantastic programme of brand new music, depicting a deep sea adventure by Captain Nemo abaord his nuclear powered Nautilus submarine.

With MD Paul Holland letting his imagination run free, we developed a thrilling story of discovery and danger beneath the waves. Dan Price was the chosen composer to lead us into our set with Dawn Of A Voyage setting the scene and capturing the excitement of a departing vessel into the unknown.

With Captain Nemo and his crew searching for deep sea, we segued into our second piece, The Descent. Jamie Smith rose to deliver the premiere of Christopher Bond’s new work for Solo Cornet to a packed Concert Hall of The Sage. Juxtaposed to the title of the work, the solo part got higher and higher, leaving our soloist floating above the band with a stillness and calm. A mesmerising performance of control and subtlety held the audience from start to finish. Bravo Jamie!

After descending, the animation above us showed Nemo’s journal entry after something had set off the Nautilus’ alarms… Paul Saggers new composition Monster Thrash launched Flowers Band into the midst of an almighty struggle at the depths of the ocean, where huge Jurassic creatures fought to the death. This was a brave programme choice as the extreme dynamics combined with the strange choice of instruments (knives, forks and spoons!) awoke the audience with a start after the calm of the descent. This piece featured many different soloists throughout and certainly lived up to its name.

Atlantis! Have we discovered the actual Atlantis? Nemo pondered this very question as we evaded the monsters of the deep and came across a hidden world. La Cathedrale Engloutie led us on a Debussy journey, arranged by Dan Price. The chiming bells rang out as the crew of the Nautilus donned their diving suits and walked through the submerged Cathedral. This piece served to be the inspiration for our programme and featured Coco Chan and Craig Saunders on the Tubular Bells.

After we had explored, Captain Nemo turned his Submarine back to the surface. Through the inky blackness of the depths, we could make out a large figure taking an interest in us. This time, we had no choice. Escape the Kraken by Dan Price gave us a thrilling finale as we battled and ultimately evaded our foe to return our journal.

A fantastic result of 3rd place behind Cory and Carlton Main led to cheers on the return journey to Gloucester.

Bravo to the entire band! A great year sees us ending on a high and giving us an incredible footing on which to build for next year. Make sure to keep following us on Facebook and Twitter.

We also have some Christmas concerts before our year ends. Check out the link here to check out our Christmas Celebration at the Bacon Theatre in Cheltenham!

4BR Review

It's been music inspired by Jules Verne for Flowers — and the excitement that came from an unearthed forgotten journal of another journey 20,000 leagues under the sea with the saturnine Captain Nemo.

All that was missing was him playing the nuclear steam powered organ — (as in the famous Disney film) although the band made up for that at times with the wattage of power they expelled.

The opening Dan Price work set the scene — all bubbles and blasts of oxygenated air as the ensemble plumbed into the depths.

It was followed by a lyrical interlude of clear water beauty from principal cornet Jamie Smith — a descent that rather incongruously got higher in timbre as it went along. Some player though — so secure and tonally assured.

The 'Monster Thrash' was that and more — two huge leviathans of the deep grappling against each other for supremacy — all aided by some pretty spectacular solo interventions from the scuba divers on cornet and sop in particular.

Debussy's sunken cathedral had a bold mystical quality — bubbling (literally) in evocative spirit as the Nautilus meandered amongst the sunken columns. Clever that.

The final battle with the awesome Kraken is surprisingly light of touch, but then it got into a WWE wrestling match that knocked lumps out each other all the way to a great close.

Overall:

A bold story told in exciting fashion by Flowers with each page of the journal brought to life in musical technicolour. Lots of super high quality playing emerged from beneath the waves.

High Five in London

Another thrilling performance, another fifth placing for Flowers Band as we tackled Hermann Pallhuber's Titan's Progress.

With great technical passages, huge lyrical melodies and complex dynamics rife throughout the piece, MD Paul Holland had his work cut out to get us into shape ready for the Royal Albert Hall (RAH). The work-rate remained high following our efforts at Symphony Hall in Birmingham at the start of September, so we began rehearsals in earnest on this latest challenge.

Flowers Band were pleased to have secured a sponsorship for some new polo tops from Gloucester Academy of Music, where we rehearse. This meant we were looking fresh and smart at all times in our new gear! A good draw, we were to play fifteenth. The band is receiving favourable draws this year!

The test piece features stand up solos from Cornet and Euphonium, as well as demanding sectional work from everyone in the band. Our Principal Cornet, Jamie Smith once again demonstrated why he is one of the finest Cornet players in the country by remaining icy cool on stage to deliver the melodic introduction after the opening fanfare with ease. With Mahler 1 quotes intertwined into the very fabric of Titan’s Progress, there was plenty on offer for volume and shock notes for us to explore the reverb of the RAH. As the music developed, there were more opportunities for us to showcase our players, with one Matt Rowe (Euphonium) delivering a masterclass in how one instrument can fill the cavernous space of the hall. Lauren Chinn, Emily Evans (Best Tenor Horn - BiC 2018), Andrew Hicks, Carlton Sykes (Best Basses - BiC 2018) all featured heavily and delivered in spades. A fantastic job all round.

Sky high Soprano playing from BiC 2018 Soloist Winner Paul Richards soared out above the band, whilst the foundations were tested as Tony and Ieuan laid out some incredible pedal work from the BBb Basses. It was another show where every player delivered and put the Flowers Band name back up in the highest ranking of the banding community. The iconic Mahler 1 fanfare featured heavily with the Cornet section throughout the set-work. The piece finishes with a heavy rallentando into a glorious Bb major chord. Deep breath, and play. The audience applause overtook the band’s sheer volume as the Flowers Band sound rang out.

An obligatory trip to the appropriately named Gloucester Arms pub managed to kill a few hours before we headed back into the hall for results.

FIFTH PLACE!

We had beaten some extremely good performances, notably from Tredegar, Foden’s and Desford, whom all delivered excellent renditions of Titan’s. Every band worked incredibly hard and we were thrilled to have found favour in the box.

We are now sitting an incredible 9th in the World.

Next up for Flowers Band is Brass in Concert in the Sage, Gateshead. We have a really exciting set up for this entertainment contest. Watch this space!