Friday 9th April 2010 heralded the arrival of a team of 12 virtuoso performers and tutors from The Cory Band for a weekend of brass where, under the direction of the brilliant Steve Sykes, they were working with upward of 60 members from various junior bands from Northern Ireland. This culminated in an exciting concert which took place on Saturday 10th April in a packed War Memorial Hall in Carrickfergus. This showed off the stunning work done by the tutors in such a short space of time. One of the highlights of the weekend was the astonishing performance by virtuoso trombonist Chris Thomas of Arthur Pryor’s Bluebells of Scotland which received a well deserved standing ovation from a mesmerised audience.

In addition to their work with the youth band, the Cory Band members tutored and mentored the Wellington Memorial Silver Band and Third Carrickfergus Band as they prepared for the forthcoming BBL contest.

We all offer our sincere thanks to all the Cory Band members who worked so hard for so long and made the weekend fly by despite the long hours. They all were a credit to their profession and their band. Dr Robert Childs can be very proud of his team.

The music played at Saturday’s concert was;

The Youth Band & Cory Ensemble

Westward Ho! – E Firth
Bohemian Rhapsody – F Mercury arr. Fernie
The Rose – A McBroom arr. Bernaerts
Swingin’ Safari – B Kaempfert arr. Siebert
E Waites Suite – E Waites
Pirates of the Carribbean – J Williams arr. Mabon

Third Carrickfergus Band

Valero – J Swearingen arr. Smith
Oklahoma – R Rodgers arr. Catherall
Magh Seola – Gerard Fahey arr. Smith – Flugel Soloist: Ruth Binding
The Contestor – T J Powell
The Lord is Gracious – Olaf Ritman
On The Track – J Simpson arr. Catherall –Xylophone Soloist: Matthew Brown
Bui Doi (from Miss Saigon) – C M Schonberg arr. Vause
Rocky – Gonna Fly Now – B Conti arr. Fernie

Interval

The Cory Brass Ensemble

Castell Coch – T J Powell
Barbie – P Laine, P Stone arr. D Wilby
Mr Jums – C Hazell arr. A Catherall
Tico Tico – Zequinha Abreu arr. J Iveson Cornet Soloist: Tom Hutchinson
Ticket to Ride – Lennon & McCartney arr. Fernie
Bluebells of Scotland – A Pryor Trombone Soloist: Chris Thomas
Evening Prayer – E Humperdinck arr. R Childs
Toccata from Suite Gothique – L Boellman arr. E Ball

The Youth Band & Cory Ensemble

The Muppet Show – Henson/Pottle arr. Mabon
African Funk – arr. Fernie
Hootenanny – H Walters