Tag: Concert

Grace Pratt Memorial Concert

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As many followers of the bands will be aware, Grace Pratt passed away earleier this year.

Grace is Mikes mother and banding was in her blood from an early age. Grace was a very talented cornet player herself and after marrying Ted Pratt her family could not fail to become brass players themselves.

The whole Shepherd Group Brass Band organisation wanted to pay their own tribute to Grace, someone who supported us through the years and who was a face we all looked out for in our concerts. The best tribute we can think of is to play the music she loved while raising fund for York Against Cancer, her chosen charity.

The concert will take place at 7:30 pm on September 29th 2023 at York Salvation Army Citadel and will feature the Shepherd Group Concert Band conducted of course by her son Mike and the Shepherd Group Senior Band. The music will be a celebration of Grace’s life and a reflection on the lives of those we have lost in recent years.

Tickets for this concert are avaialble via our Eventbrite page.

Register on Eventbrite

Christmas Concert Success

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Once again, all the bands came together over 2 nights to entertain packed audiences in the Joseph Rowntree Theatre. Both evenings were started off by Brass Roots who once again impressed everyone with their playing and showed the audience how well they are coming along as new players.

The Academy Band were next perform followed by the Youth Band. Both performances demonstrate that the future of the band is safe and that there is a wealth of musical talent coming along through our ranks.

Next up were the Concert Band, although Mike was not at the helm this time. Everyone will know Mike had a heart attack earlier this year and had to go up to Middlesborough for bypass surgery. He is now well on the road to recovery and we are assured his jokes will be be back and will be as bad as ever. One of the highlights of the Concert Band set had to be the superb solo played by Emerson Hampshire, they really did nail their version of Peter Grahams Away in A Manger.

The second half of the concert was over to the Senior Band and they provided an upbeat version of Christmas with a a funky big band take of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Our new Principal Cornet, Sean Chandler, gave a brilliant rendition of Santa Claus is Coming to Town and the set was concluded with a finale recounting the story of the Christmas 1914 truce where Mike Pratt starred as the narrator, he really can’t stay away.

The finale saw all bands back on stage where we invoked the spirit of Christmas and Pantomime with “If I were not in Shepherds Band” arranged by the Concert Band Soprano Cornet player James McFadyen. I’m sure everyone who saw the finale will have loved the dancers who performed.

The Christmas concert is one of the highlights of the year and it was so good to have all bands back on stage together. We now look forward to 2023 and what it brings for us all. The band would like to wish all our friends and followers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Backstage views of the Christmas Concerts

The Snowman Live!

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Snowman Poster

If you were at the Christmas Concerts last year, you will remember the announcement that the band would be performing a live soundtrack along with the whole film of The Snowman. The classic Christmas story by Raymond Briggs.

Everything is in place for this now and there will be 2 performances taking place on December 10th 2022 at St Andrews Church Bishopthorpe, the first at 2pm and then a further performance at 6pm.

Do get your tickets ordered early, this is going to be a great experience for familes as well as for the band. The tickets can be bought from Eventbrite usung the following links

2 pm Performance
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sgbb-presents-the-snowman-live-2pm-tickets-408059606267

6pm Performance
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sgbb-presents-the-snowman-live-6pm-tickets-408085614057

Christmas Concert Tickets on sale

Peter Scott Leave a comment

Tickets for the Christmas Gala Concerts at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre will be on sale from the Joseph Rowntree Theatre box office from August 8th.

Don’t miss out on your chance to see this annual treat. We see every band in the organisation presenting their contributions for Christmas. How will the concert be rounded off this year? You are going to have to wait and see.

https://www.josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/concert/christmas-concert/1542/#schedules

Platimum Jubilee Concert Success!

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Jubilee Success!

What a fantastic night we had at the The Joseph Rowntree Theatre on June 18th. A packed out audience were treated to brilliant music, and super commitment from all 5 of the Shepherd Group Bands. It’s hard to pick out the highlights of the evening, but surely we have to mention the superb sounds we heard from the Youth Band who go from strength to strength. There was also the frankly mesmerising sound and spectacle of Scott Dawson demonstraing his exceptional skills on the Euphonium while managing to wave a flag. It was a performance that moved Mike Pratt to tears!

Speaking of Mike and the Concert Band, they never fail to entertain and after the concert there was a comment madeby a regular follower who comes all the way from Chesterfield for our concerts. He said “A great concert, but Mike Pratt’s jokes are getting worse.” Theres a challenge if we ever heard one. Next stop for the Concert Band is going to be Regents Park on July 3rd. Do the folk of London know what’s going to hit them?

The next outing for the Senior Band will be up in Durham for the Big Meet where they will lead the Silksworth Banner through the city.

Joint Concert with Black Dyke

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On February 5th 2023, the Senior Band will join forces with the World Famous Black Dyke Band from Queensbury near Bradford in order to raise money for York Against Cancer. This will be the second time the band has taken part in the York Against Cancer events with the last concert back in early 2020 with Brighouse and Rastrick.

This is a great opportunity to take in a great afternoon of Brass music held at York Grand Opera House, while contributing towards a great York charity. Do keep your eyes open for tickets, bookmark the date and we look forward to seeing you there.