Clackmannan District Brass Band
Clackmannan District Band News
March 2012
Scottish 1st Section Champions
Playing Mountain Views the band were placed first at the Scottish Championships held in the Rothes Halls, Glenrothes. In the opinion of the adjudicators they were the only band to produce a performance which replicated the intentions of the composer.
The band were conducted by Paul McKelvie. This was his first appearance as a conductor at this contest and all his hard work and rehearsal paid off handsomely.
Congratulations to him and of course to the players in front of him who gave such an inspired and exciting performance.
The band now qualify for the National Finals in Cheltenham in September
Pictures and comments are on our facebook page
October 2011
The Band are pleased to announce the appointment of Paul McKelvie OBE, as their new resident musical director
Paul has had a long association with Clackmannan District Brass Band, and indeed was one of its inaugural players.
He started playing trombone at the age of 10, and joined the Alva Band in 1974, moving onto the Solo Trombone seat within 6 months. He played continuously with the band until 2007, sharing in the success the band had over this period. Paul enjoyed greatest contesting success following the amalgamation of the Alloa and Alva Bands in 1991 – which created the Clackmannan District Band.
Paul joined Lochgelly Band in 2008, and was part of the band when it was placed third in the Scottish Championships in 2011.
Paul’s musical experience is wide – and he has been involved brass bands, orchestras and big bands in recent years.
Paul has played under the baton of many top quality Musical Directors – including Major Peter Parkes, James Scott, Jim Davies and Norman Law - and they inspired him to embark on conducting.
On his appointment as Resident Conductor, Paul said “I am delighted and honoured to be given the opportunity to work with the band that has such a special place in my heart. The band has already demonstrated real commitment to music making, and I am looking forward to joining them on a musical journey”.
April 2011
Julie Johnston collects the 1st Section Trophy at the Fife Brass Band Festival from adjudicator Bruce Fraser.
The band played Where Eagles Sing, Apex featuring solo cornet, Paul Dornan, Scaramouche, Xylophonia featuring percussionist Steven McEwan and Galaxies
Jan 2011 - The band are pleased to welcome 3 new players, David Hall, Rachel Davenport, and Aimee Frew
Congratulations to Martin Stack who recently won an competition on 4 bars rest by giving the original name of Cory Band. Martin won a book of the history of Cory Band and several sets of music
Nov. 2010
Many thanks for Clackmannan District Band's contribution last Sunday at the Remembrance Day event in Alloa.
I did think that the arrangements went well and I was very pleased at the number of local people who made the effort to show their respect on what was a bitterly cold morning.
Please pass my thanks to your members. Their presence added greatly to the sense of occasion.Yours sincerely
Provost Derek Stewart
Aug 2010 - The band are pleased to welcome 3 new members to the ranks Ian Cummings - Bb Bass, Martin Stack - horn and Brian Anderson who returns on baritone
April 09 - The band won the Championship section at the Fife Brass Band Festival with Graham Caldwell getting the medal for the best instrumentalist and the bass section winning the Betty Smith Trophy for the best bass section. Programme - French Military March, Higgyjig, Dance of the Pirates, Irish Blessing and Glorifico Aeternum
March 09 - The band were placed 7th at the Scottish Championships in Dundee meaning that they maintain their position in the Championship section for another year. The testpiece was Salute to Youth by Gilbert Vinter
November 2008 - The band took part in the Scottish Open in Perth playing St Magnus by Kenneth Downie. This is one of the hardest testpieces ever written for brass band and tested all sections. Euphonium player, Willie Downie was especially commended by the adjudicators on his performance.
The Band were 1st Section Band of the Year for 2007 / 2008 contest season
October 2008 - In the Fife Open Contest the band were placed 3rd overall and were the best 1st section band - March Honest Toil - Hymn - In Perfect Peace - Testpiece - Saga of Haakon the Good
Sept 2008 - The band competed in the National Finals in Harrogate International Centre - see the photos Testpiece -Saga of Haakon the Good
May 2008 - The Northern Counties Contest proved a successful day out for the band when 3 prizes were won. We were 2nd overall, won the best 1st Section Band and the best non Northern Counties Band.
The programme was French Military March, Irish Blessing, Dance of the Pirates, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair - featuring solo euphonium player Wille Downie and finally Glorifico Aeternum. The adjudicator was Kevin Wadsworth
Full Results - 1st Bon Accord 194 ; 2nd Clackmannan 193 ; 3rd Kirkintilloch Kelvin 192 ; 4th Johnstone ; 5th - Coalburn ; 6th Renfrew ; 7th City of Discovery ; 8th Shotts ; 9th Newmilns and Galston ; 10th Arbroath ; 11th Perthshire Brass ; 12th Tullis Russell ; 13th Granite City ; 14th Dundee Instrumental
April 2008 - The Band won the 1st Section at the Fife Brass Band Festival in Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline. The adjudicator was Stan Lippeatt to whom the Band had to play a 15 minute concert programme. Their choice was French Military March, Ave Maria, featuring solo cornet Stuart Macaulay, Dance of the Pirates and Glorifico Aeternum. Lochgelly were 2nd and Barrhead 3rd
The Band would like to welcome Willie Downie who joins the band on solo euphonium
March 2008 - The Band continue their recent contest success by coming 2nd at the Scottish Championships in the Rothes Halls, Glenrothes. Drawn number 4 the band played the set testpiece James Cook Circumnavigator to adjudicators, Steve Sykes and David Thornton. Section winners were Bo'ness and Carriden with Lochgelly taking 3rd place. Bo'ness and Clackmannan both qualify for the National Finals in Harrogate in September.
Congratulations go to conductor Paul Kiernan for not only leading Clackmannan Band to success but for also winning the medal for best trombone in the Championship section. Paul plays with CWS Glasgow band
January 2008
28th January - Katie Anderson won the 16 - 21 section of the Fife Charities Band Association solo and ensemble contest playing Rhapsody for Euphonium - well done Katy !
Congratulations to euphonium player, George Cameron and his wife Catherine on the birth of their baby daugher, Lucy Abigail
Congratulations also to Kate and Miles on the birth of their son, Archie Lewis.
Nov. 07
Clackmannan Band finished off their 2007 contesting calendar in grand style by winning the Scottish Challenge Shield by a massive 5 points in Perth Concert Hall on 24th November. The band played London Overture by Philip Sparke and were awarded 190 points by adjudicators John Roberts and Michael Fowles who commented "a difficult piece well presented " and "a fine performance of a very difficult but very enjoyable piece". Musical Director, Paul Kiernan was praised for his sensible approach to the piece and his handling throughout. The soloists, Stuart Macaulay, solo cornet; Graham Caldwell, solo horn; Paul McKelvie, solo trombone and George Cameron, solo euphonium also all received commendations from the adjudicators.
The full results were
- Clackmannan 190
- Bo'ness & Carriden 185
- Arbroath Instrumental 184
- St Ronans 182
- Jedforest Instrumental 181
- Lochgelly 180
- Selkirk 178
- Tullis Russell Mills 176
The following is an extract from 4 Bars Rest
Scottish Challenge Shield
The Scottish Challenge Shield saw a commanding victory for Clackmannan District conducted in fine style by Paul Kiernan.
Their excellent performance of ‘A London Overture’, full of detail and quality solo contributions fully deserved to take the trophy plus the £300 first prize by a the large 5 point margin.
Excellent performance
Adjudicator Mike Fowles told 4BR: "It was an excellent performance and we had no hesitation in awarding it first place and by some margin. We wanted to reflect the quality of the performance and we felt the MD did a wonderful job in choosing the tempos and allowing the music and the detail to speak so clearly."
Second place went to Bo’ness & Carriden under Michael Marzella for a powerful if slightly scrappy ‘Partita’ by Philip Sparke, whilst third place was taken by Arbroath Instrumental with a sterling account of ‘Triumphant Rhapsody’.
Impressive choices
Fellow judge John Roberts told 4BR that overall they were impressed by the choices made by the MD’s and bands in this section. "There was only one performance that really found a band struggle, but overall we felt that the standard was pretty good, with the winners excellent."
This was the report on 4 Bars Rest
There was a very clear winner in the battle for the Scottish Challenge Shield and Clackmannan under Paul Kiernan swept their rivals aside in taking it.
When was the last time you went to a brass band contest and heard a performance that you knew had romped home by a country mile only to see it end up winning by a ‘clear’ one point margin?
Adjudicators do need to be slightly conservative at times in the reward process, but awarding points can only mean something if they truly reflect the differences in the quality of the performances they are judging. Three cheers then for John Roberts and Mike Fowles.
As two successful and active conductors they know more than most the frustration that can come even with victory. The brass band history books only really recall the winners, but it is nice sometimes to see that it was also a triumph that left no doubt about its authenticity.
That was certainly the case here with Clackmannan under the direction of Paul Kiernan. A five point win may on paper seem a very large margin, but in reality it was fully deserved after their intelligently constructed and impressively delivered performance of Philip Sparke’s ‘A London Overture’ left their rivals well and truly in their wake.
Theirs was a first class performance of a test piece that despite its age, has remained a sprightly old hurdle to overcome even for championship bands. It places real demands on the main solo instruments as well as the ensemble as a whole, whilst the MDs input is critical – especially in respect to tempi.
Here Paul Kiernan was splendidly accurate. He chose a pace that both allowed his players a degree of technical comfort without losing musical flow, and in return they responded in kind. Each of the main cadenzas that come quickly after the bold start were handled with real aplomb, whilst the tricky little motifs (especially from the soprano) were solidly overcome without sounding rash,or rushed.
In fact it was a quite splendid performance and left few, if any, in the hall in any doubt that that they were clear cut winners. Five points was just as accurate a margin as the MDs excellent conducting.
Oct. 07
Clackmannan Band won 4 prizes at the Fife Charities Open Contest in Falkirk. The Band were placed 2nd overall out of a total entry of 19 bands, won the best 1st Section Band Trophy, Best Fife A Band Trophy and
Solo Cornet player, Stuart Macauley won the best cornet award.
"The Boiler" has finally been ousted from the Kingdom Brass Bandhall !
Full results from the contest
The Band also narrowly missed becoming Band of the Year for the second time. They were pipped at the post by Newmilns and Galston Band who had one point more.
Sept. 07
The band had a busy weekend over the 15th / 16th Sept. On the Saturday they led the parade to Alva Glen and then played in the afternoon outside the Masonic Halls. These activities were part of the Alva Glen Regeneration Activities.
On Sunday 16th the band were taken by minibus up the hill to Wallace Monument where despite atrocious weather conditions a concert performance was given. This event was organised by Visit Scotland.
Derek Wishart - Honorary President in Perpetuity
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