Ratby Cooperative Band Organisation

Festival of Brass

The Senior Band held their first Festival of Brass at the weekend, and it was a huge success.

This was a first for the band, as it was free to all.

Held at the Braunstone Civic Centre, both old and new faces in the audience enjoyed a great night, featuring a mixture of music, from traditional marching songs and hymns, through to reworkings of famous pop songs.

There was a lot of new music for people that follow the band to enjoy, along side some pieces that go down well with the audience every time they are performed.

All of the soloists were listened to intently by the concert goers, and each one received a warm round of applause.

The night finished with a new piece to the band, To Boldly Go, which was well received by the audience, and for their encore, they performed Bombardier.

Due to raffle ticket sales, and the generosity of people at the concert, a substantial amount of money was raised.

Oompah Oompah

Another week, and the Ratby Co-operative Band Autumn season rolls on…on 30^th September it was the turn of the Ratby Oompah Band to give their annual performance at Ratby Sports Club under the leadership of guest musical director Stan Van de Lager (actually soprano cornet player Steve Alexander all the way from the foothills of the Kettering Alps).

The crowd were entertained by a mix of pop favourites, traditional Bavarian tunes and games to engage the audience (the infamous ‘balloon game’ was a favourite among those not taking part…), with bratwurst and frikadellen washed down with the finest ale a Leicestershire sports club has to offer! Sadly this was Steve’s last performance with the band for the time being though we hope he’ll be donning the lederhosen once more this time next year to bring an authentic (ahem) taste of southern Germany to the burghers of Ratby!

The Mystery is Solved…

On September 23^rd the Ratby Co-operative Band got together at Braunstone Civic Centre for the latest concert in their Autumn season – and on this occasion, when they met, it was murder! An evening of entertainment masterminded by the bands Flugel Horn player Kirk Turner, going by the title of “Murder at the Casino” found the band in the Blackjack Casino welcomed by compere Debbie Neath.

During the evening the death of casino owner William Kelly was announced and Debbie guided the assembled crowd through investigations featuring musical appearances from the likes of a man with a bowler hat, a couple of lady detectives from New York, one of their colleagues from Amsterdam, a magician’s assistant, a lady of a certain age and an antiques dealer, helped (or hindered) by one Officer Krupke and a bunch of Keystone Cops. A number of suspects were identified from among the clientele – was it the jealous wife Audrey, rival casino proprietor Wesley, the waitress, the croupier, the bouncer…..? At the end of the evening all became clear and most of the audience were allowed to return safely home; one person has some explaining to do…..

Autumn Concert Season

The Ratby Senior Band have kicked off their Autumn concert season with their ‘Brass in Concert’ evening at St Mary’s Church in Lutterworth, with Musical Director Dave Purkiss. The band launched a brand new programme of classics, film music and modern classics with featured soloists, duettists and even the bass section on their feet. The new programme was fitting for a new venue for the band, the beautiful setting and acoustic of St Mary’s church. Also fitting was the band’s finale of Shine as the light, which delighted the audience with its sparkle and splendour. The band look forward to returning to Lutterworth next year. and also to a variety of different events across the coming Autumn months, including a Murder Mystery evening, and Oompah night, a further Church concert as well as a brand new festival of remembrance concert in Ratby village.

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And the band played on…

And the band played on to Quartet Bronze victory. On Sunday 2nd April, members of the Junior band took part in the Leicestershire Brass Band Association Solo and Quartet competition held at Loughbrough Endowed Schools. Over 100 competitors took part in the annual event performing a variety of solos, air-varies, duets and quartets. Members of the Junior band played their own solos in the different aged categories and came together to perform in the 14 years and under Hymn Tune Quartet. They have been practicing for weeks and even having weekend ‘play dates’ at each other’s homes to be on top form for the contest day. Unfortunately disaster struck on Saturday night as during the band’s Music Festival one of the members of the quartet was rushed to A&E, however in true ‘Bandsman style’ the group played on with the fabulous help from a young member of Wigston Band. The group played ‘Abide with Me’ brilliantly and impressed adjudicator, Mr Keith Leonard, who awarded the group 3rd Prize! Huge thanks to Laura Moore for conducting the group of youngsters on the day, and many congratulations to our youngsters, wearing their Bronze medals with pride as they represent our organisation.

May the Fourth be with you

Both Ratby Senior and Ratby Mid band were pleased with their respective ‘fourth’ places at this year’s Midlands Regional contest. Competing in the Championship Section at Bedworth Civic Hall, the Senior Band directed by Mareika Gray performed Herbert Howell’s epic ‘Pageantry’ to adjudicators Philip Harper and Leigh Baker, competing in a very tough field and maintaining their strong result from 2016.

The Mid band, now under their new conductor Geoff Wood also achieved fourth place in their own section, which records one of the strongest area contest results for the mid band to date. The players and supporters alike were delighted by the bands performance and their progress.

The Senior Band now prepare for their next two competitions in May; the Senior Cup in Blackpool and the All England International Masters in Kettering.

New Mid Band Conductor

Ratby Band are very pleased to announce the appointment of Geoff Wood as the new MidBand Conductor who jumped straight into the Hot Seat leading the band to the area contest in March. Geoff has been with the Band a number of years and we wish him the best of luck taking the band forward. The achieved a very respectable 4^th Place in the competition out of 22 Bands – Well done all!

Geoff completes the Conducting team made up of:

Mareika Gray Musical Director

Dave Purkiss Associate Musical Director

Geoff Wood Mid Band Conductor

Geoff Newman Youth Band Conductor

Becky Moss Junior Band Conductor

Will Carter Beginner Band Conductor

Ratby Welcomes David Purkiss

The Ratby Co-operative Band are pleased to announce that David Purkiss has been appointed as their new Associate Musical Director, working alongside Professional MD Mareika Gray, and the team of conductors and band trainers at Ratby.

Having worked with the band previously in a playing capacity, David brings a wealth of performance and conducting experiences to the Ratby organisation. His proud musical background with the Salvation Army, including his time as a member of the International Staff Band, continues to shape and inspire David’s musical career. In addition to his role as Director of Music at The Friary School in Lichfield, David has also been Musical Director for a number of championship section brass bands including Thoresby Colliery and most recently The Staffordshire Band.

Speaking of the appointment Ratby Chairman Steve Plant said ‘we are delighted that David has accepted this position as Associate MD with our Senior Band and very much look forward to working with both David and Mareika. We would also like to extend our thanks to all who expressed interest in this position’.

The band now look forward to a fresh contesting season with their newly secured duet of directors, following a very successful 12 years for the band with Michael Fowles.

David will make his official debut with the Ratby Co-operative Senior Band at a forthcoming concert in Leicester on 22nd October.

Parks and Recreation

Sunday 4th September seemed to be the day for hearing a Ratby band in your local park. Both senior and mid bands were out and about playing to the good folk of Barwell and Knighton in their local recreational parks. The sun managed to sneak through the clouds and the rain held off to help Ratby round off the summer season with some classic brass band fayre. Both bands will now set about preparing contest and concert pieces ahead of the Autumn and Winter season. Please keep an eye on our calendar for our events coming up.

Ratby Welcomes Mareika Gray

The Ratby Co-operative Band have announced that they have appointed Mareika Gray as their Professional Musical Director as part of a new musical structure within the organisation.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOLDY SOLUTIONS LTD

In her new role Mareika will provide musical leadership and creative direction for the whole of the Ratby Co-operative Band organisation and will be the principal professional conductor for the Ratby Senior Band on the contesting platform. The role will also see Mareika working alongside Ratby’s team of conductors and band trainers to develop the organisation as a whole, promoting youth development and community music making in the heart of Leicestershire, as well as working to maintain recent high level contest performances.

The partnership marks a new era for the Band who are now looking for applications for the newly created ‘Associate Musical Director’ position within the band, working closely with Mareika and conducting team.

Speaking of her appointment Mareika said ‘I am delighted to be taking on this position with Ratby Co-operative Band. Whilst rehearsing the band for the Masters contest I felt straight away that the relationship worked, and I am now looking forward to be working with all of the bands at Ratby. It is a privilege to be part of such a well-structured organisation that promotes and encourages musical education for younger people. I have always enjoyed working with bands that have a family atmosphere too and Ratby is no exception’.

The appointment also marks a special and unique moment for Ratby band, with Mareika not only being the second female conductor in the band’s history, but also making history itself with Ratby Band being the only band to have had two female Musical Directors who have both conducted winning performances that have received the British Open Grand Shield, the first being Betty Anderson with Ratby Band in 1978.

A young percussionist at that time, and now Ratby Band Chairman Steve Plant added ‘we are really pleased to be able to continue to work with Mareika, following a fantastic debut and result together at the All England Masters International in May, the band are now very much looking forward to continuing to work with Mareika and with our other new position of Associate MD, which the band are now looking to appoint. We would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in the position’.

Ratby and Mareika will now spend the summer months continuing to develop their musical relationship ahead of the winter contesting season. Further announcements on the appointment of a new Associate MD will be made in due course.