Congratulations to the band on their 8th place finish in the fiercely competitive Yorkshire Regional Finals. The top 6 in Yorkshire is normally predictable and the 7th place is normally hotly fought. This year that placing went to Skelmanthorpe band for the second year in succession. Perhaps the surprise of the contest was Black Dyke finishing in 6th place. You could hear the gasps around the hall as the result was announced. The band may not have qualified for London but they retain their Championship status and welcolme Hebden Bridge and Drighlington to the top section next year after their success in the First Section this year. The next contest is the Grand Shield at The Spring Festival in Blackpool with the top two bands being invited to compete in the Open.

The Marsden Band is set to promote its contest to try and bring back the art of Solo, Duet & Quartet Contest later this year.

Full day

A full day of 11 sections will take place at Marsden Junior School, with competitions open for Slow Melody, Duet & Quartet in 12 & under, 16 & under and Open contenders. There is also a special Veterans Slow Melody section.
At the end of the day, where there will be plenty of refreshments of offer, there will also be a Fun Section which is free to enter, and involves pulling an instrument out of a hat and sight reading a short extract of music!

Bring back the art

A spokesperson from the band says: "We want to bring back the art of slow melody, duet and quartet playing and give younger players especially the chance to play in front of an appreciative audience."
The winner of each section will receive an annual trophy with the podium prizewinners each receiving a keepsake trophy and cash prize.

Awards galore

There are also awards for the Youngest Player, Most Potential, Best Cornet, Horn, Trombone, Euphonium and Bass on the day, which will be adjudicated by Glyn Williams.
'We want to bring back the art of slow melody, duet and quartet playing and give younger players especially the chance to play in front of an appreciative audience'

Further information

For further information, please contact: Tommy Tynan: tommytimpanitynan@live.co.uk, 07400733730 or post on the Marsden Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/414904658595045/?ref=ts&fref=ts

On what turned out to be a couple of very cold and damp days in late October 2012, members of the Marsden Silver Prize Band were transformed into The Yorkshire Tea Band during filming of their latest advertisement which had it’s first TV airing on Sunday 17th February 2013. Nattily dressed in tailor made costumes which included huge Yorkshire Tea Mugs for hats, and with some members of the Band having their instruments replaced for filming with teapot cornets, a rather heavy tea urn drum and a glockenspiel made from tea spoons, they spent from daybreak to sunset each day on a cricket pitch just outside Bradford. All involved agreed that it was an interesting experience to be part of the very complicated procedure of putting together a short TV commercial. The soundtrack to the commercial was also recorded by the Band in their own band room a few weeks later, with sound engineer Keith Farrington from Music House Productions working hard with the commercial’s production company to ensure that the recording sounded as if it were made out doors. Special attention was paid making sure that the music was in keeping with the action on the screen, and was probably the first and last time Musical Director Glyn Williams will have asked his players to perform in a less than perfect style and with little regard to tempo markings! Such has been the success of the pairing of Yorkshire Tea with Marsden Band that the relationship is set to continue well in to the future. The Band have already performed at the in-house launch of the advertisement and over the next few months will be making more appearances as The Yorkshire Tea Band, including having been invited to play at each of the 2013 Five Ashes Tests on cricket pitches around England. So keep your eyes peeled for Marsden Band in the commercial breaks, enjoying as they say “A Proper Brew”!

We have something brewing! A big announcement is coming soon!

Happy New Year to everyone, and we hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. Sorry about the delay in posting, but I had to sort a few technical problems with my computer. The band are currently in preparation for the Butlins Mineworkers contest which takes place next weekend. We will be performing the set test piece 'A Tale As Yet Untold' - Philip Sparke on the Saturday, and our own choice Entertainment programme on the Sunday. Don't forget to pop down to Glyn Williams Music Trade Stand in the Skyline Pavillion!

At the weekend the band competed at the prestigious Scottish Open competition and came away with a 3rd place, being placed 1st by Ray Farr, 3rd by Steven Mead and 10th by Tom Brevik. This rounds off a good year of contesting for the band, with podium places at the All England Masters, Whit Friday and a good showing at the Grand Shield.

Musical Director Glyn Williams has this to say about the weekends performance;

"We were delighted at the way we played," Glyn said. "When we came off stage I told the band that they had produced a top three performance at the very least. That’s what we got, but having seen the breakdown of the results, we were just left a little disappointed that Tom Brevik didn't quite like the performance of ‘A Tale as yet Untold’ as much as either Steven or Ray. One place higher than 10th from him and we would have won 2nd place and £1,500 rather than 3rd and £500."

Our next contest outing will be at the Butlins Mineworkers Championships on the 19th and 20th of January, where again we will be playing 'A Tale As Yet Untold', but if you can't wait to hear the band our annual Christmas Concert at Frodsham is on the 9th of December at Frodsham Community Centre, and annual Marsden Christmas Concert with the Colne Valley Male Voice Choir on the 22nd of December at St Bartholomews Church.

Full Results are as follows:

Farr/Brevik/Mead = Total

1. Co-operative Funeralcare (Dr. Nicholas Childs): 2/2/2 = 6
2. Tertnes (Gary Peterson): 6/1/4 = 11
3. Marsden Silver (Glyn Williams): 1/10/3 = 14
4. EYMS (Alan Morrison): 4*/5/6 = 15
5. Kirkintilloch (Phillip McCann): 8*/6/1 = 15
6. Yorkshire Imperial Urquhart Travel (David Nesbit): 3*/3/15 = 21
7. Milnrow (Mareika Gray): 5*/11/5 = 21
8. Felling (Stephen Malcolm): 7/12/7 = 26
9. Northop Silver (Thomas Wyss): 11/8/10 = 29
10. Dalmellington (Archie Hutchison): 12*/9/9 = 30
11. Kingdom Brass (Bede Williams): 14*/4/12 = 30
12. Regent Brass (Alan Duguid): 16/7/8 = 31
13. Blackburn & Darwen (Nick Shephard): 9/14/13 = 36
14. Pemberton Old Wigan DW (Mark Bentham): 10/13/14 = 37
15. Kirkintilloch Kelvin Brass (Charles Keenan): 14/15/11 = 40
16. Lochgelly (Bryan Allan): 15/17/16 = 48
17. Bo'ness & Carriden (Paul Drury): 13/18/18 = 49
18. Fishburn (Huw Thomas): 18/16/17 = 51

*Ray Farr's position takes precdent

4BR Best Instrumentalist: Scott Findlater (Euphonium) - Kirkintilloch