Contests – Carlton Brass

Midlands Area 2020

8th March 202017th January 2022 By Dave RuttNo Comments

The band have been exceptionally busy preparing for the 2020 Midlands Regional Contest in Bedworth. We’ve had some ups and downs over the last year or so and some serious ground to make up in the First Section table after last year’s disappointing result. We were hoping for a good result this year and we got one: 7th! This was only possible thanks to the hard work of all involved, especially those new to band. We had to find a whole new percussion section and one or two other players, but everyone that joined fitted in wonderfully with our existing members. Everyone pulled together and we were really happy with our preparations. Legacy Our performance on stage was everything we wanted - nothing was left in the band room. We played it absolutely as best as we could and we were delighted with the result. We avoided relegation to the Second Section and have improved our position for next year too. We had some really...

Ready for the Regionals

6th March 202010th January 2022 By Dave RuttNo Comments

The 2020 Area contest is just around the corner - tomorrow! - and we will be finishing off our preparations of the test piece (Tom Davoren's excellent Legacy) tonight. We've had some excellent rehearsals recently under the direction of Geoff Wood - along with the assistance of Tony Wilson - and we are primed to give as good a performance in Bedworth for many a year. The band is sounding great! Gary Glover - solo euphonium Helping us get to this stage are a number of new players, some of which we have seen before. We have been looking for a solo euphonium player for a little while and we are really pleased to welcome Gary Glover to the band - again. Gary has previous form with Carlton, both as a player and as musical director. He is an exceptional musician and we are very pleased to have him back with us. Trombones Our trombone section has also been bolstered with two new...

French Open 2018

5th June 201810th January 2022 By Dave RuttNo Comments

Saturday the 2nd June saw Carlton Brass take part in the 24th French Open in Amboise. This is a contest open to international entries; the band being drawn against competitors from France, the Netherlands, Norway, Jersey and a number of UK bands. This was the first time Carlton has entered this competition and our first trip abroad in over ten years. It is also the first time in living memory that we have competed against our (almost) namesakes at Carlton Main Frickley. The contest takes in three components - a March (very much like the Whit Friday Marches), a 25 minute programme that includes a test piece, and a 30 minute outside entertainment programme to a local audience. This all takes place in the medieval town of Amboise in the Loire Valley region of France. It is a very beautiful location for a contest, especially for the march and entertainment stages which are set in the shadows of the stunning Chateau...

NEMBBA 2018

27th February 201810th January 2022 By Dave RuttNo Comments

The North East Midlands Brass Band contest arrives around this time each year, usually two weeks before the Regional Contest. Bands are encouraged to enter as we are required to play the same test piece as the Regional Contest and we will receive some very useful feedback from the adjudicator that will be helpful later on. Carlton Brass enter every year, and this year saw four bands compete in the First Section - two from Yorkshire (Chapeltown and Hade Edge) and two from the Midlands (us and our friends over at Leicester Co-op). We all attempted to play James Curnow's excellent test piece Brass Metamorphosis - one of his lesser-known compositions, but full of great music and a true test of any first section band. None of the bands escaped without a few mistakes but Carlton played our best performance of the piece yet and claimed an excellent second place against very good competition. Chapeltown took the honours with an excellent-sounding version,...

Carlton Brass Training Band Christmas Calendar

8th October 201710th January 2022 By Steve RydelNo Comments

Hot on the heels of our successes at the Bolsover festival of brass: Training Band’s Christmas event calendar is now up to date with all our Christmas appearances! Amongst them are 2 concerts; One with the Major Oak Chorus at The Beckett School in Wilford, the other at St. Helens church in Burton Joyce. We also have many appearances at Christmas light switch ons and fairs throughout December as well as our regular appearances at the Revival Christmas parties at Mapperly Plains social club....

3rd at NEMBBA

20th March 201610th January 2022 By Andrew GillieNo Comments

February 28th saw a successful return to 1st section contesting for Carlton Brass, with the band taking 3rd place and the "best horn" trophy at the North East Midlands Brass Band Association contest. ...

Carlton Brass Training Band – Bolsover Festival of brass 2015

4th November 201510th January 2022 By Steve RydelNo Comments

Training Band's performance at the Bolsover Festival of brass early this year, recorded live as part of the Firstart.org.uk's coverage of the event. ...

2015 National Finals

25th September 201510th January 2022 By Dave RuttNo Comments

Carlton Brass proudly represented the Midlands at the Second Section Nation Finals in Cheltenham this weekend. The band were drawn 14th of 16 bands and played a confident, musical rendition of the test piece; the excellent 'Snaring Of The Sun' by Stephen Roberts. Our performance impressed some of the brass band media in the audience: https://twitter.com/BB1887/status/645217380495454208 https://twitter.com/4barsrest/status/645218334737362944 The brass band website 4barsrest wrote a really nice update as part of their live coverage of the event: It's a nice relaxed opening from Carlton Brass that builds with some solid playing and (hopefully) not affected by one of the centres stewards intercoms going off in the hall. There's a lot of fine work going on and the cornet is excellent. We really like the approach in the 7/8 section (well done all) and this includes percussion - some really excellent enhancements on display here. Carlton's enjoyable rendition closes with energy and vibrancy along with solid playing. Overall: Carlton certainly rose to the challenge and certainly delivered an enjoyable performance today. Not...

Carlton Brass Training Band wins ICCBB 2015 Unregistered Section!

14th June 201510th January 2022 By Steve RydelNo Comments

Members of Carlton Brass Training Band turned out at Parkside Community School in Chesterfield to compete in the 2015 ICCBB, unregistered section. Our program consisted of Sing Sing Sing, Sugar Blues, Shenendoah, Thingumybob and American Trilogy to finish. With a little help from our friends, we placed FIRST with 89 points (including a -1 time penalty) the highest score of any of the bands in the Training band and Unregistered sections! Congratulation to all involved and to all the other bands who took part! Also, our very own Sarah Harper won the Soloist award for her Sugar Blues and George Madison was awarded the youngest player award. Smiles all round!...

Midlands Second Section Champions 2015

9th March 201510th January 2022 By Dave RuttNo Comments

Carlton Brass took part in the Midlands Regional contest in Bedworth yesterday, performing in the Second Section for the first time since the band's relegation from the First Section in 2014. 12 bands took to the stage to perform the impressive 'Variations on Maccabeus' by Kevin Norbury - a piece that was both difficult to play and full of style - and Carlton Brass pulled off our first Area contest victory in 14 years. Drawn number 11 our performance caught the attention of both the brass band press and (more importantly) the adjudicators. Some of the comments on twitter were very encouraging: #regs2015 Mid 2: The battle is well and truly joined now with terrific display from @CarltonBrass. Will Raunds Temperance raise the bar? — British Bandsman (@BB1887) March 8, 2015 #regs2015 Mid 2: Carlton up the ante to sneak ahead in the race to Cheltenham with that well managed account http://t.co/2TXXJIZ2P8 — 4barsrest.com (@4barsrest) March 8, 2015 4barsrest also wrote some nice things on their website as...