A magical musical weekend was enjoyed by band members recently when Gary Curtin flew in from England to take the band for its annual Summer Sounds event.

Gary, who is originally from Cork, moved to England five years ago to pursue a career in euphonium playing. Aged 29, he is Principal Euphonium player with The Fairey Band (soon to be called Fairey Geneva) who, after a long period in the brass contesting doldrums, recently captured the English Nationals, beating Black Dyke into second place.

Those who were lucky enough to hear Gary playing his euphonium during the weekend were enthralled to be in the presence of a world class player. He performed his own cadenza-style ‘encore’ piece which involved taking the euphonium where no-one thought it possible to go! His multiphonics and spectacular range left everyone in awe of his great ability. We were also treated to his hauntingly beautiful rendition of ‘Lament’ from Ronan Hardiman’s Cry of the Celts.

There were a total of five sessions over the course of the weekend, with great attendances throughout. This was the first event to be held at the band’s brand new premises at East Coast Business Park.

There were one-on-one lessons on Friday afternoon with full band rehearsals starting with an 8pm session on Friday evening. On Saturday there were sectionals at 11am and 12 noon followed by rehearsals in the afternoon and evening.

The weekend culminated with a rehearsal and recording session on Sunday morning.

We are very grateful to Gary Curtin for his time and expertise. Band members genuinely feel they benefited from the weekend.

There was a nice social side to the event too and Gary was more than happy to spend time with band members on the Drogheda social scene.

We are grateful to Coca-Cola for their sponsorship of the weekend and for their long-standing support of Drogheda Brass Band activities.

The band’s calendar has been updated to include the list of confirmed summer gigs. Click here to view it: http://www.droghedabrassband.org/?page_id=6

http://utv.vo.llnwd.net/o16/LMFM/2010/04/20/MichaelMaher.mp3

DBB made history yet again, becoming the first brass band from the Republic to achieve the north/south double by winning the 2^nd Grade Brass Section of the NIBA Championship of Ireland contest in Armagh on Saturday last 31^st October, adding the northern title to the IABCB National Championship won for the third successive year in Cork in April.

We became the first brass band from the Republic to win at the NIBA contest when we won the same section in 1985, and have won it on two other occasions, 1997 & 1998. This year’s winning performance, under the direction of conductor Michael Maher, was awarded 93 points by adjudicator Peter Bassano, one more than runners-up Third Carrickfergus Band and two ahead of 3^rd-placed Downshire Brass. A total of  seven bands entered for the section with one withdrawn on the day.

 In his post-contest stage remarks Peter Bassano praised our musical approach to the test piece, Resurgam by Eric Ball, which dates from a time (c.1950) when the brass band sound was quite different from the modern era. Our bass section Mark Nutley, Terry Heeney (Eb), DJ Walsh, Michael Plunkett and Tony Collins (BBb) also won the Best Bass Section award. Representatives of the band will travel to the Awards Presentation Dinner Dance in Ballynahinch on Saturday 21^st November where the Symington Cup (1^st prize), William Herron Trophy (winning conductor) and John Beckett Memorial Cup (best bass section) will be presented to the band.

Conductor Michael Maher was delighted with the performance on the day. He praised the courage of the band in playing the quieter passages at the correct dynamic in such a pressure atmosphere. Resurgam is one of the most iconic pieces in the history of the brass band movement and it was a thrill to conduct such a fine performance.

(Article by Michael Plunkett posted by Stephen Murray)

Drogheda Brass Band gave the town’s new TLT Theatre & Concert Hall at the Sound Shop a spectacular opening, receiving standing ovations on every night of the series of opening concerts in September.

The 900-seater hall, mooted as the likely venue for the national band championships in 2011, was officially opened on Wednesday 23^rd September with a four-night all-local show featuring superb performances from the Honey Bees Jazz Group, traditional Irish group the Murphy Family, and St Peter’s Male Voice Choir in the first half.

The second half made full use of the huge 70ft x 30ft stage by featuring a sight seldom, if ever, seen in Ireland before – two individual brass bands onstage side-by-side together, as Drogheda Brass Band under the baton of Michael Maher and Lourdes Brass Band (conducted by Harry Kelly and Mark Shortt) treated the audience to two highly entertaining programmes. The concerts were hosted by Drogheda born comedienne and actress Deirdre O Kane.

The band opened with the very apt “Fanfare for a New Age” following with “Mack the Knife” and “Mid all the traffic” (Shenandoah). All pieces were very warmly received each night, however, the band literally brought the audience to their feet with our spectacular finale version of “Riverdance”.

The final item of the concert then featured both bands combining and being joined by St Peter’s Male Voice Choir for a suitably rousing rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” conducted by the choir’s MD, Edward Holly. The nights were hugely enjoyable for audiences and a further proof that Drogheda is a hot bed for musical talent – a point TLT owner Tommy Leddy of the Sound Shop was keen to make describing the concerts as a “great success” and thanked all the groups who took part, particularly as proceeds went to the local branch of the Alzheimer’s Society. Tommy also looked forward to welcoming many more large audiences to future shows in the TLT.

For more information about the TLT visit http://www.thetlt.ie/

Members of Drogheda Brass Band were well received around the primary schools in the region recently, none more so than out at Whitecross National School in Julianstown where an enthusiastic young crowd greeted the players.