On September 18th 2007, Lieut. Colonel Ray Steadman–Allen will celebrate his 85th birthday, and just four days later, on Saturday 22nd September, SP&S Ltd are hosting a musical commemoration to the life and work of ‘RSA’, at Fairfield Halls, Croydon.
We are now delighted to announce details of some of the special guests who are joining us for this concert. Bramwell Tovey, Musical Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, will be joining with The International Staff Band to present FANTASIA FOR PIANO AND BAND ON ‘CHRIST IS THE ANSWER’.
Susan Turner [vocal] and Derick Kane [euphonium] will also be presenting solos that were especially written for them by Colonel Steadman–Allen, in what promises to be a memorable occasion.
Trevor Caffull, MD of SP&S, said ‘To have such wonderful soloists joining with The International Staff Band and International Staff Songsters enables us to put together a really very special programme of music, representing so many aspects of RSA’s tremendous musical output. I am personally thrilled that Bram Tovey has so generously agreed to join us in what we know will be a truly exciting performance.’
Tickets are now available, exclusively through Fairfield Halls Box Office on 020 8688 9291 or online at www.fairfield.co.uk
Written by Ian McKenzie on August 7th, 2007 with no comments.
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Track lists for the Double CD and Double DVD of our Highlights products from the European Brass Band Championships 2007 have now been confirmed. We’re on course to release the CD later this month while the DVD will be launched at the British Open Brass Band Championship on Saturday 15th September at Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
The test piece for this year’s British Open Brass Band Championship is Kenneth Downie’s brand new work Visions of Gerontius. Study scores are now available exclusively from World of Brass so why not purchase yours now and avoid the queues at the contest?
Also available are study scores for Music for Battle Creek by Philip Sparke, the test piece for the Championship Section of the National Brass Band Championships to be held at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 20th October.
World of Brass is the only place where you can buy BOTH of the study scores for the two major UK contests of the year.
Chris Jaudes is one of the most sought-after lead trumpeters on Broadway and has performed with stars like Celine Dion, Bob Hope, Barry Manilow and Liza Minnelli to name just a few. His solo CD, simply called Chris Jaudes, on which he is accompanied by the New York Staff Band, is now available. An added bonus is the appearance of Joe Alessi (Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra) who joins Chris on two tracks. This recording is sure to cement Chris’ reputation as an outstanding trumpeter further still.
Brass Partout are a virtuoso brass ensemble from Germany and their latest CD Black Castles is now available. The CD features music from six English composers in a timeline commencing with Edward Elgar and finishing with Mark-Anthony Turnage. Of particular interest is Derek Bourgeois’ suite for ten-piece brass, William and Mary.
Bourgeois’ other major work for ten-piece brass, Concerto Grosso, can be heard on BRASS from the fantastic brass section of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Amsterdam. Writing in British Bandsman, Dudley Bright (Principal Trombone of the London Symphony Orchestra) said ‘I can’t help but to enthuse about this CD. From first to last, it exudes a quality to satisfy the most discerning of brass enthusiasts’. Click here to read his full review.
Arrangements for the RSA 85 concert to celebrate the 85th birthday of Ray Steadman-Allen are now racing ahead. The concert will take place on Saturday 22nd September at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. In addition to The International Staff Band and The International Staff Songsters, we are pleased to announce that Bramwell Tovey will be the piano soloist in Fantasia for Piano and Band on ‘Christ is the Answer’. We are thrilled that such a distinguished musician as Mr Tovey is able to take part in this event. Other soloists will include Susan Turner (vocal) and Derick Kane (euphonium) who will both be performing solos especially written for them by Ray Steadman-Allen.
In recent weeks, the Facebook phenomenon has even reached the World of Brass office. Not wishing to feel left out of the latest social networking trend, we started the official World of Brass Facebook group. We invite you to join the World of Brass group to learn a little bit more about us and who we are.
Our next update will be in September when we will inform you of new recordings from Brass Band of Central Florida, Ian Bousfield, Robert Childs and Philip Cobb and also the latest instalment in our History of Brass Band Music series from Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
Written by Ian McKenzie on August 7th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Recordings and Announcements.
