Welcome to Friary Diary issue 54 - a one page monthly round up of news about the Friary Brass Band.
GODALMING BANDSTAND:
Friary returned to the beautiful setting of the Godalming Bandstand at the start of July for an afternoon concert. Despite the range of sporting attractions that day (notably the Wimbledon Men’s Final, Cricket World Cup Final and the British Grand Prix), there was as good an audience as in previous years. The concert saw former Friary bass player Ross Graham take the conductor’s role, in MD Chris King’s absence. Well done, Ross: we hope you return to Friary once your professional studies are complete. Friary also returned to the Pyrford & Wisley Flower Show that weekend, and to Westerham in Kent in June to lead the Corpus Christi parade and then entertain the public on the village green.
AS HEARD ON TV:
A Friary rendition of Nimrod was included in an episode of BBC TV’s Don’t Forget the Driver earlier in the year. The episode featured a school band playing the tune (not entirely successfully!) which then morphed into a rather more accomplished performance. Friary’s principal cornet, Richard Straker, a sound engineer, was mixing the sound for the programme and felt that the intended adult version could be improved upon. He suggested Friary could provide a better recording and the rest, as they say, is history!
RANKING NEWS:
There was no July update, so Friary remains 27th in the World Rankings.
AND FINALLY:
Congratulations to Hannah Mitchell (solo cornet) and Alistair Richards (repiano cornet) who recently announced their engagement. Hannah and Ali met whilst playing for Newtongrange Band 14 years ago, and have been an integral part of Friary for a number of years. We wish them every happiness for the future.
Please visit our calendar page here to view our forthcoming events