NCBF Play Days 2021
What a fantastic weekend of playing! The ncbf Play Days ‘Blow Away the Cobwebs’ and ‘Back In The Groove’ were two full days, aiming to bring musicians together and make music again. On Saturday, wind band players […]
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Flexible is the name of the game with NCBF…
dates • venues• instrumentation • repertoire We are here to help you re-build your band after far too long of musical silence: • Short of your previous full band? Then have a look at our recommendations to […]
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NCBF Awarded Arts Council England Grant
ncbf (National Concert Band Festival) is delighted to announce it has been awarded a grant of £49,951 from Arts Council England. NCBF is the UK’s only wind band and big band music festival, focussing on active participation […]
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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 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 […]
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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
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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
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NCBF New Big Band Repertoire List Additions 2020/21 (Part 2)
YouTube clips feature ‘Score and Sound’ or live performances worth listening to. Here I look at pieces at Grades 1.5 – 2 plus pieces at higher grades by these composers. Happy listening! Barrie Johnson
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NCBF New Big Band Repertoire List Additions 2020/21 (Part 1)
Preparing for next seasons National Concert Band Festival, I wanted to draw your attention to Big Band charts that have been added to the 2020/21 Repertoire List. At the same time I would like to introduce you […]
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