November 2007 Joint Concert with St.Pirran Singers

After months of preparation the time finally came of the return visit of the St.Pirran Singers from Looe, Cornwall. The weekend started on the Friday night when, after rehearsal, a selection of boys band and some of our committee went to welcome the choir at their hotel, the Village is Bury. After a few drinks it was decided that a reasonably early night was best policy for the concert the next day. While preparation were well underway the choir spent the day shopping in Bury and Manchester before the evening arrived and it was time for the concert. The concert started with the band welcoming the Singers as they marched on with a Traditional Cornish Celts man waving their flag as the band played The Floral Dance.

The band kicked off the night with an eclectic mix of music including Florentine March and the Incredibles and also showcased their soloists with Jenny Abbott producing a fine account of Share my Yoke, on Flugel horn. With the concert well underway it was the turn of the St.Pirran Singers, and conductor Danny Gill to take the stage. The band was hosted by the singers in Looe, Cornwall in May this year and this saw the return visit. This fantastic group of singers produced a superb display singing Cornwall (My Anthem) as long as I have Music and Rhythm of life, this group of ladies directed by Danny Gill were on top form and produced a display of singing to be proud of.

Following a short interval it was again the turn of the choir to start of proceedings for the second half, highlights of which included a simply stunning baritone solo by Conductor Danny Gill singing ‘Stars’ from Les Miserables and their final performance of the evening of Freddy Mercury’s ‘Barcelona’ was breath taking. The band closed the night with music such as Let’s face the music and dance, a fantastic Tenor Horn solo, Demelza, by Solo horn player Victoria Truman. The finale of the concert was Film music playing the theme from the film Backdraft. A rousing Encore of Pomp & Circumstance No.1 saw the band and choir join forces to play and sing Land of Hope and Glory. The evening was very well received by a fantastic audience including honoured guests the Mayor and Mayoress of Bury.

Following this a social event was held in the church hall where the choir were treated to the local delicacies of a “pie and pea” supper and plenty of Black Pudding. Special thanks to the sponsors of the evenings events. Besses Boys plan a return visit to Looe in October next year.

November 2007 Pontins Contest

The band came away from this contest will a well deserved 5th place against some very tough opposition. After the performance Musical Director James Holt commented;

"The performance today was one of class, the band have really worked extremely hard over the last couple of weeks to ensure we improved on the disappointing performance last year. It's a credit to them to be able to produce like they have done today and the result proves that we are most definitely moving in the right direction"

2007 Pontins Contest, 4th Section

Test piece: A Cambrian Suite, Michael Ball

1. Uppermill, Alan Widdop, 10
2. Eccles Borough, Les Webb, 5
3. Newport Borough Brass, M.D. Davies, 9
4. Eaton Farnworth & Walkden, Peter Ashley, 2
5. Besses Boys Band, James Holt, 6
6. Denton Brass, Jonathan P Davies, 11
7. Golborne, Graham Smith, 14
8. Arnfield Brass, Adrian Loader, 7
9. Croft Silver Band, Steve Burton, 1
10. Coppull & Standish, Harry Bentham, 3
11. Greenfield, Stuart Black, 12
12. Parr (Ricahrdson Ltd) St Helens, Russell Prescott, 8
13. Blackley, Adrian Smith, 4
w, Farndon and District Brass, Peter Dalton, 15
w, Lofthouse 2000, Andrew Whitaker, 13

Congratulations go to all the band and James for their performance at Pontins!

September 2007 - New Musical Director for the Training Band

It is with great pleasure that Besses Boys Band can confirm we have appointed Jon Taylor to the position of Musical Director of our Training Band. Jon has been a player with the main band for several years first starting on cornet before going on to tenor horn before finding his home as principal percussionist for the band. Jon takes over from Owain Hughes who due to work commitments has had to relinquish his position within the band, the band wish to thank Owain for all his hard work, and wish him the best of luck in his new career path.

On his appointment Jon Said

"I'm very honoured to have been offered this position with the Besses Boys Organisation and look forward to taking over and continuing the hard work started by my predecessor Charlotte. I'm very excited about the task at hand and look forward to working together with James to help provide a solid future for the whole Besses Boys Organisation."

Jon has already started his work with the Training band and we hope to release details of his concert debut very soon for more Information on Jon and the training band please visit the Training Band Page

November 2007 - Besses Boys Promote Within

Besses Boys are pleased to announce the signing of two "new" players. Two players have made the step up from the Training band to become full time members of the 'Main Band', Paul Mitchell Joins from the front row of the training band on third cornet and Alison Duncan joins on 2nd Baritone. Both are long serving members of the training band are excited to make the move, speaking to Musical Director James Holt he had the following to say

" It is a credit to the training band system that we can promote players within the band and credit must go to the work Charlotte and Owain has done with the band, the guys will be getting somewhat of a baptism of fire as their first major engagement will be the Pontins contest early next year, with rehearsals well under way I am sure they'll be able to slot in perfectly"

For more details on our new and current players you can visit the Meet the band page.

September 2007 - Coming soon Joint concert with St.Piran Singers

As mentioned we are proud and honoured to welcome this wonderful Ladies Choir from Cornwall back to Bury. This joint Concert on 17th November at All Saints Church, Stand, Whitefield will give the people of Bury a chance to not only listen to Besses Boys' Band (which in itself is worth turning up for) but to hear a really excellent choir - St Piran Singers singing their mix of traditional and modern classics in a truly innovative and '21st century' way. NOT TO BE MISSED. Please see the Events Page for details of how to obtain tickets.

The concert will be followed by a reception, supper and drinks, to be held in the Church Hall for which there are only a very limited number of tickets available. Please see the Events Page for more details. 

September 2007 - New signing for Besses Boys Band

It is with great pleasure that the Besses Boys Band announce the signing of Holly Dolman to the first horn seated vacated by Jon Taylor who has taken up the position of Principal Percussionist with the band. Holly has formerly played  with the Poynton Youth and Vernon Building Society Poynton Bands on Principal cornet and 'front row' respectively.

Jon Taylor has been a percussionist for quite some time but was at Besses pursuing his second instrument of Tenor Horn, with University fast approaching Jon has decided to focus on percussion and was only too happy to accept this new position within the band.

The band would like to welcome Holly and Jon to their positions with the band and luck forward to a long and successful career for them both.

For full details of our players you can visit our Meet the band page.

May 2007 - Trip to Looe, Cornwall

Over a weekend in May the Boys Band packed up and shipped themselves down to the sunny (well sometimes) fishing village of Looe in Cornwall to join with a Cornish Ladies Choir - St Piran Singers in performing at the local school hall. The event was a sell-out and the Choir and Band wowed the audience with a mixture of traditional and modern music. The concert started with the Choir singing their 'Anthem' - Cornwall followed by a medley of songs including When I'm Sixty Four and Rhythm of Life from Sweet Charity. The band then took over and in the tradition of all brass band concerts they started with the march Castell Coch and went in to finish the first half with a selection from Pirates of the Caribbean. The second half, again started by the Choir, included a great arrangement of You Lift Me Up by Westlife and they brought their section to an end with a truly wonderful rendition of Queens' Bohemian Rhapsody. The Band then went on to finish the evening with a 'Last Night of the Proms' medley, joined by the Choir and the audience to end with Elgars' Pomp and Circumstance. This, as they say, brought the house down, and the standing ovation from a hugely appreciative audience seemed to last for hours!

In addition the band played on Saturday lunchtime in the towns Rose Garden which was enjoyed by both the locals and holiday makers. Then it was off to the beach where they spent the afternoon on the golden sands. We had planned to play again on the Sunday but, as you may remember, there was some very wet weather around in May and as water and brass instruments don't mix to well we decided to head off back to our home. Nevertheless it was a fantastic weekend, enjoyed by everyone and we will be arranging not only to host the Choir in Bury towards the end of this year but also a return visit to Cornwall as soon as is practical.