Programme Notes MOSSLEY HOLLINS HIGH SCHOOL BAND
THE MOUNTBATTEN SCHOOL CONCERT CHOIR
Musical Director: Brian Farrar A Tameside Overture Philip Sparke Miller Magic Glenn Miller arr. Denzil Stephens Mossley HoIlins High School Band was formed by their Musical Director Brian Farrar in 1969 on receiving six brass instruments from Lancas hire County Council. The band is entirely selfsupporting and over sixteen years has built up a fine collection of instruments and a very good music library. In 1980 they recorded their first 1.P. and accepted an invitation to the French town of Armentieres. This resulted in a visit, by invitation, to Tilberg, Holland (1981) and a second trip to France in 1983. The year 1984 saw the band highly commended in their National Festival of Music for Youth debut; winning four firsts and one second prize at the 29th Rastede Music Festival, West Germany; and recording their second 1. P. with the most apt title of 'Flourishing Brass'. An Outstanding Performance Award at the Royal Festival Hall; five first prizes on their second tour of Germany; and a string of successes gained in school/youth band competitions in England, would have made this the 'best ever' year for the band. Add the invitation to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in the Schools Prom, involving a first TV appearance, and 1985 will certainly be the yardstick for success in future years! A Tameside Overture - Philip Sparke Specially commissioned by the Yorkshire Bank for the first Annual Youth Brass Band Course, initiated by Tameside Recreation Department in 1982, this original composition for brass combines majesty, complex rhythms, counterpoint, an almost Caribbean flavour and always an air of excitement. Miller Magic - Glenn Miller arr. Denzil Stephens The title says it all - we hope we can capture the idiom and the magic to help make tonight's concert a very special memory.
Conductor: Marilyn Felix Unexpected Song Andrew Lloyd Webber I Feel pretty} Leonard Bernstein Somewhere arr. M. Felix Chitty Chitty Bang Bang R. M. Shermanl R. B. Sherman The Mountbatten School opened in 1969 on land which was formerly part of the Broadlands estate of the late Earl Mountbatten, at Romsey in Hampshire. It is a mixed, comprehensive school of 1300 pupils from 11 to 16 years. The concert choir, whose present average age is just thirteen, was formed by its Musical Director, Marilyn Felix, in 1980. Since then it has performed successfully in numerous music festivals, participated for the first time in the National Festival of Music for Youth in 1984, and appeared at Buxton Opera House last December in the semi-finals of Sainsbury's 'Choir of the
Year' competition, making several television appearances. The choir's future engagements include a tour of Holland early in the New Year and a performance in the Purcell Room at the South Bank next April as well as many local concerts. Unexpected Song - Andrew Lloyd Webber I Feel pretty} Leonard Bernstein Somewhere arr. M. Felix Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - R. M. Shermanl R. B. Sherman The choir's repertoire is quite extensive, ranging from classical to light music. Tonight's programme is a selection of songs from their 'light' repertoire. Unexpected Song, an Andrew Lloyd Webber 'hit', is followed by two songs from the musical West Side Story, the enchanting I Feel Pretty and the very moving song Somewhere. The programme ends with a lively rendering of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from the film of that name.
Mountbatten School Concert Choir
Mossley Hollins High School Band
23