The band today welcomed Black Dyke Euphonium Soloist, David Thornton, to Carrickfergus.

The Euphonium virtuoso is in the province this weekend to appear in a sell-out concert in the newly refurbished Ulster Hall in Belfast with the Black Dyke Mills Band as part of Queens Festival.

He spent the day firstly working with a very enthusiastic and excited junior band in the morning and then in the afternoon with the senior band, as he rehearsed the test piece in preparation of the forthcoming NIBA Championship of Ireland contest which will be held on Saturday 31st October 2009 in the Market Place Theatre, Armagh.

The test piece for this year is the wonderful “Resurgam” by Eric Ball, which is as enjoyable to play as it is to listen to.

During the course of the day, the band also played The Champions march, El Cumbanchero – Soloist Ruth Dodridge, Valero and the highlight of the day was the privilege of accompanying David in a simply stunning version of “Grandfathers Clock”

We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank David for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule and for all his hard work and assistance in his time with both the junior and senior bands. We hope that some of the techniques and tips he gave to us will be useful, not only for this contest, but beyond.