Last Saturday we were proud to host a highly successful Brass
Band Workshop day in our hometown of Abergele, with members of the
internationally acclaimed tuba/euphonium quartet, Tubalaté.
30 musicians from 6 different local brass bands spent an
enjoyable and informative day playing music together under the expert guidance
of the tutors: John Powell, Paul Walton, Les Neish, and Jonathan Gawn.
The day culminated with a concert held in St Michael’s
Church before a small, but appreciative audience. They were treated, first, to the technical and artistic
brilliance of Tubalaté, joined by percussionist, Matty Roberts, in some fairly
challenging pieces. The workshop band,
playing the pieces that they had studied during the day, gave the second
half. Considering that they had never
seen most of this music until 10.30 am that morning, theirs was a splendid
achievement, especially since it included accompanying a euphonium duet from
John and Paul, and a blistering Eb Bass solo “Hora Staccato” from the
incomparable Les Neish. This guy has
amazing virtuosic dexterity, and his fingers fairly flew over the valves!
All in all this was a fantastic and unforgettable way to
spend time with like-minded people, and proved that music is alive and well,
certainly in Abergele.