Saturday 5th April 2014 saw the Skelmanthorpe Band led by Musical Director, Martin Hall, join forces with the Honley Ladies Choir for a ‘Brass and Brassier’ concert at St Paul’s Hall in Huddersfield.
The band opened the concert with Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s majestic Walking with Heroes. The first half featured sultry snake-charming in Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah, and the exciting Trepak from The Nutcracker. The band’s first soloist of the evening was Soprano Cornet player, Connor Lennon who wowed the audience with his outstanding performance of Live and Let Die. The next soloist featured was Solo Horn player, Laura Brown, who played Over the Rainbow, complete with ruby slippers.
Barbarian Horde, from the film Gladiator, completed the first half of the concert and was executed with real power and ferocity.
The band launched into the second half of the concert with an energetic performance of Duke Ellington’s Caravan, followed by a more relaxing, Beyond the Sea. The first soloist of the second half was Solo Trombone player, 14 year old Hannah Stell, who played a very classy and stylish rendition of Michael Buble’s Cry Me a River. The band followed with a lively performance of Lionel Ritchie’s All Night Long, showcasing the band’s dancing prowess.
The band then gave a wonderfully moving performance of In Memoriam featuring the hymns Eventide and Gresford, arranged by Alan Needham.
The final soloist of the evening was a rather inebriated Steve Godson on Bass Trombone, whose comical and skilful performance of Show Me the Way to go Home, had band, choir and audience laughing throughout.
The very talented Honley Ladies Choir performed a range of music throughout the concert, from traditional songs to musicals and pop songs, with an abundance of musicality and flair. They then joined the band for the rousing and uplifting finale, Pomp and Circumstance, which ended a very enjoyable and entertaining concert.