BASBWE Events

2010 RNCM Wind and Brass Weekend in association with BASBWE  ::   Canford details  ::   Previous events

2009 RNCM Wind Weekend in association with BASBWE  ::   2007 BASBWE International Wind Festival  ::   Participating bands  ::   Canford 2007/2008  ::   Canford 2009  ::   Previous events


Conductors, composers and performers  ::  Bands

BASBWE INTERNATIONAL WIND FESTIVAL
RSAMD, GLASGOW 28th June - 1st July 2007
by Timothy Reynish

Thirteen concerts, thirteen lectures, two conducting workshops, one repertoire session - this was a Festival covering a huge range of music and ensembles, from the refined Harmonie of Haydn and Beethoven to Big Band Jazz, the latest contemporary concertos from USA and the Czech Republic, world premiere previews anticipating the following week's WASBE Conference, a fairy story with a twist, and a world premiere from one of Scotland's leading composers, James MacMillan.

Our American colleagues tend to put catchy slogans to their conferences -

INSPIRE - INVIGORATE

REFRESH - REVITALISE - REJUVENATE

CONDUCTORS & COMPOSERS - CONNECT & CHANGE

I have never attended any wind conference or Festival with such a wealth of professional virtuosity on display in the service of really great music. Whether it was for wind was irrelevant, but there were no strings attached, and my list below of new repertoire which I recommend exploring is limited and leaves out a great deal of super music which you might prefer. Anyway, this is my choice for my next dozen concerts, if I had them to conduct. I have omitted some remarkable chamber works, such as Cinderella or the Haydn, as well as all that jazz...and what a wealth we were offered in clinics and sessions.

Concertos

An Elegy for Ur (solo oboe) Edwin Roxburgh Maecenas
Brooklyn Bridge (solo clarinet) Michael Daugherty PeerMusic
Dead Elvis (solo bassoon) Michael Daugherty PeerMusic
Flute Concerto Marco Pütz Bronsheim
Image in Stone (mezzo soprano) Stephen McNeff Maecenas
Trumpet Concerto Marco Pütz Bronsheim
Tuba Concerto Juraj Filas James Gourlay


Works for School Band
Aeolian Carillons Edwin Roxburgh Maecenas
Choralis Tonalis Marco Pütz Bronsheim
Dance Sequence Marco Pütz Maecenas
Deep Soul Diving Emily Howard Maecenas (in December)
Freya's Call Andrew Duncan www.lewismusicpress.com
Hymn for Africa Peter Meechan www.petemeechan.com
Passacaglia Timothy Jackson Maecenas
Sun Low Over Water Bill Connor bilmus@tiscali.co.uk
Tales from Andersen Martin Ellerby Studio


Opening Concert
The opening gala concert set the scene, given by the Wind Orchestra of our hosts, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with four conductors and two amazing soloists. Maximiliano Martin, principal clarinet of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and James Gourlay, Director of Music at the RSAMD. Martin was the soloist in the British premiere of Michael Daugherty's Brooklyn Bridge, an exciting and extrovert score which was given full dramatic treatment by both soloist and orchestra.

James Gourlay has been assiduously building a repertoire of  original works for solo tuba, and the Concerto by Juraj Filas is a terrific addition to the repertoire. There is no doubting Filas' heritage, snatches of Dvorak, Smetana, Martinu and Janacek might be discerned; the melodic invention is engaging and there is a refreshing energy and spontaneity about the piece which will bring it many admirers.

Gourlay shared the conducting honours with three members of RSAMD staff: Bryan Allen, Head of Brass and co-artistic director, Nigel Boddice, who is Scotland's leading wind orchestra conductor, and the Principal of the RSAMD, John Wallace, so standards of performance were guaranteed.

The concert itself was a game of two halves, starting with Sowetan Spring by James MacMillan and Edwin Roxburgh's Time's Harvest, two uncompromising contemporary works, the Roxburgh aimed at a good High School or Honours Band, while the MacMillan demands professional players on top form, especially in the horn section. Both were given convincing performances. In the second half, the musical mood changed, the Filas Tuba Concerto was always interesting, often charming, Whitacre's Cloudburst seemed old fashioned and out of place as did the wind band arrangement of Malcolm Arnold's Peterloo Overture.

Composers in Residence

One exciting factor in conferences or festivals is the chance to meet composers, hear them talk about their works either formally or informally. Philip Sparke, Guy Woolfenden, James MacMillan, Rory Boyle, Eddie McGuire, Raymond Head, Stephen McNeff, Martin Ellerby, Jim Pywell, Christopher Noble, Oliver Searle and Emily Howard were all present, and there were two composers featured "in residence" - Marco Pütz and Edwin Roxburgh. The Friday morning concert by Our Lady's High School Wind Band provided two BASBWE premieres, a teasing exploration of a large number of keys in Marco's beautifully controlled Choralis Tonalis, and Andrew Duncan's Freya's Call. Duncan is better known for his brass band repertoire, but this work would be well worth school bands looking at. His publishing house is Lewis Music, 124 Newmarket, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, HS2 0ED, Tel +44 (0)1851 706549, sales@lewismusicpress.com

Boyle
Putz Roxburgh MacMillan Boyle

No time for lunch at this conference - from 1pm there was a concert again full of virtuosity, given by the RSAMD Faculty Wind Ensemble. Two world premieres here, the biggest for wind ensemble was Rory Boyle's angry Behemoths, a vicious attack on the proliferation of wind farms in some of Scotland's most beautiful; and hitherto unspoilt countryside. I am not a great devotee of wind quintets, but James MacMillan's early Two Movements, recently discovered, is a major find, though it will need a conductor of the caliber of MacMillan unless it attracts a lot of rehearsal time. Back to Daugherty for Dead Elvis, a wonderful spoof for solo bassoon on the music of the great man. Rehearsals meant that I had to miss what looked to be another excellent programme by Nigel Boddice and the West of Scotland Schools Concert Band, with Eddie McGuire's Sirocco, Marco Pütz' Dance Sequence and the world premiere of Edwin Roxburgh's glittering Aeolian Carillons.

John Wallace, Principal, Soloist and 2nd Trumpet

So to Friday evening and a pre-WASBE concert by the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble; I have always loved Finnegan's Wake by Archie Potter, one of the few really funny pieces in our repertoire, and our programme continued with another work by Pütz, the British Premiere of his Trumpet Concerto. This is a fine work in three movements, cast in a traditional language but as with all of his music, characterised by unexpected turns of phrase, and unusual harmonic twists. The slow movement is built on the Bach Chorale O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden, and we are left wanting more. The first and last movements are classical in structure, in regular sonata form. It was a rare privilege to hear one of the world's greatest trumpet soloists working with a Youth Wind Ensemble, and despite the pressures of being Principal of the RSAMD, there he was on the same day at lunchtime, playing second trumpet to a student in the Stravinsky Octet. John always plays with fire, energy and humour. I remember a really funny performance of the Hummel many years ago, when he reduced audience and orchestra to waves of mirth. The concerto was played with panache, alone well worth the delegates fee as an object lesson in performance. I cannot wait to get the recording made by Phillipe Schartz and the Luxembourg Military Band, to be released at the official world premiere in October.

Wallace McNeff

Marco Pütz has, I think, a knack of writing extremely well for solo instruments, and this concerto, like the Flute Concerto which we heard on Saturday, is a major addition to the repertoire. It was a joint commission between Schartz of the Royal National Orchestra of Wales and my wife and myself in memory of our third son, and the IYWE concert had two more of our commissions, the world premiere preview of Stephen McNeff's moving song cycle, Image in Stone, and Kenneth Hesketh's uproariously passionate Serbian lovesong with variations, Vranjanka. I am of course biased, but I think that all three works will prove to be very popular, and would recommend anyone looking for new repertoire to explore these works, whether traditional by Pütz, ethnic by Hesketh, or for voice and smaller ensemble, by McNeff.

Cinderella on Saturday
Saturday at 9.30 found us again marvelling at the RSAMD student wind ensemble, giving a superb performance of Rory Boyle's tour de force, Cinderella for narrator, wind quintet and piano. It is hard to bring off and sustain a joke in music, but this version of Roald Dahl is quite brilliant. It was followed by the Poulenc Sextet, full or wit, charm and pathos, great programming.

Two Slow Premieres
We keep commenting on the problems of writing easy music for schools, and amusing music for all of us. Equally hard is writing slow music which does not become sentimental, and the lunchtime concert had premieres of two slow pieces. Tim Jackson's fine Passacaglia was originally written as the last movement of a work for thirty-two horns, and on hearing this I immediately commissioned the transcription for wind. It is a wonderful work of seven minutes continuous development, half the length of S.L.O.W. by Bill Connor, or to give it the full title Sun Low Over Water, another extraordinary bit of sustained writing with a filmic quality which never becomes Hollywoody. The Glasgow Wind Band gave assured performances of both, together with the Pütz Flute Concerto and a Shostakovich Scherzo arranged by Andrew Duncan.

A rehearsal sadly meant another missed concert, the joint Sheffield and Manchester Universities Band, the second performance of Adam Swayne's Go Down Hoe Down, Holst's Hammersmith, two Grainger marches, a 70th birthday present to David Bedford of his Ronde for Isolde, and the latest commission by Charles Camilleri, Il Nostro Tempo.

... the more we encourage composers to use the wind ensemble, the better it's going to be, particularly with the generation of wind players that's out there now
Sir Simon Rattle

A quarter of a century ago when BASBWE was formed, we looked forward to the day when there would be a proliferation of wind orchestras to match the fine amateur symphony orchestras throughout the country. A lasting legacy of this Conference must be the newly formed Scottish National Wind Orchestra, conductor Russell Cowieson, who gave the Gala Concert on Saturday evening in another well planned programme with plenty of contrast.

Secret Rites Akira Miyoshi
Old Home Days Charles Ives arr. Elkus
An American Song Alan Fletcher
Resonance Christopher Marshall
 
Adagio Joaquin Rodrigo
An Elegy for Ur Edwin Roxburgh
Spiel Ernst Toch

Two witty pieces, the Ives and the Toch, an extraordinary Japanese piece by a pupil of Dutilleux which in some five minutes encompasses a huge variety of styles and textures, and a new piece from Alan Fletcher which was for me the only disappointing performance, not quite capturing the mazy dreamlike quality of some performances I have heard. The end of Resonance was beautifully managed under the eloquent baton of Mark Heron, as the birds of the New Zealand rain-forest gradually swamped the calls of the wind and the horn chords.

Ur of the Chaldees
The Roxburgh is another William Reynish commission, a deeply heartfelt work, at times elegiac, at times virtuosic, played wonderfully by the principal oboe of the Hallé Orchestra, and given strong support by the orchestra. This is essentially a cri de coeur about the despoliation of one of the oldest cities of the world, Ur of the Chaldees. Over 6,000 years old, it is now a military base, with a huge Burger King and Pizza Hut built on the incredible archaeology of the past.

Cowieson Rancourt

Apart from the virtuosity of Stephane Rancourt, the outstanding performance was perhaps the Rodrigo Adagio, difficult to manage and catch the changes of mood, hard to balance, but this is a very good community ensemble of enormous potential, under a conductor who is developing all of the time. What a great project this is, and let us hope for some recordings, some broadcasts, some commissions and a regular concert series.

Second Manchester School
Manchester and Sheffield Universities Joint Honours Band
It was sometimes difficult to get a real glimpse of the works in the repertoire session on Sunday morning. Rehearsals went on during the session, discussions with the audience and orchestra resulted in textures emerging which did not add much to our perception of the pieces. Jim Pywell's Yellow Stripe I would like to visit again, subjecting as it does Western compositional techniques to African musical influences, a kind of latterday Sowetan Spring. I could not make much of Chris Noble's Furore on a first hearing, and it was a relief to settle into the cosy world of Hans Christian Andersen and the Suite written by Martin Ellerby.

I already knew Daniel Basford's Selections from Variations on a National Theme though you don't hear much of the original. He is a bright young composer as are two other Manchester trained composers, Peter Meechan whose Hymn for Africa is another ingenious set of variations, aimed very successfully at less experienced bands, and Emily Howard whose Deep Soul Diving I commissioned. It came over strongly here, with an elegance lacking in a great deal of our wind music. Three composers to watch out for; is there a Second Manchester School on the cards? Conductors were Chairman Elect, Philip Robinson, Treasurer, Tony Houghton and Mark Heron, whose input into our website, Winds and the Conference is enormous. BASBWE is in safe hands with the younger generation taking over.

Basford Meechan Howard

I was unable to get to many of the lectures and discussions, but one I was delighted not to miss was on the Wind Band Movement in Democratic Portugal given by the very engaging and eloquent Andre Granjo. A passionate expert on the past of the Portuguese band movement, he is working hard on bringing the bands up-to-date with contemporary ideas and getting the best Portuguese composers to write for them. This was followed by the West Lothian Schools Jazz Ensemble in a programme covering a wide range of styles. Jim Pywell asked me why wind orchestras cannot play as rhythmically as jazz bands, I always wonder why we don't have the same passion for our repertoire and performance as they do.

Guy Woolfenden at 70
To the final concert in the deadly position of Sunday afternoon. Guy as former Chairman knows well the dangers, and it seemed disaster would be compounded when NOW, the Northampton Orchestral Winds, were unable to get the money together for the trip to Glasgow. An inspired suggestion by the artistic organisers resulted in a wind dectet, and a delightful programme of Haydn and Beethoven, framing three chamber works by Guy. Wit, charm, elegance, sometimes passion, all of the emotional elements which we look for in music were there, without the noise and tub-thumping that so much of our repertoire calls for. This was urbane music-making at its best, and the soloists of NOW were given their head and allowed to shine.

Guy wrote our first BASBWE commission back in 1983, Gallimaufry. Since then, he and Jane his wife and publisher, have contributed enormously to the wealth of music which has built up in the last quarter of a century, both through his own compositions and their publications. They have both been on the BASBWE Executive and have worked tirelessly for conductors, composers and players.

This Conference caught a lot of the excitement of the 80's and 90's, when we were hearing new works by Guy and others, hearing great bands emerging, getting involved in education and recording projects and developing links with WASBE, CBDNA and other associations. The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama has superb facilities second to none, with a wealth of studio and concert hall space and a great exhibition space for the Trade. Musically this was one of the strongest I can remember, with virtuosity fused with great composition and the strongest support from the bands and ensembles.

For a bumper 45 page article containing Tim's reviews of 3 other major wind conferences in 2007, click here.

2007 International Wind Festival
Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama
Thursday 28th June (evening) to 1st July 2007

A host of big name clinicians, guest conductors, soloists & composers-in-residence are being lined up for the festival. Confirmed participants include:

Former Head of Music to the Royal Shakespeare Company, for which he composed 150 scores, conductor-composer Guy Woolfenden has written several popular works for wind orchestra, including Gallimaufry and Illyrian Dances, which are performed and recorded world wide. Guy was awarded the OBE for services to music  in the 2007 New Year Honours List. We are delighted that Guy will conduct the closing concert of the Festival, in this his 70th birthday year.
Tim Reynish founded basbwe in 1982 and since then has been at the forefront of wind music in the UK and internationally. A former Head of Wind & Percussion at the Royal Northern College of Music, he developed the college's wind orchestra into an ensemble with a world wide reputation. Tim has been responsible, either through the RNCM, Basbwe, or his own generosity, for commissioning over 40 new works for wind orchestra. In his youth, he also bore a remarkable visual resemblance to Shostakovich! A measure of Tim's fame / notoriety, if one was necessary, is that here is even a "Timothy Reynish Tribute Page" on Facebook.
Mark Fonder is a professor of music at Ithaca College of Music, one of the leading conservatories in the US. He is the conductor of the Ithaca College Concert Band and has been teaching conducting and instrumental music education courses at the college since 1989.
Jon Mitchell is professor of music at the University of Massachusetts Boston where he teaches instrumental music and music education, and is conductor of the University Orchestra. Jon has a keen research interest in the music of Gustav Holst and will present a clinic and performance of Fugue a la Gigue.
John Wallace is the Principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His professional playing career included spells with the Festival Ballet, Northern Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,  and London Symphony Orchestra,  before becoming Principal Trumpet of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Eventually he gained a reputation as a soloist after playing at the Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. He formed his own brass interest ensemble, the Wallace Collection, made many CDs, and played with orchestras as diverse as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pan-African Orchestra.
James Gourlay is the Director of the School of Music at the RSAMD. One of the world's finest tuba players he held positions with CBSO, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Zurich Opera before joining the RNCM as head of brass and then Head of School of Wind & Percussion. He was a a member of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and has released several solo recordings of solo tuba music.

As a conductor, he is particularly known in the brass band world, having worked with many of the top bands in Europe and the UK. He also conducts the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain regularly.
Bryan Allen was appointed Head of Brass at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1995, and prior to this enjoyed a varied career, primarily as a trumpet player for 17 years with the world renowned Fine Arts Brass Ensemble, touring broadcasting and recording worldwide. In addition, he has worked with the majority of Britain's leading orchestra, and was co-principal trumpet with the English Symphony Orchestra from 1980 - 1995, appearing as soloist on numerous occasions.

Bryan is the Director of Brass Explosion in Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and of Brass Spectacular, held biannually in Scotland.
Marco Putz has composed over 25 works for wind orchestra and his music is performed and recorded worldwide. He also teaches at the Conservatory of Luxembourg. A number of Marco's works will be performed during the festival.
Russell Cowieson studied saxophone at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and at the Guildhall. He has studied conducting with Timothy Reynish, Baldur Brönniman and at Canford with George Hurst. Russell is the conductor of the Edinburgh University Symphony Orchestra and Cambridgeshire Youth Wind Orchestra and also works with various RSAMD jorchestras and ensembles.

Russell has spent much of his career developing the talents of young musicians. His outstanding work in this area was recognised when he became the first recipient of the first Yamaha Instrumental Teacher of the Year Award in 1998.
Stéphane Rancourt was born in Quebec in 1967. In Canada, he was the first oboist to win the Sylva Gelber Award and also won the 1991 Prix d`Europe. From 1995 to 2003, he was Principal Oboe with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He is a member of Paragon Ensemble Scotland and Professor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Since 2003, he has held the position of Principal Oboe with the Hallé Orchestra.
Maximiliano Martín is principal clarinet of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, has an international solo career, and teaches at the RSAMD. As a soloist he has performed with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife and Macedonian Philharmonic. In addition to the SCO, he has played as guest principal with the LSO, BBC Symphony and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. His new album Fantasía and his recording of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the SCO have been released this year by Linn Records.
Mark Heron studied tuba at the RSAMD and RNCM, and then conducting at the RNCM and in international master classes with, amongst others, Jorma Panula and Neeme Jarvi. He works as an ensemble conductor at the RNCM and is Music Director of the University of Manchester Symphony Orchestra and the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra. He regularly guest conducts orchestras, wind orchestras and contemporary music groups in the UK, Europe and further afield. Mark also teaches conducting at the RNCM, for the Royal Air Force, and at Canford Summer School.
Dr. Milton Allen is the Director of Bands at Eastern Illinois University where he conducts the Wind Symphony, Collegiate Band, teaches undergraduate conducting, guides the graduate wind conducting program and oversees all aspects of Eastern's band program. A 17-year veteran of the public school rehearsal room, Dr. Allen's refreshing and practical approach to music education has taken him throughout the United States, Canada, and England as a clinician and guest conductor.

Allen earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree with honors from the University of North Texas, the Masters degree in conducting from the University of Missouri-Columbia, the Diploma of Fine Arts in Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band from the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the Doctor of Musical Arts from The Ohio State University
Edwin Roxburgh was born in 1937 in Liverpool. He studied composition at the Royal College of Music with Herbert Howells, in France with Nadia Boulanger and in Italy with Luigi Dallapiccola. Later studies were at St John's College, Cambridge. In addition to being one of the UK's foremost composers, Roxburgh is also a professional oboist and conductor.  Has written opera and orchestral, choral and chamber music as well as works (some with electronics) for solo instruments.

2007 International Wind Festival
Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama
Thursday 28th June (evening) to 1st July 2007

We are delighted to announce the following bands:e In the run up to the festival, all of the performing bands will be featured on this page. We began with the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble - click here for an archive of that feature. Next up are the Glasgow Wind Band - click here. An exciting collaboration at the Festival will be a specially formed orchestra comprising members of the Manchester and Sheffield University Wind Orchestras, conducted by Philip Robinson and Anthony Houghton.

Joint Manchester and Sheffield University Wind Orchestra

With the 2007 BASBWE International
Wind Festival falling within the summer vacation, plus the fact that both bands from Sheffield and Manchester have had incredibly busy years, it was decided that the best way forward would be to join forces, and form a group made up from available players from both bands. MUWO has celebrated its 10th Anniversary with a sold-out concert at the RNCM in Manchester, and has recently teamed up with both SUWO and the Leeds University Union Music Society Symphonic Wind Orchestra to present 'A Grand Celebration of Wind Music' at the Firth Hall in Sheffield, where the premiere of Camilleri's In Nostro Tempo was given.

The repertoire to be performed at the IWF will include second performances of In Nostro Tempo, Adam Swayne's Go Down Hoe Down, along with works by Bedford (70 this year), Ellerby (50 this year), Holst and Grainger.


Manchester University Wind Orchestra

Manchester University Wind Orchestra (MUWO) was formed in October 1996 by its Musical Director Philip Robinson, and from quite humble beginnings with a core of forty players, the group has now grown to seventy players and includes students, alumni and staff from The University of Manchester, and others from around the region.

MUWO's approach is simple and unique, which is perhaps why, unlike many university wind ensembles, the band's members have become so dedicated, many staying on after graduating. Regardless of ability and degree course, MUWO takes on players with only one prerequisite - that they are willing to have fun, play confidently, and put in 100 percent effort. MUWO's current home is the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, in the Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama. Here the ensemble rehearses weekly and performs three concerts a year. Alongside this regular season of concerts, MUWO has travelled on many successful tours throughout Europe, including the Czech Republic, Germany, and Belgium to name a few. The band has also been asked to perform at the BASBWE/RNCM International Wind Festival on several occasions, and has recently gained its first Gold Award at the ncbf National Festival at The Sage, Gateshead. Visit the MUWO website .

Sheffield University Wind Orchestra Biography

The Sheffield University Wind Orchestra, run by the Music Department, aims to give a high quality ensemble experience for players, drawn from the whole University, by exploring a large selection of the best of the wide reaching repertoire, now available for symphonic wind orchestra, at its weekly rehearsals and to work to produce exciting and dynamic concert programmes and events. We actively encourage new music to be written for the medium both from within the Music Department and beyond.

The Orchestra has established a pattern of high profile concerts during the year including a University Firth Hall Series Event in April, a Winter charity concert (December) in a non-university venue, a short European tour in May and a presentation (usually of lighter music) at the Summer Festival in June.

Last year highlights were winning a Silver Award at the National Concert Band Festival and prestigious performances in Sheffield, London and Le Touquet in France. Visit their website .