News

B Band terrific result.
On Sunday the 29th September the b band under the direction of Gareth Brindle attended the inaugural entertainment contest in Chorley which was organised by Red Admiral brass band.
The band played in the section which included 1st and Championship section bands.
Playing on number two draw in the contest, out of 18 bands, the band played a programme dedicated to the life of Helen Smart.
At the result, the band were awarded 5th place, an excellent result against some quality bands.
They were also awarded Best cornets and best basses of the contest.






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VISIT OF THE HIGH SHERIFF OF GREATER MANCHESTER

It was a pleasure to welcome Mrs. Mary-Liz Walker, The High Sheriff of Greater Manchester (representative of King Charles! ) down to our Youth Band this morning.
The High Sheriff visits many voluntary organisations across the County to say thank you for their work and commitment to the community.
Councillor Pat Draper and her colleagues were also down to visit this morning.
It is such an honour for the organisation to be recognised in this way; and is an ongoing testament to the ethos of Pemberton Band and all of the hard work put into the Youth Band by John Don-Duncan.
The High Sheriff commented on how much she had enjoyed listening to the rehearsal and the improvement made by the players during the morning.
​She spent several hours with us spending time to talk to the youngsters and the conductors and representatives of the organisation.

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THE AREA 2023
On Sunday the 26th February Both the A band and the B band played in the National Championships of Great Britain North West Region at the Winter gardens Blackpool.
The B band were first on stage, in the Opera house. This was the first time that the B band had played in the First section of the area qualifiers having been promoted last year.
The test piece was
'A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A KNIGHT'
Sixteens bands were competing in the section and our band was drawn to play number 7.
The band were on top form and produced an excellent performance under the guidance of Gareth Brindle, Gareth had stepped in to assist the band at short notice.
At the conclusion of their performance there were a couple of hours wait for the results.
7th was the place achieved a very creditable placing due to the fact that it was the first time playing against bands that have had years in this section and Championship section.
Below a few photos of the band on stage.
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The A band were the next to take the stage at the conclusion of the 1st Section.
The chosen test piece for the Championship section was 
THE RED PRIEST
The band was drawn to play 8th, again under the direction of Gareth Brindle who had stepped in due to our resident conductor Ben Dixon having been taken ill prior to the contest.
This piece had moved away from the normal formation of brass bands,
​Once again the band gave a very creditable performance and were awarded 5th place.
Again there are several photos below of the A band on stage.
​As an organisation we would like to thank Gareth for all the hard work he has put in over the previous weeks getting both bands ready for the contest.

A MISSED OPPORTUNITY
​Anyone who did't attend the concert at the band rooms on Sunday 22nd January really did miss a treat.
There was a great selection of music and some outstanding solo performances from the principal cornet (Joanne Johnson) and Euphonium (Nick Giles). not to be outdone the trombone section entertained with the trombone trio Trombola.
snippets of the performances can be seen on our Facebook pages.

The next concert at the bandroom will be on 22nd April and given by Hammonds band from Yorkshire.

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Our 'A' Band have secured a number of high quality  lockdown signings, with James Stone signing on Solo Horn, Ellie Warren,Lee Davenport,Karl Stott and Rebbeca Jane joining the cornet team, whilst Kristian Howles joins the bass section and Ross Manning on Percussion.

Ellie Warren joins the back row on Repiano Cornet, signing from the Elland Band. Ellie is currently studying Geography at Liverpool University, whilst Lee returns to the band on 3rd cornet bringing a wealth of experience having played with a number of the North Wests leading bands.

James Stone joins the band after a 18 year break from banding. As a teenager James played for Seindorf Beaumaris, Gwynedd & Môn, was a member of the NYBBW, and also won several solo prizes including at national Eisteddfods. In September James joined the current Uni Brass champions, Salford.

Ross is also a student at Salford University studying music and also signing from the Elland band. Before his university life, Ross was the Principal Percussionist of the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland and also played for the Scottish Championship band, Bo'ness & Carriden.

Kristian Howles has joined the band on Bb bass from Wardle Anderson. In 2014, Kris was solo Eb Bass with the band when they performed in the Championship Section for the first time in their history.
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The band also welcome Rebecca Jane and Karl Stott to the front row team. Karl has played in many bands in the North West and Wales, including Northop Silver and Rainford Band.  Rebecca has also played for many bands in the North West and Yorkshire, including BT and Pennine Brass. They are both graduates of Salford University where they studied under David King, Brian Taylor and Howard Evans.

The band are back in rehearsals working hard and looking forward to our upcoming engagements later in the year.