Bo'ness & Carriden Band

Below is a full list of our news since we opened the new website, we will keep a record of all news and features covered on the website.

9th March 2008 - SCOTTISH CHAMPIONS 150 NOT OUT!!

Bo’ness & Carriden Band got their 150^th Anniversary of to a flying start on Sunday with victory in the Scottish Championships.

With a confident and musical performance of Gilbert Vinter’s “James Cook, Circumnavigator”, the band not only took the 1^st Section national title but also won the best instrumentalist prize. This went to their Soprano Cornet player, Richard Tobin, who thoroughly deserved this recognition after a stunning musical performance.

The contest took place in The Rothes Halls in Glenrothes, which is a new venue for this event, and proved a popular choice with the public. A packed hall witnessed Bo’ness & Carriden take to the stage after being drawn number 6 and as one observer commented “ the band lifted the competition to new levels with a performance that outshone all that had played before”

The adjudicators remarks commented that the band’s performance was “very nearly excellent” and “A well directed performance, full of detail and with good balance. Soprano was a real star!”

Winning this contest earns the band the right and honour to represent Scotland at the British National Finals in Harrogate in September and also gives them automatic qualification to the Scottish open in November.

The band’s conductor, Michael Marzella said “After the hard work and commitment shown by the band members in their preparation for this contest I am delighted they achieved this fantastic award and I am proud to be associated with such a significant result”.

Winning the Scottish Championships also provides a great start to the band’s 150years celebrations.

Plans for this momentous year are well under way and the band are very pleased to announce that they have secured a grant from “Awards for All” (one of the funding bodies of The National Lottery) which will fund two of their 150 year celebration projects. One being the publishing of a book following the history of the band from 1858 to the present day, written by Val McKay. And the other being the commissioning of a new brass band march to be written by top Composer, Performer & Conductor, Andy Duncan.

2008 promises to be a busy year for the band, as other events lined up, over and above their usual commitments, include a Celebration Concert on 6^th June, a Civic Reception, and our 20^th Annual Concert in Bo’ness Town Hall.

To bring this celebration year to a close, the band has also agreed to join their great friends and local rivals, Unison Kinneil Band, who are also celebrating their 150^th anniversary, for a joint concert on the 5^th December, also in Bo’ness Town Hall. Proceeds from this great occasion will be in aid of a charity to be announced.

As always the band are thankful for the continued support of the local community and if there is anyone out there who may be able to assist in their research for the book or has any memorabilia relating to the bands history, their help would be very welcome.

CHANGES AT THE TOP

The “top chair”, that is.

It is with no small amount of regret, that the Band announces the departure of their award winning principal cornet player, Craig Robertson.

Craig, has decided to take up the offer to join the Scottish Co-op band in Glasgow, and goes with the best wishes of everyone at BCB.

The prestigious position will now be filled by Gordon McFarlane who is no stranger to the role, having first played principal cornet with BCB as long ago as 1986.

The ranks of the band are further strengthened by the return of Diane Waugh to the Solo Cornet rank after a year teaching in Shanghai and by the return of Ian Squince on Bb bass after a year working in Aberdeen.

SUCCESS BY THE SEASIDE

Saturday the 19^th saw Bo’ness & Carriden Band compete in the annual British Open Spring Festival in its usual surroundings of the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. And the bands hard work before hand paid off with them gaining a well deserved promotion place.

From a field of 20 bands from all over Britain, BCB drew the dreaded number one draw and took to the stage at around 11am.

The set test piece was Joseph Horovitz’ “Ballet for Band” and the band played a confident and musical performance which set a very high standard for the first performance of the day. In particular the Flugel, Soprano and Cornet soloists played to a standard that would have been hard to match.

Several hours and 19 performances later the adjudicators took to the stage. In a brief summing up speech, James Scott spoke of 4 performances that were to a higher standard that the rest of the field and of one outstanding soloist performance. He then proceeded to award Bo’ness & Carriden Band’s Principal Cornet player, Craig Robertson, best soloist and the band 3^rd place overall.

The band’s resident conductor, Mike Marzella, said: “It’s always difficult to get a result when we compete at a national level, but to get 3^rd place from a first draw against such a strong field was particularly satisfying and we are all really proud of Craig’s achievement in gaining the soloist award.”

BLACKPOOL BECKONS

With the Senior Trophy (British Open) contest in Blackpool less than a week away, the band embark in a gruelling series of rehearsals in an attempt to make up for the disappointment of the Scottish Championships in Dundee.

Under the baton of Resident Conductor, Mike Marzella, BCB will be virtually locked in the band hall every night this week in an effort to make their mark at this prestigious contest.

The set test piece for the Senior Trophy is Joseph Horovitz' "Ballet for Band" and so far preparation is going well. The band last played this piece way back at the Scottish Championships in 1988, so it presents a new challenge for 90% of the players. It features a beautiful Flugel horn solo in the middle section and if the band's new Flugel player, Sarah Findlay, plays as well as she did in Dundee she is sure to impress the adjudicators this time around.

4th PLACE DISAPPOINTS IN DUNDEE

On Sunday 11^th March Bo’ness & Carriden Band headed for the Caird Hall in Dundee as firm favourites for the 1^st Section Scottish Championships. However, despite a marvellous performance, things did not go to plan.

The following quote from brass band website 4barsrest.com tells the whole story:

“4barsrest pre-contest favourites Bo'ness & Carriden and Michael Marzella will be mightily disappointed with their 4th place finish. For us, this was the class act of the contest. The basics of good band playing were all there - good tuning, balance, control, full use of the dynamic range and beautifully phrased solo features. What's more, all the soloists had a good day (with cornet player Craig Robertson winning the best instrumentalist prize) and the MD's interpretation was, we thought, on the mark. We're not sure why the judges didn't like it as much as we did - better luck next year.”

SOLO SUCCESS

Bo’ness and Carriden Band are delighted to announce the continued success of two of their Principal players.

The Besson Scottish Solo championships were held in the Regal Theatre, Bathgate on Sunday 4^th February and attracted a large and talented field of competitors from bands all over Scotland. Adjudicators on the day were Roger Webster and Lesley Howie.

Following a performance from the field of 21 soloists, a total of six finalists were chosen to perform a second time. Carriden Band were delighted to have their two entrants, Craig Robertson on Cornet and Gregor Stewart on Trombone, chosen to perform a second time.

After stunning performances from both, Gregor Stewart was awarded 2^nd and Craig Robertson, 3^rd, with the eventual winner being Graham Fraser from Whitburn Band.

This continues an amazing run of results for Gregor, who has finished 1st, 2^nd ,2^nd over the last three years and also finished 3^rd in the British Open Solo Championship in November last year. And also for Craig who has been a finalist two out of the last three years.

BUILDING FOR THE SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIPS

The band are also very pleased to announce a couple of personnel acquisitions in their quest to win the Scottish Championships in March.

First is the appointment of their new Resident Conductor, Mike Marzella. Mike, who parted company with the Whitburn Band last summer, has been sought after by many of the countries top bands and we see it as a major coup for the band in securing his services.

Also, Sarah Findlay, previously principal cornet with Johnstone Silver Band, has joined the band on Flugelhorn. Sarah, an experienced solo player, will complement the existing array of talented “end chair” players and is sure to be a big help in the band’s quest for continued success.