Lower Sections Test Piece Workshop
A Happy New Year to all our supporters from the GUS Band. After a relaxing Christmas break for the band, it is straight into the New Year with a bang, or rather a test piece or two! This weekend on Saturday 10th January, in conjunction with the British Bandsman we are hosting a Lower Section Workshop for 3rd and 4th section bands at Eynsham Village Hall, near Witney, Oxfordshire. The band will be taken through the regional qualifying test pieces Indian Summer, (Eric Ball) and Three Haworth Impressions, (Gordon Langford) providing the chance for players and conductors to gain a greater insight into how to bring out key aspects of the music and enhance their area contest performances. Then, the following Saturday, (17th) the GUS Band is off to Pudsey, West Yorkshire, to perform a concert at the Civic Hall as part of the Leeds Best of Brass concert series. Details for these two appearances by the band plus all our upcoming concerts can be found on the Events page of this website.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas!
After a very busy and successful 2025, the GUS Band has finished its year with appearances at a wide variety of venues, entertaining the public with carols and Christmas music. From a spectacular Christmas concert at St Peter & St Paul, Kettering with the fantastic Belcanto and Masquerade choirs to a motorway service station, a shopping centre, a primary school and the Northampton & County Club, people have enjoyed the festive music performed by members of the band.
So, as we all prepare to celebrate, it just remains for the GUS band to wish all their supporters and friends a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Love Beyond the Rose success at the Glasshouse
The GUS Band have just returned from an enjoyable and very successful weekend in Gateshead. After a hugely busy couple of weeks of rehearsals and preparation, the band travelled up to Newcastle ready to take part in the Brass in Concert Championships at the Glasshouse on the 15th November. Once again, GUS had been invited to compete in this prestigious competition and after a rehearsal on the day at the venue, the band walked on stage to present “Love Beyond the Rose”, an original set devised and composed by the band’s musical director, Christopher Bond. The theme was based on the 18th century French fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast” and the half-hour stage show included solos from James Screaton and Jack Wilson, plus a horn and baritone duet arrangement of “Hymne A L’Amour” from Rob Fleming and Sarah Lenton. James, dressed as Belle’s father, Maurice, gave a sublime performance of a beautiful new arrangement for cornet by Chris of “My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose”. Jack, attired as Gaston, the boastful villager, amazed the audience with a new piece for soprano cornet called “Mirror, Mirror, I’m the Star”. Rhys Cave, the band’s flugel player, was the character Lumiere, the cursed maitre d’ and together with George Bruce, the band’s principal euphonium, portraying Cogsworth, the Beast’s butler, played solos in a further new arrangement of “Be Our Guest” from the film Beauty and the Beast.
The whole show was held together by the actor David Gilbrook who narrated and brought the story to life. The audience loved it and so did the adjudicators who placed us 4th overall. If you would like to see the performance, the band’s performance can be viewed on the WobPlay website. However, even better, the GUS Band will be reprising their performance again this Sunday, (23rd November) at the Royal and Derngate Theatre in Northampton, as part of their live performance of the animation film the Snowman.
Bands United
The GUS Band are looking forward to their joint concert with the Brackley & District Band on Sunday 28th September. Brackley & District were awarded a fantastic sixth place at the Fourth Section National Brass Band Finals in Cheltenham last weekend, (14th September) and this combined concert promises to be a spectacular afternoon performance of brass music. The Brackley & District Band is conducted by GUS Band’s very own Principal Bb Bass player, Mark Probert and so it’s only appropriate that the two bands join forces. Meanwhile, GUS has begun their own preparations for the Championship Section National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall in October and will be performing the test piece, Symphony in Two Movements, (Edward Gregson) at this joint concert. If you would like to hear two brass bands both at the top of their game, then the Brass United Joint Concert at St. Peter’s Church, Brackley will be the one to attend! Kick off is at 3pm and tickets are available from TicketSource or by contacting Jacky on 07970583342.
A Summer Review
Cracking toast, Gromit!
And a cracking show, too! The techno trousers may have malfunctioned but there was nothing wrong with the two matinee live performances of Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers given by the GUS Band last weekend.
In the opulent grandeur of the Royal Theatre in Northampton, the band entertained the enthusiastic and appreciative audiences starting with a rousing opener of the main theme from Star Wars before launching into the film. The devious villain Feathers McGraw tried his best to dupe Wallace into helping him steal a jewel but Gromit saves the day and the film score composed by Julian Nott and cleverly arranged for brass band set the atmosphere and excitement perfectly. After the interval, the GUS Band presented their Wizard of Oz set as performed to great acclaim at last year’s Brass in Concert.
The audience loved it and the whole show was a memorable occasion for all the family, for both Wallace and Gromit fans and brass band supporters alike. To quote Wallace, “all’s well that ends well, that’s what I say” which summed up this memorable afternoon perfectly.
Nothing Wrong With This!
On Sunday June 29th the GUS Band will be putting on a very special performance at the Royal and Derngate theatre in Northampton. The band will be donning their techno trousers to accompany a showing of the film Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers with a live performance of the soundtrack.
First shown on TV in 1993, this hugely popular film from Nick Park’s Aardman Animations was the second instalment for the loveable Wallace and his dog Gromit who find themselves entangled with a villainous penguin, Feathers McGraw.
Winning the Grand Prix at the World Festival of Animated Film, this will be a really exciting treat for all the family to come and watch. The show will also include the band performing their highly acclaimed Wizard of Oz set from last year’s Brass in Concert Championships.
To join the GUS Band and Wallace and Gromit on their whirlwind adventure alongside a short concert of other family friendly tunes that everyone will love, tickets can be obtained from the Royal and Derngate, https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/ To experience The Wrong Trousers like never before there will be a matinee and early evening performance starting at 2:00pm and 5:00pm respectively. Perfect for all ages, this is a one-of-a-kind experience that you won’t want to miss.
Join us at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton for an afternoon of music, laughter, and cinematic magic!
2025: See The GUS Band live!
Just what the doctor ordered
On the weekend of 7th September, the GUS Band travelled to Yarm in North Yorkshire, a picturesque market town situated on the banks of the River Tees. The Yarm School at the top of the Main Street was the venue for the Dr Martin contest, at which the band was to defend its win from last year. The contest, for champion section bands, requires each band to perform an own choice contest march, solo piece and a test piece. The GUS Band chose to play the march The President, (William German). James Screaton, the band’s principal cornet performed a stunning rendition of the solo Concertpiece for Cornet, (James Curnow) and the band’s performance was rounded off with the challenging tour de force and previous European Championship test piece From Ancient Times, (Jan Van der Roost). After a thorough examination, the adjudicator Leigh Baker pronounced the band super fit and well and awarded us Best March, Best Soloist and overall winner! Dropping only six points out of a total of 250, Leigh Baker ended his remarks with “A cracking show – a real statement of intent from a band on top, top form”.
GUS Summer report 2024
After a busy first half of the year, now is a good time to take stock and review the GUS Bands’ successes over the past six months before it reconvenes after a short summer break to begin preparing for an exciting second half of 2024.
As reported here, January saw the band present the Lower Sections Workshop in Kings Sutton following their recording of the Area Test pieces for the 3rd and 4th sections, while February included the now regular concert at the Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell. This church has such a beautiful acoustic and the concert presented the band with an opportunity to include in the programme the forthcoming Midland’s Area test piece, Variations on an Enigma, (Philip Sparke). So, March saw the band successfully qualify for the National Finals on this piece. The Band returned to the Stroud Subscription Rooms in April with a highly successful concert and also appeared as guests at the inspiring Northampton County youth bands concert, (NMPAT) at the Spinney Hill Theatre, Northampton. May included a trip to Blackpool, competing in the Grand Shield contest, a concert in Morley Town Hall and an afternoon performance at Stowe School. Finally, the Band was back in the recording studio in July and rounded off the first six months of 2024 with a highly enjoyable concert at St Mary’s church, Titchmarsh.
Sadly, we’ve had to say several goodbyes to players but have also welcomed new faces; more to come about these exciting new signing shortly. It was also with great sadness that we heard of the passing of David Read, former principal cornet player with the GUS Band and member of the famously successful GUS quartet in the 1960s.
That was the first six months but looking ahead, firstly, September sees us travelling back up North to the Doctor Martin’s contest in Yarm, to defend our winning title gained last year. The band will also be playing in a joint concert with the Harborough Band at the Welland Park Academy Theatre, Market Harborough on the 28th.
The GUS Band will return to the Royal Albert Hall in October to compete in the National Finals, playing the test piece Harrison’s Dream (Peter Graham). There will also be a concert presented by the band at St Hilda’s Church, Ashford on the 13th.
November will see the band return to the Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell on the 9th to present a Remembrance concert before heading to Gateshead to perform at the Brass in Concert entertainments contest at The Glasshouse. This is a lovely concert hall to play in and GUS are looking forward to performing a new programme there.
Before we know it, December will have arrived with an exciting, festive live performance of the Snowman planned at the Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton on the 1st. There will also be our now annual matinee concerts at St Peter and St Pauls, Kettering on the 7th and 8th and the GUS Band will round off the year with a family Christmas Concert at All Saints Church, Northampton on the 20th.
Tickets for all the concerts for the remainder of this year can be obtained via this website and we really look forward to seeing you soon at one of our appearances.
Regionals Workshops for 3rd and 4th Section Bands
Following their recording of the 3rd and 4th Section Regional test pieces last year, the GUS Band were put through their paces again on Sunday 21st January when they took part in two workshops for conductors and players of bands who are going to be playing these pieces. Facilitated by the British Bandsman and sponsored by Barnes Coaches, over eighty delegates representing bands from afar afield as Northumberland to Cornwall attended the morning or afternoon sessions at the Kings Sutton Millennium Memorial Hall near Banbury, Oxfordshire.
The test piece to be played by 4th Section bands across the country will be Alan Fearnie’s Music of Jock Tamson, which was commissioned by the Scottish Brass Band Association in 2021. This was the focus of the morning workshop and the title of the music refers to a Scottish phrase, which can be interpreted as “we are all God’s children” or in this case, “music for everyone!”. The piece is in three movements: the first, “Nyay Fearties”, is based around a popular Scottish cartoon character, the second, “Inchkeith”, describes the picturesque island in the Firth of Forth while the title of the third is a shortened version of the toast, “Wha’s Like Us?”.
Chris Bond, the Band’s Musical Director, took the Band through some typical warm-up exercises including hymn tunes and a contest march, in this instance the Contestor, before focusing on the test piece. The band played through the test piece as a performance before zoning in on particular aspects that bands could focus on and demonstrating possible pitfalls when performing the piece.
The afternoon workshop concentrated on the 3rd Section test piece, which this year is Corineus by the GUS Band’s very own Chris Bond. Corineus was a medieval warrior and legend has it, the founder of Cornwall and the piece is based around his story. It begins with heraldic fanfares, while the middle section is slower and reflects on Corineus’s daughter’s longing for her husband who has eyes instead for a German princess. The final section portrays a battle and includes a reference to the Cornish national anthem, Trelawny.
The afternoon forum followed a similar format to the morning’s and each of the workshops ended with a question and answer session, with some great observations, concerns and queries raised by the delegates for Chris to answer and advise on. There were lots of appreciative comments from those attending and the GUS Band wishes all the bands in the 3rd and 4th section Regional contest this year the very best of luck.
Where to find us in early 2024!
WHERE TO FIND US IN 2024!
Saturday 17 February
7:30pm
Holy Trinity Church, Near Kettering, NN14 6BQ
Saturday 27 April 6pm Spinney Theatre, Spinney Hill Road, Spinney Hill, Northampton NN3 6DG Saturday 11th May All day The Winter Gardens, Blackpool, FY1 1HL Saturday 18 May 7:30pm Town Hall, Queen Street, Morley, Leeds LS27 9BP