Celebrating Birthdays
After one year in lockdown, most of you will be hoping that we can all start performing again… soon. We’ll start looking for content for our concerts and festivals that we hope to be able to take […]
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Back To The Band Room – Part 4
As promised in Part 3 of this short series, here are some suggestions for what Sir Thomas Beecham called “lollipops†– pieces that fit very well at the end of your programme, some are entertainment style, others […]
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Back to the Band Room – Part 3
Now that the prospects of rehearsing again are looking more positive, let’s consider some substantial concert band pieces – why? We can all find shorter pieces of quality that convey a theme, programmatic idea, mood, however in […]
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Back To The Band Room – Part 2
Following on from last month’s thoughts on those first rehearsals following such a long gap in ensemble playing, here are some suggestions which I hope lead your band into confident playing again.Once again, I stress the value […]
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Back To The Band Room – Part 1
Whilst we are all waiting for the ‘green light’ to be able to hold those first rehearsals, here are some approaches I have used (but do not claim to be original) for whenever!• Your excitement at returning […]
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NCBF New Big Band Repertoire List Additions 2020/21 (Part 5)
YouTube clips feature ‘Score and Sound’ or live performances worth listening to. Here I look at pieces at Grade 5 – 6 Happy listening! Barrie Johnson Eric Richards A top composer/arranger who continuously produces imaginative charts. Grade […]
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COVID-19 Risk Mitigation for Bands (West Point Band, USA)
Read the following article from West Point Band, US Army on their approach on COVID-19 Risk Mitigation for Bands. This article is being regularly updated so please read the full article on the West Point Band Site. […]
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Letter to NCBF Band Directors 10/06/20
Greeting to all Band Directors. We at ncbf (National Concert Band Festival) are committed to providing performance opportunities for wind bands and big bands, even at this unique time of COVID-19 infections in the UK and worldwide. […]
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NCBF New Big Band Repertoire List Additions 20/21 (Part 4)
YouTube clips feature ‘Score and Sound’ or live performances worth listening to. Here I look at pieces at Grade 4 – 5 by three outstanding composer/arrangers. Happy listening! Barrie Johnson Michael Philip Mossman Grade 4 GMT – […]
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NCBF New Big Band Repertoire List Additions 20/21 (Part 3)
YouTube clips feature ‘Score and Sound’ or live performances worth listening to. Here I look at pieces at Grade 3 plus two exciting Grade 5 charts by Mark Taylor. Happy listening! Barrie Johnson Ryan Fraley Grade 3 […]
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