Sunday 25th September – Wiltshire Music Centre – 5pm to 7pm
A warm welcome greeted the audience as they arrived at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon, the music centre is hidden away in the town, but a great venue and ideal for Cory Band with seating for 300 people and a high percentage of those seats were taken.
A mix of ages, from family groups with young children through to the older age group more associated with brass band concerts. Cory have clearly taken notice of the age demographic and with an earlier start and a well-chosen programme were able to encourage a younger audience and keep them entertained while they are there.
Ticket prices were set at £22 for adults and £12 for U18s and Students, it would have been good to see a family ticket price which may encourage more family groups to come and listen, but lets not take anything away from the initiatives that Cory have shown.
The programme was varied and for anyone who wanted to see the principal players in all their glory we had solos from four of the finest players you could wish to hear, Tom Hutchinson played ‘Little Clover’ which had a good mix of the quick and slow, we got to see his outstanding dexterity and also that lovely full sound that makes him such a great player to hear. Helen Williams stepped out to the front and with a great introduction from Philip Harper she played ‘Makker’, it is a beautifully written piece and the tone that Helen produces is just outstanding, the control of the lower dynamic and full sound just makes any piece she plays a delight to listen and this was no exception. The 3rd solo was from Chris Thomas on Trombone, he played an old favourite ‘Romanza’ by Henry Geehl, relaxed and full of style, a real ‘sit back and listen’ performance that was enjoyed by all. The final solo of the concert came from Glyn Williams with the Euphonium classic ‘Grandfather’s Clock’, a solo that most bands people will have heard and performed, but Glyn just takes it to the next level, everything is so clean, every note is heard and with the tempo of variation 3 written at moderato I can assure you there was nothing moderato about the tempo that Glyn and band were playing.
To add to the list of solo’s there should be ‘Perthshire Majesty’, not strictly a solo, but Repiano player Hannah Plumridge certainly showed the strength the band have across all seats, a player much admired since she joined the band and moved to sit in the Rep seat, a quite delightful sound and such a mature sound for someone so young.
Crowd pleasers away from the solo items were 'Thunderbirds are GO!’ which opened the concert, ‘Banana Island’ which was a great switch of style and ‘Beyond the Sea’ which was the last item on the programme. We had marches to end the first half and to open the second half, ‘Crown Imperial’ was a very poignant choice to go into the interval and ‘French Military March’ to open after the break. ‘Little Clover’, ‘Deep River’ and ‘La Fiesta’ completes the list of pieces on offer.
Before the interval the audience were invited to post on Facebook who their favourite player was and why, some of the responses were read out in the second half. There was also a moment for some audience participation with the ‘Cory Choir’, both very good ways to include the audience in the concert and to give them a feel of being part of the event.
We got an extra helping of the band in full flow with an encore ‘Rolling Thunder’, a perfect end to a fantastic concert.
In summary, a great choice of pieces played to the highest standard and audience participation which was a real plus point of the concert. A very enjoyable afternoon/evening.
