Wedding Congratulations - April 2008

Congratulations are in order for front row cornet Richard Aitken and his new wife Sam, who got married on Saturday 5th April at Dean's Place in Alfriston.

They were lucky enough to be able to tie the knot outside in the spring sunshine - good timing considering the blizzards of the following day!

All at band wish them the best for the future!

Contest success! – March 2008

On Saturday 15th March Hangleton took part in the London and Southern Counties National Qualifying Contest at Stevenage. This year each band had to play 'The Dark Side of the Moon' by Paul Lovatt-Cooper.

Hangleton were drawn to play fourth of seventeen bands, and were delighted to be awarded second place. This amazing result means that for the first time in over twenty years Hangleton are through to the National Finals, to be held in Harrogate in September! Congratulations are also in order for Brighton and Hove City Brass who were awarded third place!

The ajudicator's remarks are availabe to view here and an mp3 exerpt of our performance is available here. Enjoy!

Web site relaunched – January 2008

As from January 2008 the band web site has had a bit of a revamp. Web technology is developing at an ever increasing rate these days, and Hangleton doesn't want to get left behind!

Some of the new features of the site include:

- New photo galleries which don't use pop up windows (needed because many internet browsers are now blocking pop ups as standard!)

- Streaming ‘youtube' style video galleries.

- A new menu structure to hopefully make navigation easier.

- All sorts of behind the scenes changes that will make the website easier to update and maintain!

Hope you enjoy the new site! If you have any comments or suggestions feel free to email webmaster@hangletonband.co.uk

Rachel Taylor resigns as Youth Band MD - December 2007

It was with heavy hearts that the Youth Band said goodbye to long serving Musical Director Rachel Taylor at the Christmas Concert. Rachel has been MD for about nine years and during that time the Youth Band has gone from strength to strength. They have played at some high profile venues such as the Millenium Dome and Westminster Abbey, started putting on their own dedicated concerts and won several prizes such as Best Test Piece and Best March at the Hove Spring Contest. Rachel also won some accolades for herself at the contest, winning the Best Conductor prize twice, in 2006 and 2007.

All in both bands would like to thanks Rachel for all her hard work and committment during her tenure as MD. Luckily for the Senior Band, Rachel is not going very far, and is continuing in her role as Principle Euphonium.

And the band played on... - August 2007

This summer the band played a interesting mix of engagements at venues such as Horsham Park Bandstand, a 1940s street party in Hollingbury (pictured below), Eastbourne Bandstand, Borde Hill Gardens, as well as our annual summer concert at Hove Park School.

However as a testament to another great British summer the weather was not always kind to us this year!

Things kicked off in June when the band played at Horsham Park Bandstand. Unfortunately, as was so often the case this summer, the weather put a bit of a dampener on events, and so the audience was a bit thin on the ground. However, never ones to let the odd torrential shower get in the way of a good performance the band carried on regardless from the relative shelter of the bandstand.

At Eastbourne Bandstand in July the band were treated to clear skies, but strong winds, and were kept on their toes throughout the performance trying to keep music from being blown away, often at inopportune moments! An important lesson was learned at this performance; you can never have too many clothes pegs on your music!

And finally in August at Borde Hill the band sweltered under the dazzling sun for an hour to play to the packed crowd. This was the fifth year running we have been lucky enough to play at the Proms in the Park event, and the fifth consecutive year of good weather.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say I hope the weather will be a bit more consistant next summer!

Love is in the air - August 2007

Congratulations are in order for three band members who have got engaged over the last few months. Richard Aitken (1st cornet) got the ball rolling back in April when he proposed to girlfriend Sam Irwin. And at the end of July Stuart Wilson (euphonium) popped the question to Clair O'Shea (1st cornet) on her birthday. All in the band wish the couples every happiness for the future.

Crawley Entertainments Contest - May 2007

On Sunday 20th May the band played in the SCABA Entertainments Contest at the Hawth Theatre in Crawley.

This year's programme was:

- HMS Trinidad March

- That's Another Fine Mess (Rachel Taylor and Stuart Wilson duet)
- Black is the Colour of my True Love's Hair
- Adios Nonino
- Malaguena

The band were delighted to be placed second place for the third consecutive year! Special congratulations must go to Rachel and Stuart (aka Laurel and Hardy) for successfully combining a challenging duet with dancing, acting and slapstick comedy!

 

Brighton Fringe Festival Concert - May 2007

On Saturday 5th of May Hangleton made our debut as part of the Brighton Festival Fringe, in a concert held at St Michael and All Angels Church in Brighton. The concert aimed to showcase some of the more traditional and classical brass band music in our library. The programme included pieces such as Henry V Overture, the Little Suite for Brass, Amazing Grace, and Prelude and Jubilate, this years third section National Test Piece.

The band were delighted to see some new faces in the audience, many of whom were unfamiliar with brass band music, and were impressed with the range and quality of the programme.

To promote the concert band manager Andy Taylor was interviewed on BBC Southern Counties Radio by DJ Richard Linfield on Friday 4th May. Andy did an admirable job plugging the band, and we are confident both this and the concert has helped raise our profile in the local area.

 

Another Fantastic Result of the Youth Band! - April 2007

On Sunday 22 April the Youth Band took part in the SCABA Spring Contest at Hove Town Hall.

We are happy to report that Hangleton Youth won first place for their March, and second place (beaten by only one point!) for the their test piece. Rachel Taylor was also awarded the best conductors trophy for the second year running.

Many congratulations to Rachel and the youth band for all their hard work, as well as the adults from the senior band who helped out on the day.

Stevenage Contest Result - March 2007

On 18th March the band traveled to the Regional Qualifying Contest at Stevenage. The band performed the set test piece, ‘Prelude and Jubilate’, having been rehearsing hard for several months under the direction of our new conductor, Matthew Pollard. In a very challenging field, players gave a good performance that was extremely well received by the audience at the venue.

Players were not disappointed with the comments of the adjudicator, who had clearly been impressed by large parts of the performance. He lavished particular praise on the flugelhorn player Claire Chapman and the band's two percussionists Nick Hollick and Dean Lines. It had obviously been a very difficult decision for him to make in such a strong field and sadly on this occasion the band were placed 12th out of 16 bands. Everyone agreed, though, that the ensemble had learned a great deal from the experience and that it placed the band in much stronger position for the coming year.

Thanks as always go to Matt for his hard work over the last few months, and to our Band President David Chappell for his contribution towards our traveling costs.

A copy of the adjudicator’s remarks is available here.