Fanfare for Bradford - Paul Lovatt-Cooper

Strong cornets followed by trombones in the same energy to open Dyke’s set, the band are electric consistently throughout the piece. Trombs take centre stage, and there is a lush sounding flugel and horn interlude, before the band pick up the pace again. Sop shines over this, and the band bring the piece to a dramatic close. 

Wildfire - Bruce Broughton

Muted band show the intensity behind the intention of this piece, particularly cornets and trombs, and horns keep the flow moving. As the pace dies down, cornet solo is accompanied again well by horn and flugel with haunting harmonies. Euph duet is so classy, with absolute precision to the T, technique is very clear and tight. Intensity picks back up and back row guide us into this, trombone section make such a good sound all throughout this, along with the basses, and perc are so clean all the way throughout, and pushes to a strong ending. 

Gemini: Duo Concerto for Cornet and Euphonium (Phillip Sparke) (featuring Tom Hutchinson and Adam Bokaris) 

Virtuosity is shown off straight away with our joint soloists, with euph and cornet bouncing off eachother all throughout, showing of impressive range and technique, and the band accompany well underneath, making plenty of for for the soloists. Transition into the middle slower movement by rep and horns had a warm sound, and felt very comfortable whilst the band layered on top of themselves, and soloists joining back in was also very classy, taking turns with the themes, before them joining back together, and the chemistry between the soloists was very clear and this again was evident when the tempo picked back up throughout, and lower and mid band take over recurring themes nicely here. The soloist come to a climatic finish, and make an excellent sound together. Bravo. 

Symphony in two movements - Edward Gregson 

Such a strong start from the band, similarly to their performance of this in London in October, and they just make a huge sound, trombs and horns particularly in the first movement. Muted band makes all the difference and shows off contrast. Solos are passed around the band well, especially Tromb (lip trill solo), and they band balance well underneath all of these, this slower section really shows off the sounds of these solos, particularly sop and euph. Trombs make a good sound in the fast section reprise, and the band overall creates such consistently good sounds, with all sections blending well. A massive ending, and the band make such a massive sound. Bravo. 

Aureum Spiriti - Jacob Vilhelm Larsen

Fanfaric start from cornets to open us up into the second half, and bass Tromb gives us a truly massive sound all throughout this! Solos passed around the band are done with style, sop sitting on top all the bought this performance creates such a clean performance, well done 

The Hall of Healing: Concerto for Percussion- Simon Dobson (soloist: Yasuaki Fukuhara)

Vibes open well on this percussion concerto, and it’s very hard to keep up with each instrument, but the set up we have here is tubular bells, vibes, crotates, glock, sizzle cymbal, hi - hat, three tombs, temple blocks, wind chimes, pedal bass drum, bass drum, four smaller gongs (?), three metal/wind sheet, and two Tibetan singing bowls. Band play well underneath this first movement, horns and bass Tromb especially. The band accompany well mutedly, euphs particularly with this, and the soloist plays with so much style all throughout this, with so much ease and control when he is essentially trapped inside a circle of percussion. Tempo picks up again after a more melodic slower section and the band are very tight underneath here, always making room for the soloist. This was genuinely one of the most fascinating things to watch, a massive congratulations to our soloist. 

Feste Romane - Howard Snell

Off-stage trumpets open with class alongside the band, and basses and trombone take such a lead in this, muted cornets follow nicely too. It’s great to see the band with piano, and also joined by Phillip Wilby on Organ too, and it’s exciting to see the project that has been four years in the making. Offstage trumpet close well, and the intensify really builds up in the full band sound. Flugel and euph duet reaches into our slower section, with haunting sounds, and this theme also enters into the horns. The band begins to layer on top of themselves again, and this brings out plenty of new colours for the band, but this begins to dim down into a quieter section, but horns lead the way in the fanfare before contents take back over. Cornet technicals is really shown off here, off stage horn solo is projected with such style, and band are tidy underneath it. Marimba and cornet solos go nicely with this. Intensity picks back up from the cornet section, and euphs and trombs sound classy here too. There is so much good sound and technique from all over the band shown off in this section, sop, horns, trombs just to name a few. Basses keep a consistent drive under, and the sound is good. This was such an impressive performance, congratulations to the band.