Well I’ve been thinking about putting my thoughts down online for some time and having read various individuals have finally decide to give it a go!

The last couple of months have been a busy time. In early February I conducted three performances of Castle Rushen High School’s production of  ‘The Wiz’. This was great fun and I must thank all the students and colleagues who performed in the orchestra for working so hard to make it such a fantastic production. The following day saw me pick up a trombone for the first time in a week so when Sheean Prash performed at the Strand Shopping Centre in aid of local head teacher Adrian Shorthouse’s fundraising efforts for the Alzheimer’s Society. Adrian is running the London Marathon in April and at the time of writing is Alzheimer’s leading fundraiser.

The next few weeks were taken up with rehearsals for Douglas Town Band’s trip to the North West Regional Brass Band Championships in Blackpool. Mark Lean of the Rushen Silver Band joined me in the trombone section again on 2nd Trombone. Mark was recently offered a place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and returning on Bass Trombone was former student Daniel Mitchell who is also currently studying at the RNCM. So off we went to Blackpool in the penultimate rehearsal all was looking very promising for a respectable performance of Goff Richard’s test piece Cross Patonce, but sadly on stage nerves set in early on unsettling the performance and led to a disappointing result. Alas that is the nature of contesting!


The air of anticipation surrounding the Championship Section competition made for some great performances especially with two of the North West’s heavyweights drawing straight after each other. Fairey’s definitely had the edge over Foden’s for me and I was sorry not to see the winning performance by Leyland, but sadly my travel arrangements couldn’t be changed.


Upon returning to the Island it was time to commence rehearsals for the Isle of Man Symphony Orchestra’s Spring concert repertoire. This was an all Elgar programme that included Lionel Tertis’ transcription of Elgar’s Cello Concerto performed by IOMSO leader Tom Field on Viola. Tom dedicated the performances to his late wife Priscilla Hills, herself a highly respected cellist. The programme also included the Enigma Variations and the prelude and Angel’s Farewell from Elgar’s great oratorio The Dream of Gerontius.

The following day was the first Sheean Prash rehearsal since our outing at the Strand. This was the first chance for the quintet to discuss and look at the repertoire for our forthcoming ‘By Request’ concert at Peel Cathedral on 22nd May. A number of requests have already come in and this formed the basis of our rehearsal along with a couple of new pieces. This was also our first visit to the newly refurbished Laxey Working Men’s Institute. What a wonderful job they have done; it has been quite some years since I last visited the LWMI (to give you some idea how long ago - Laxey Band was still in existence).

The next evening was a very enjoyable rehearsal with a very welcoming Rushen Silver Band in preparation for their Peel Pensioners Concert the following Wednesday evening. What a long way the band has come in the last few years under John Kinley’s inspiring leadership. I wish them well in the forthcoming Manx Music Festival next month.

Now the IOMSO concerts were out of the way it was time to focus on the next concert on the calendar. The concert was entitled A Celebration of Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a programme that featured much of the music from Queen Elizabeth II Coronation in 1953. The brass section included IOMSO regulars Jennifer Cook, Chris Weeks and yours truly, along with guest brass players from Manx Concert Brass. A number of items in the programme featured fanfare trumpets including arrangements of The Royal Anthem by both Arthur Bliss and Benjamin Britten. Charles Guard’s arrangement of O Land Of Our Birth Ralph Vaughan Williams setting of the hymn Old Hundredth and a rare performance of Arthur Sullivan’s Te Deum in it’s entirety. Other highlights included Kristene Sutcliffe’s exquisite performance of Mozart’s aria Exultate Jubilate, Handel’s Zadok the priest and Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah and a rousing performance of Hubert Parry’s I Was Glad. The concert was concluded with Mandy Griffin singing Rule Britannia in a resplendent Union Jack dress accompanied by the joint forces of the IOMSO and IOMCS.
Congratulations must go to both Julian Power for doing such a fantastic job of putting the programme together preparing all the singers so well and directing the IOMSO and IOMCS so well in these challenging works and to compere for the concert was Charles Guard who as ever had painstakingly researched every item of the programme.


So back to rehearsals with Douglas Town Band this was the first rehearsal after the rather disappointing performance in Blackpool and we were looking at ideas for the basis of a guild programme. A whole variety of pieces were tried and then it was thrown open to the band members if they had any ideas…

So after a busy week which included last minute preparations for students taking ABRSM graded exams and the penultimate rehearsal of the school wind band before their short concert for next for the Southern Befrienders this weekend saw the long awaited 40th Anniversary rehearsal and concert of the Manx Youth Orchestra. This had been organised by John Kinley of the Isle of Man Department of Education and Children’s Music Service. John had liaised with current Head of Music service Maggie Richardson and past music service leaders Bernard Osborne and Graham Kirkland in putting together a short programme that represented their consecutive eras with the orchestra. John got the concert off to a rousing start with the March from Malcolm Arnold’s Little Suite for Orchestra No.1 which was an apt opener given Arnold was a former patron of the orchestra and that it was a personal favourite of Alan Pickard’s.

After a few words from John he handed over to Graham Kirkland who told the orchestra his first involvement with the orchestra dated back to 1975 when he was a guest string tutor on a MYO residential course in Port St Mary. He conducted Aaron Copland’s Hoe Down from Rodeo this was a lively rendition with some fine trumpet playing from both Alfie Leach a current trumpeter with the MYO and Richard Watterson who is now an army director of music with the Royal Electrical and Mechancal Engineers Band who proved he is still a very respectable trumpet player.


Graham handed the baton over to current MYO conductor Maggie Richardson who conducted Michael Kamen’s Band of Brothers. This was a piece I have to confirm to not knowing particularly well although I am a fan of the composer’s music and it proved to have a lot of the Kamen hallmarks that are evident in his Symphonic suite from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves which I was lucky enough to play some years ago at university with the massed bands of the Royal Marines.

So to the finale of the concert and the baton was passed to Bernard Osborne who had been involved with the MYO from it’s inception back in 1971 and is the current Chairman of the Friends of the Manx Youth Orchestra who were underwriting the costs of the concert. He had chosen an arrangement of the Berceuse and Finale from Igor Stravinsky’s masterwork the Firebird Suite. The solo bassoon melody played by the music service’s new double reed specialist Charlotte Unwin Stephen Caley an A level music student at Castle Rushen High School played the horn solo wonderfully, especially given that he was transposing French horn parts in F on his Eb tenor horn.

After the finale Bernard concluded the concert by saying it had been a pleasure and a privilege to be involved with the Manx Youth Orchestra for 40 years.

A brief reception after the concert showed some of memorabilia of newspaper cuttings, photos, posters and programmes accumulated over the last 40 years. 

A social in Bar George in the evening was a nice mix of players and some music service staff from across the years.

Well done to John Kinley for all his hard work in putting together a fabulous occasion marking 40 years of music making, friendships and happy memories.