Saturday 21st August 2010 - Pig Race & Barbecue
Clerk of the course, Andrew Mitchell, announced that the official condition of the course was firm. There were some interesting races and despite evidence of cheating from the euphonium section no stewards' enquiries were necessary.
After six rounds (when lane four failed to win once!!!) Andrew announced the runners for the final. Seconds later the porkers were off and racing for the finishing line and glory. A gentle nudge to the backside of one of the runners failed to affect the result and James was crowned Champion Jockey by a squeak. He was presented with the coveted pig's ear.
A superb £320 was raised for the coffers and the real winners were those who attended and enjoyed an excellent evening.
Monday 9th August 2010 - National Championships at the Royal Albert Hall London
The Band are delighted that Richard Evans will be conducting them again this year. Last year he led them to a superb 8th place.
Saturday 19th June 2010 - Bugle Contest
Camborne swept the decks at Bugle with a superb performance of Robert Farnon's "Un Vie De Matelot". Garry Cutt led them to first place in a strong section of six bands. Kayleigh Rowe deservedly won the Best Player in section and the best Best Solo Cornet awards while Robert Jose and Les Kneebone collected the awards for euphonium and soprano..
Friday 23rd April - Brenda Wootton Paris Concert with Camborne Town Band Unearthed
A concert by Brenda Wootton in Paris during the summer of 1984 has been unearthed here in Cornwall. The late BBC Radio Cornwall presenter was a well loved star throughout France especially in Brittany. Brenda would introduce her popular songs in French for the appreciative crowd. The recently discovered tapes from the original concert have been cleaned up and will hopefully be released on CD in the near future.
John Knight worked as a sound engineer on many of Brenda's recordings. When he was packing up a recording studio he'd run for years, John took with him several boxes of tapes. Some of those featured songs by Brenda Wootton including the never before released recordings from Paris in 1984. Although the concert was recorded it wasn't for a new album at that time.
John says: "Brenda wanted to have a personal record of the concert. She never released a live album. I don't think it was intended for release. But now I think we have the potential there." John Knight hopes that in the near future the rare recordings will be released as an album. "Ideally we would love to release it on cd with some of the stories from the tour. There's 25 tracks in total. We can also produce them as downloads as well."
Although a date for an album has not been set as yet, fans of Brenda Wotton can hear sneak previews of some of the songs online. Gloria Knight, who was a friend of Brenda's runs a website called livingincornwall.com. With John's help, a taster of the concert is now available on her website. Gloria says: "The songs have been online for a couple of weeks and already I have seen very good web traffic from all over the world. We know that people are loving the songs so far. There's snippets of six songs online."
For many years Brenda was a well known voice on BBC Radio Cornwall, presenting 'Sunday Best' a weekly request programme. She was also the Honorary President of Radio Beacon, the hospital radio service for St Lawrences Hospital in Bodmin.
Monday 15th March - Success for Camborne Bands at the West of England Regional Championships
Defending West of England Champions Members of the Camborne Town Band narrowly missed out on retaining their title on Sunday evening following being awarded 2nd position out of the 10 competing Bands at the West of England Regional Championship Finals. The total bands competing at this years contest was 73 and included 15 Cornish bands. Despite losing their title the band are pleased that they will represent the West of England with winners, the Flowers Band, at the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall in October. The result is a reversal of last years result and continues the history of no band retaining their title since the contest has been held in Torquay. Camborne Town Band will be the only Cornish Band appearing at the 2010 National Finals despite near misses by St.Austell and St. Breward in the 1st and 3rd Sections.
The Championship Test Piece “English Heritage” composed by Cornishman George Lloyd proved popular with bands and audience alike. Adjudicators were David Horsfield and Stan Lippeatt. Camborne Town Band was prepared for the contest by their Musical Director, Kevin Mackenzie, who handed over the conducting role for the contest to professional conductor Ian Porthouse – Musical Director of the Tredegar Band. The test piece of 17 minutes duration included solo features for many of the band’s soloists including Kayleigh Rowe (cornet), Les Kneebone (soprano), Andrew Mitchell (flugel), Mark Letcher (horn), Robert Jose (euphonium), Ross Buist (baritone), Barry Buist (trombone), and Lee Trewhella (Eb Bass).
The band has a busy schedule of contests and concerts to look forward to with the next contest being in the Hall for Cornwall on 10th April. This is a new entertainment contest for Cornish Championship and 1st section Bands with a£1,000 first prize at stake. On Sunday 9th May the band will appear at the Minack Theatre, Porthcurno with popular Cornish Comedian Johnny Cowling in “Showstoppers” Concert. On Thursday 2nd June the band will appear again with Johnny Cowling and with the Cornwall Boys Choir in “An evening of Music and Comedy”. Professional conductor of the famous Fodens band, Gary Cutt, will conduct the band and act as compere for this concert.
The weekend was a double success story for Camborne as their ‘B’ Band was credited with a 4th place in their first appearance in the First Section. There were fourteen other strong bands in this section and with such a young band the result is a fantastic achievement. Since making their debut in the Fourth Section in 2002, this band has consistently risen through the sections in the past 8 years under the direction of Alan Pope. Trustee Vicky Moyle commented that “the band have worked so hard with determination and commitment with the tremendous support of their musical director to achieve their current standard”. The band is looking forward to their next challenge on 10th April where they will compete in the Open Entertainment Brass Band Contest.
Chairman, Marcus Dunstan, stated that “It has been another very successful contest for the Society’s Bands and with two excellent Musical Directors and a policy of bringing on our own players I believe that we a base for continued improvement to ensure that our famous tradition continues and flourishes”.
Saturday 20th February - Senior Band Hold Annual Dinner & Dance
On Saturday the 20th of February the Camborne Town Band held their annual dinner and dance at the Cliffdene Hotel in Newquay. Players & supporters came together to celebrate the success of 2009, this also gave a chance to give commendation to individuals. 1st Horn player Wayne Brown was awarded Bandsmen of the year for his constant dedication to the Band. Bbb Bass player James Sturgess was awarded Most improved player. Euphonium player Robert Jose was awarded best solo performance for his contribution at the National Finals. Solo Horn player Mark Letcher was awarded Players player.
The Senior Band are now preparing for the Area Championships at Torquay where they hope to retain the title and qualify again for the National Finals.
Friday 8th January - New Signings for 2010
Camborne Town Band would like to announce the signing of 3 new members. Benjamin King on 2nd Baritone, Simon Kendall on 2nd Euphonium and Steven Day on Percussion.
Both Benjamin King and Simon Kendall are current members of the Camborne Youth Band under the Direction of Alan Pope which have had great success under his direction. Steven Day has had many years experience on percussion mainly with the Bodmin Town Band but has worked with bands such as Fodens & Black Dyke.
Musical Director Kevin Mackenzie says: "I am delighted to welcome these players to the band.They will certainly strengthen the ranks ready for the new year ahead. I am pleased I am able to promote players from our own Youth & B Bands, which demonstrates the hard work being undertaken by Alan Pope training young people to play brass instruments.Their first contest with the senior band will be at the Yeovil Entertainment Contest in February."
Shortly after the Yeovil Entertainment Contest, the band will being working towards defending their title at the South West Area Contest in Torquay under the direction of Ian Porthouse.
Sunday 8th November - Open Meeting For All Players and Supporters
On Tuesday 24th November 2009, Camborne Town Band Music Society will be holding an open meeting. It will be held in the Magistrates Room at the Basset Centre, Basset Road, Camborne. Topics to be covered will include the trustees and management teams roles, membership types, election of officers, the financial structure and band plans for 2010.
All players and supporters are warmly invited to attend and meet the Society Trustees, Management Teams and Musical Directors.
Saturday 31st October - Camborne Proms Night a Great Success
On Saturday, Camborne Town Band held their annual proms concert at Camborne School. In the first half, the band played pieces including 'An Untold Story', played superbly on tenor horn by Mark Letcher, 'That's A Plenty' and 'Vitae Aeturnum' by Paul Lovatt-Cooper. With the audience having consumed some wine during the interval, the band then continued in the second half with the usual prom items, which the audiece thoroughly enjoyed taking part!!
During the concert, the band's President, Mr David Roberts, presented Leonard Adams with a life members certificate of the Camborne Town Band Music Society.
Thank you must go to our compere of the evening, Paul Triggs, who once again did a sterling job. Also, a big thank you must go to our sponsors, Walters & Barbary, and to everyone who supported the evening. The band look forward to repeating this concert again next year.
Wednesday 28th October - Camborne Make Their Way Up the Rankings
After Camborne Town Band's excellent Result at the 2009 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain, they have moved up 16 places in the World Brass Band Rankings to number 31 - their highest placing for some time! Camborne 'B' Band have also made an appearance in the rankings for the first time, entering at number 176! Camborne Town Band Music Society congratulates both bands on this excellent achievement!
Sunday 18th October - Excellent 8th Place for Camborne in London!
Yesterday, Camborne Town Band competed in the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain at the famous Royal Albert Hall in London. Conducted by Richard Evans, they were placed 8th out of 20 by adjudicators David King, Derek Broadbent and David Read.
Competing amongst some of the best brass bands in the World, let alone the Country, Camborne drew to play number 12, between Carlton Main and Fairey, taking to the stage of the magnificent hall at about 2pm. After a successful performance of Peter Graham's 'The Torchbearer', the band were delighted to be awarded 8th - Camborne's highest placing at the contest since 1990! The full results of the contest are below, courtesy of 4barsrest.com.
Result. Band, Conductor, Draw
1. Black Dyke, Dr. Nicholas Childs, 5
2. Fodens, Garry Cutt, 9
3. Cory, Dr. Robert Childs, 6
4. Rothwell Temperance, David Roberts, 19
5. Reg Vardy, Stephen Roberts, 3
6. Carlton Main Frickley Colliery, Russell Gray, 11
7. Flowers, Paul Holland, 14
8. Camborne Town, Richard Evans, 12
9. Co-operative Funeralcare, Michael Fowles, 1
10. Newstead Brass, Duncan Beckley, 20
11. Fairey, Philip Chalk, 13
12. Zone One, Richard Ward, 18
13. Hepworth (Cookson Homes), Frank Renton, 10
14. Tredegar, Ian Porthouse, 17
15. Redbridge Brass, Jeremy Wise, 4
16. Desford Colliery, James Gourlay, 7
17. Kirkintilloch, Selmer Simonsen, 8
18. Northop, Thomas Wyss, 2
19. Pemberton Old Wigan DW, Mark Bentham, 16
20. East Yorkshire Motor Services, Jason Katsikaris, 15
Best instrumentalist:Glyn Williams, Foden's
Camborne Town Band Music Society wishes to congratulate the band and Richard on such a fantastic result and the band wish to thank Richard and their Musical Director, Kevin Mackenzie, for all their hard work in the lead up to the contest. The band had a fantastic time in Richard's company and look forward to welcoming him to back Cornwall again in the future. Camborne also send their congratulations to the other West of England representatives, Flowers, for their excellent 7th placing - a great pair of results for the South West!
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