We had our final Friday rehearsal of 2015 last night. With an attendance of 30, we were putting the final touches to the programme for the Lions Carol Concert on Monday. This is going to be a great show!
Also tinged with sadness, it was also the final rehearsal for Joel Asbrey our Solo Euphonium player. A change in shift pattern at work now means he will be working on a Friday night most weeks, and he felt it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the band if he couldn’t fully commit. He will come when he can, though for the time-being that wont be very often.
We are all sorry to see him go, he has played with us since August 2012, and has sat in the Solo Euphonium Chair for a year. He was also the inaugural recipient of the Fred Robson award in 2013.
Best of luck to you Joel!
We have now had a number of enquiries about performances in 2016, so our calendar is filling fast.
If you have an event you would like us to perform at, please utilise the General Enquiries section of the website. In there is a document which gives you all the key requirements for each of our performances.
The sooner you contact us, the more likely we are of being available to play…
At our annual Christmas Concert, this year on the 29th November, we presented the three main awards for the band. The recipients were as follows;
Fred Robson award for most improved player (U-18) went to Jess Blenkinsop
Norman Blades award for the most improved player (O-18) went to Gill Mill
Tony Wilson award for Outstanding Contribution to DSB in 2015 went to Helen Gledhill
These awards were all intensely competitive, with a number of outstanding people in the running for each one. Everybody should be rightly proud of their achievements this year. Congratulations to those who won, and to those who were nearly there!
After attending a couple of rehearsals, Cameron and Logan have decided to join DSB. It is great to welcome them into the band, and they can be heard at our forthcoming Christmas performances.
We also had a visitor on the cornet bench, Becky Norman. She is keen to get back into playing and came to try us out! I hope she enjoyed herself, and we will see her again soon.
Over the past few weeks we have had the pleasure of the company of Drew McAnespie. He has been sitting in on Euphonium and has enjoyed himself so much he has asked to stay on a permanent basis! I hope he continues to enjoy playing with us.
This week, on the invitation of our conductor, brothers Cameron & Logan McGregor came down to play cornet with us. They completed our back row and added a great deal to the sound they produce. Lets hope they also want to stick around!
The ever youthful Richard Gregg has agreed to return to the Principal Cornet chair with immediate effect. He has missed the challenge of the role and is keen to get stuck back in.
This is a great move for the band, and leaves us requiring an Assistant Principal Cornet player to help him out!
Yesterday we had the privilege of playing at the wedding of former long-term Soprano Cornet player Joe Thompson to his horn playing fiancée Rebecca Kitson. We wish them all the best in their new lives together, and hope to see them both soon.
The Last Night of the Proms concert Burton Constable Hall became the final performance of Andy Asbrey as a current member of the band. Unfortunately his shift pattern at work has changed to six days on and two days off, which means that he would only be able to make two rehearsals out of eight, and couldn’t guarantee to be able to get to those either.
Andy has played with us since August 2012, and in that time he has been a valuable asset to us, featuring as a soloist on our 2014 CD Spirit of the Wolds. We are sorry to see him go, and the door will always be open for a return as and when he gets himself a proper job!
We will soon be starting our Autumn performance season, kicking off with the fantastic Last Night of the Proms event at the stunning Burton Constable Hall. Very few tickets remain for this, and there will not be any available at the door so please get your booking form in now! (available on our Concerts page). There will be a couple of new players making their DSB debut on the night, Rosie Wilson on Principal Cornet and Nick Dixon on Kit.
Following this concert, we will be playing at the wedding of former DSB soprano cornet player, Joe Thompson. He will be marrying long-term girlfriend (and horn player) Rebecca Kitson. Also in September, we have been asked to play for the 150th Anniversary of Hull FC at the Boulevard. A significant milestone in the history of Hull itself.
This is an exciting time for the band which will make the performances all the better!
It is with great regret that I have to let you know that 2nd Cornet Player Mark Lynch has decided to step down from the band.
Having played with us since May 2011, he has been a stalwart on the back row. He showed great enthusiasm encouraging the youngsters and will be missed by many. We all wish him the best in the future.
The East Riding Youth Brass Band have launched their fledgling website www.erybb.co.uk
Please take a few minutes to have a look – we will be adding some photos, and any you may have would be really useful!
At our rehearsal this week, we had another visitor. Amy Ruddlesden came over from York to play with us on Baritone. She enjoyed it so much she asked if she could play at our concert in Market Weighton today!
Visitors are always welcome – so if you fancy it, please come along!
After helping out at our jobs in June and attending a few rehearsals, John Hook has agreed to join us on Eb Bass.
John is a stalwart of the CLB Band in Beverley, and will continue to encourage the players there too.
At our rehearsal on Friday, we had a visit from former solo cornet player Toby Woodall. Toby has been away at university for the past few years, and has managed to get himself a job in Driffield for the Summer. We hope to see him a bit more this year!
We also had a visit from a kit player, Nick who seems keen to get back playing again after a short break. We hope to see him at some more rehearsals soon.
I just want to thank all who played during Tour de Yorkshire – we raised £50 for the official charity – The Childrens Hospital of which Bainton Parish Council donated 10.
We also received a thank you note from Bainton Parish Council. It reads;
We would like to thank you and your band for playing whilst the Tour de Yorkshire passed through Bainton. It was a very successful afternoon bringing the community together and we appreciate you all being part of it.
We had another couple of visitors at the rehearsal last night, Simon Ainge the former Euphonium player, and great friend of the band came to listen and Amanda Rank came to play on our front row bench for the evening.
It was great to see them both, and you will be welcome to come back!
Natalie Hook has returned from the Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade National Band Championships as the U18s solo champion!
She played Disco’s Revenge in her first year in this age-group. This follows the past two years where she has been the U-12s National Champion. This is a fantastic achievement, and a huge congratulations from all of us here at DSB!
It is with great disappointment that I have to announce that 1st Baritone player Lucy Grantham has had to resign from the band.
As a recently promoted doctor, she has a permanent appointment at Scarborough Hospital, and the subsequent shift pattern would not allow her to give DSB the commitment she feels is necessary to be fair to everybody else. I am sure I can say on behalf of all of us that she will be missed.
Lucy has been with the band in two spells, both of which have overlapped with Andy’s two periods as MD. Andy said, ‘Lucy has been a great asset to the band in many aspects, of which playing was only a part.’
We wish her all the very best in her new role in Scarborough.
I have the pleasure to announce that last Saturday the 28th March, former DSB Horn Player Hannah Davies married her fiancé Mike Blower.
Best wishes from all of us here at Driffield Band.
It is with great pleasure that I can announce that Tony Allison has agreed to join us full-time.
Tony joined us for a number of rehearsals at the start of the year, and then focussed his time on playing Principal Cornet with the Beverley Brass Band at the North of England Brass Band Championships. After a 22 year association with that band, including many years as Chairman, Tony felt it was time to try something new. It was a difficult decision for him to take after all that time, however they will always be in his heart.
A great addition to our front row, Tony will take his position at our first concert of the season – The Bob Dales Memorial Concert on the 12th April, starting at 2pm in The Old Town Hall.
After sitting in the hotseat since October 2012, Richard Gregg has decided to relinquish his position as principal cornet of DSB. Two and a half years of dedication and hard work have brought out a cracking player, but with job and family commitments building, he feels he cannot give the role the time it requires.
This means we are now on the lookout for a first class Leader to carry on the momentum we currently have.
Ideally, this would be an experienced Principal Cornet player, however it could also be an opportunity for someone who wants to take that next step on the road to Brass Band success.
If this is the role for you, take the opportunity to explore our website to see who we are, and get in touch through the Contact Us section.
The good news is that recent recruit Richard Cook has provided us with a profile which has now been added to the website.
The bad news is that this was the last thing he did before jetting off on a six week adventure down-under! We will not see him until the rehearsal on the 20th March. None of us are jealous that this will be their Summer and he will miss the fantastic weather we have forecast…
All the best to Richard, we really hope the trip is a fantastic adventure for you!
Jessica Blenkinsop has sent through a profile. She will be found in the Euphonium and Baritone Section.
Natalie Hook has also sent through a profile. Hers will be found in the Back Row Cornet Section.
Please take some time to find out about these recent recruits.
You may have noticed that we have added a Former Players section to the menu bar above.
In no way is this a complete record, however we would like to have more information from past players.
We would like to invite any former players to contact us – using the Guest Book – to update us with the relevant information. Details of players from any point in history would be welcome!
We have managed to recruit another Euphonium player to bring us back to three.
Simon Miller has agreed to join us following a two year break from playing.
Simon used to be the Solo Euphonium player with The Cottingham Band when they contested in the Championship Section, and most recently played for Barton Town Band when they represented the North of England at the National Brass Band Championships.
A very experienced hand to support Joel Asbrey in his tenure as Solo Euphonium.
A hearty welcome from all at DSB!
Immediately following Jim’s announcement, Andy approached Joel Asbrey to offer him the opportunity to take over the Solo Euphonium position, which he was all too happy to take on.
This is a great opportunity for Joel, and is a fantastic appointment for DSB. We will all continue to grow well into the future!
There may also be some news about a further Euphonium player recruitment. Watch this space…
Following his happy announcement of the birth of his granddaughter the other day, Solo Euphonium player Jim Johnson has decided to relinquish his position with the band. With his subsequent increase in family commitments, he feels he wouldn’t be able to give the required dedication that the band deserves, and had reluctantly left the band.
Jim has played with the band for four and a half years and has been a key figure over that time. He will be a great loss as a player, and as a personality on the stand.