It was a memorable concert for the Nailsworth Music Society on Sunday afternoon. The Nailsworth Silver Band, Academy Band and Brasshoppers learner group all performed sets as part of this Christmas showpiece.
The annual event aims to raise money for charity in memory of Philip Sawyer, with this year’s chosen charity being the Mark Townsend Charitable Trust.
The event, held at Nailsworth’s Christ Church, showcased the talents of the Silver Band, with pieces performed including Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, featuring percussion player Tom Robbins on vocals, the trombone trio of Steve Fidler, May Harper and Martin Bland playing If You Don’t Know Me By Now and concluding with a funky arrangement of the medieval Christmas piece Gaudete.
The second half of the concert opened with the Brasshoppers under the direction of Shona McDougall playing Twinkle Twinkle and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. The newly formed Academy Band then made their concert debut with the theme from The Pink Panther. The concert ended with a massed band finale – players from both the Silver and Academy bands joined forces to lead the audience in singing Christmas carols and Jingle Bells. Silver Band Musical Director Anri Adachi, and her Academy Band counterpart Sam Gawthorne took it in turns to conduct the joint ensemble.
The concert also featured the band awards, with the Bandsman of the Year prize going to euphonium player Pete Stanulewicz, most improved player going to soprano cornet player Pete Dillon and the Players’ Player of the year, named the Steve Legge award in memory of the late local musician, was awarded by Steve’s husband Des Rawlinson to bass player Laurence Atkinson. The back row cornet team of Ian Malpass, Karen Ellis, Lucy McLaughlin, Irwin Wilson, Caroline Bland, Jonno Lawrence and Pete Dillon took the coveted Bill Bruton Shield – the Section of the Year Award.
