End of the Season at Kinneil
Posted by admin in General News on July 1st, 2010
June is usually the marching season for bands around the country, and this year was no different. Our first marching job was Fauldhouse Gala Day on Saturday 12th June, followed by a 7am start on Tuesday 15th June at the Linlithgow Marches. After having three well earned days off the bands busy scheduled continued with a full weekend of marching with Armadale Gala Day on Saturday 19th and leading Kinneil School at the Kirking of the Queen in Bo’ness on Sunday 20th June.
The Bo’ness Fair E’en march is a tradition the band has had for as long as anyone can remember. Before the march around the town to visit the arches and play at Kinneil Club, the annual awards were announced for the Player of the Year and Bandsman of the Year.
The player of the year award goes to the player who has performed at the highest level not only on the contest stage but in the bandroom over the whole year. The award was chosen by the bands resident conductor Paul Drury, and this year the Kinneil Band Player of the Year Quaich was awarded to Andrew Meikle (Euphonium).
The bandsman of the year was set up to recognise the player in the band whose efforts outwith playing have benefited the band most. The award is voted for by the players in the band. This year’s vote ended in a tie and the award will be shared by Fiona Drury and Ruth Kelly. The band also made a special award to Fiona and Ruth for their exceptional work in making the 150th Anniversary Celebrations a year to remember. Taking leading roles in producing the band’s debut CD and the book of the band’s history “150 years of Music” are only two of the many events they organised.
The best day of the year, The Bo’ness Fair, with another 7am start rounded of another successful year for Kinneil Band. The band is now off on holiday for a few weeks to rest those aching feet and tattered lips but will return refreshed for a busy schedule heading into the New Year.
Concert Boosts Youth Band Funds by over £1000
Posted by admin in Concerts, General News on June 1st, 2010
Kinneil Youth Band held their inaugural concert in Kinneil Bowling Club on Friday 28th May. The bowling club committee had to dust off the ‘House Full’ signs after 120 guests packed out the venue on a perfect summer evening. The band was introduced by compere, David Frame, who is also Director of Youth Development and were conducted by Scott Gardner.
The youth band has featured in many senior band concerts, but this was the first time that the youngsters have performed a full concert programme on their own accord.
The Dave King Trio welcomed the audience while they took their seats, and entertained them until the Kinneil Youth Band took to the stage. The first half contained some well known numbers such as Slaidburn, The Beatles Medley, Londonderry Air, Hava Nigilah, Kalinka and The Great Movie Adventure.
Billy Archibald was invited to showcase some of his world famous snare drumming skills. Billy is the reigning World Corps Champion, the North American Snare Drum Champion, The British and European Drum Champion and Cowal Drum Winner. He was placed joint 1st in the Solo Drumming Championship and Billy thrilled the audience with some very impressive snare drumming throughout the evening.
After a short interval the band returned and played Grease, Boston Bounce, Frere Jacques, Beauty and the Beast, Queen and the William Tell Overture. A quartet featuring some of the older players performed Where is Love from the musical Oliver. This piece went down a storm with the audience and it was arranged by the bands, Christopher Hamilton, who is only Fourteen years old.
The crowd sang along with the final number, the Bo’ness Fair Song; ‘Our Festal Day’. The concert raised over £1000 on the evening, which will go along way to helping improve the musical education of the children. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped make this evening magical.
Mid-Table Finish for Kinneil in Blackpool
Posted by admin in General News, Results on May 18th, 2010
This weekend (14th-16th May), the band travelled down south to compete in the annual Senior Cup competition in Blackpool. The test piece for the competition was Philip Sparke’s “Year of the Dragon”.
Kinneil, under the direction of Allan Ramsay, were drawn last in the proceedings from a field of twenty top class bands from all over the country. The band played extremely well and were tipped to finish 2nd by the brass band website 4barsrest.com (see article at: http://4barsrest.com/news/detail.asp?id=11613). After a short wait, it was revealed that Kinneil achieved 10th place, which was awarded by the adjudication team of David Read and David Childs. Although the band felt slightly disappointed not to have gained a better result, the 10th place means that the band has secured a place in the Senior Cup competition for next year.
Full Results :
1. Woodfalls (Gareth Pritchard), 17
2. Staffordshire (Huw Thomas), 9
3. Dalmellington (Richard Evans), 6
4. Co-operative Milnrow (Andrew White), 11
5. Fishburn (Stephen Malcolm), 3
6. Yorkshire Imperial Urquart Travel (David Nesbitt), 8
7. Ashton-Under-Lyne (Martyn Evans), 18
8. East Yorkshire Motor Services (Stan Lippeatt), 2
9. Powerfuel Hatfield (Graham O’Connor), 13
10. Unison Kinneil (Allan Ramsay), 20
11. NASUWT Riverside (Ian Robinson), 10
12. Laganvale (Metal Technology) (Ernest Ruddock), 7
13. United Co-op Crewe (Jef Sparkes), 1
14. Ratby Co-operative (Michael Fowles), 19
15. Derwent Brass (Keith Leonard), 16
16. Aveley & Newham (Nigel Taken), 12
17. Bo’ness & Carriden (Steve Sykes), 15
18. City of Sheffield (David Holling), 14
19. Cwmaman Institute Silver (Craig Roberts), 4
20. Kibworth (John Hudson), 5
Kinneil Kids Conquer Competition at Bill Shaw Memorial Contest
Posted by admin in General News, Results on April 26th, 2010
The annual Bill Shaw Memorial Slow Melody Contest was held in Lodge Minto in Lochgelly on Sunday 25th April. A bumper number of Kinneil entries were included in the line-up with no less than seven competitors from the band taking place.
In the Junior Section,(Aged 12 and under) Charlotte Reid (Euphonium), Ammara Sarwar(Cornet) and Qualla Sarwar(Cornet), who were all competing for the first time received, a Bronze Award for their efforts. Kalvin Sneddon(Horn) received a Silver Award in this section.
The Intermediate Section (Aged 16 and under) saw Christopher Hamilton (Horn) retain his Youth Section trophy with a fine victory from a number 2 draw. Christopher was awarded 95 points, just ahead of his twin sister Joanne Hamilton (Cornet) who came in 2nd place with 94 points. Kaylin Minto (Cornet) was placed a credible 9th with 88 points.
The Open section was won by Stuart Hepburn of Lochgelly Band who, by the narrowest of margins beat the Kinneil pair of Christopher Hamilton and Lauren Robb (Cornet) into 2nd and 3rd places.
Such a very good day for all in the Kinneil organisation and the band is extremely proud of the effort, behaviour and performances of all involved
Annual Concert Review
Posted by admin in Concerts, General News on April 26th, 2010
Unison Kinneil Band held their annual concert on Friday 16th April to a near capacity audience at Bo’ness Town Hall. The band was introduced by compere Douglas Sneddon and the evening kicked off in traditional style with the march “The Melody Shop”. Following the brass band tradition the second item was an overture and the piece selected by the band’s conductor Paul Drury, was the famous “Italian Girl in Algiers” by Rossini.
Phillip McCann, the world famous cornet soloist, was the band’s guest soloist for the evening and his first piece “Russian Grand Fantasia” went down a storm with the Town Hall audience. Phillip, a native of Bo’ness and a product of Kinneil Band, has toured the world in his role as a soloist, conductor, adjudicator and brass instructor.
The band went on to perform two big band numbers, “There’s No Business like Show Business” and “Deep River” before Phillip completed his first half performance with the two beautiful melodies “All That I Am” and Brahms “Lullaby”. The first half concluded with the festival arrangement “Credo” by Lorne Barry.
The second half was opened by Kinneil Youth Band. The 17 youngsters played “Gonna Fly Now”, “Super Trouper” and “Can- Can” to a delighted audience. On completion of their three pieces the Youth Band was presented with three instruments, a cornet, horn and trombone donated by Weslo Housing Management which will go a long way towards ensuring we have enough quality instruments to satisfy the ever expanding numbers in our Youth Band.
Unison Kinneil retook the stage and started off with “Jubilee Prelude” by Philip Sparke then the comedy number “The Muppets Show”. Phillip McCann then produced another world class performance this time featuring his echo cornet in “Sing Vogelchen Aus Dem Thüringer-Wald”. The band followed this with “All in the April Evening” and “Miss Otis Regrets” before Phillip McCann wrapped up his solo spots with the gorgeous “The Prayer”. Of course, he was not allowed to leave the stage until the audience heard the traditional “Post Horn Galop” played on the post horn he was given by his grandfather many years ago. Phillip was invited to join the band as they performed their finale “Slaughter on 10th Avenue” from the musical ‘On your Toes’. The applause from the audience was loud and long and of course the band had an encore piece ready. The band’s signature march “Kinneil Colliery” rounded off a wonderful evening.
150th Anniversary Book Launch
Posted by admin in General News on April 2nd, 2010
During 2008, Unison Kinneil Band celebrated 150 years of music making and to commemorate this, a number of special events were held during the year. The band also produced its first CD which went on sale early in 2009. The final part of our celebrations was to produce a book on the history of the band through the years. Funding to assist us in this project was received from Awards for All and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.
The book will be launched at our Annual concert on Friday 16 April 2010 in Bo’ness Town Hall. This commemorative book, written by Ruth Kelly, captures some of the history and memories of the band for future generations and shares with our supporters and the local community of Bo’ness some of the enthusiasm, dedication and highs and lows of banding. Some of the more humorous moments in the band’s history are detailed in the player’s recollections!
The book is priced £10 and is available to purchase on line by clicking here or clicking on the adverts below and opposite. Alternatively, copies can be purchased from the Inkspot and Silverleaf Book Shop in South Street, Bo’ness or A & J Newsagents, South Street Bo’ness from Saturday 17th April.
Unison Kinneil Band Annual Concert
Posted by admin in Concerts, General News on March 25th, 2010
UNISON Kinneil Band will hold its Annual Concert on Friday 16th April in Bo’ness Town Hall at 7:30pm. Our very special guest for the evening will be the world famous cornet soloist Phillip McCann. He has captivated audiences wherever he has played with his unique sound and masterful playing and we are proud to be able to welcome him back once again to play with his “own band”.
Tickets costing £7 (£5 concessions) are available from Lyons Hardware (South Street, Bo’ness), from any band member, by calling Brian Holmes on 01506 822388 or at the door on the evening.
The address for the Town Hall is as follows :
Stewart Avenue
Bo’ness
EH51 9NJ
Kinneil Continues To Impress In The Kingdom
Posted by admin in General News, Results on March 15th, 2010
The Scottish Championships were held in The Rothes Hall, Glenrothes on Sunday 14th March 2010. UNISON Kinneil continued its run of improving results by achieving 5th place. This result will help cement the band’s position as one of the top five bands in Scotland.
Playing off a number 9 draw the band gave a refined, yet exciting performance of the set test piece “English Heritage”. The adjudicating team of Chris Wormald and Brett Baker awarded the band 192 points out of 200.
The continued run of improving standards could not have been achieved without the hard work from all associated with the band and especially our conducting team of Resident Conductor Paul Drury and Musical Director Allan Ramsay.
The band’s busy diary should see us competing at the Spring Festival in Blackpool in May, while April sees us taking part in a march for our sponsors UNISON and hosting our Spring Concert in Bo’ness Town Hall with the world famous soloist Phillip McCann as our guest on Friday 16th April at 7:30pm.
Full Results :
1. Co-operative FuneralCare (Russell Gray) – 198
2. Whitburn (Steven Mead) – 196
3. Kirkintilloch (Frank Renton) – 195
4. Kingdom Brass (Andy Duncan) – 194
5. Unison Kinneil (Allan Ramsay) – 192
6. Dalmellington (Archie Hutchison) – 191
7. Bon Accord Silver (John Maines) – 190
8. Newtongrange Silver (Nigel Boddice MBE) – 189
9. Clackmannan (Paul Kiernan) – 188
10. Kirkintilloch Kelvin (Charles Keenan) – 187
Experience Is The Key For Kinneil
Posted by admin in General News on February 18th, 2010
UNISON Kinneil Band is pleased to announce the return of two very experienced players in time for the Scottish Brass Band Championships in March. We are delighted to welcome back Brian Mitchell on 1st Baritone and Alex Melville on Repiano cornet.
Brian returns to the band from a very successful spell with The Co-operative Funeralcare Band. He has played at all the major contests in banding with such top bands as Bo’ness and Carriden, Broxburn, Kingdom Brass and of course UNISON Kinneil.
Alex Melville returns to the band after having taken some time out from banding to play jazz, amazing audiences with his skill as a jazz trumpeter. Alex has Scottish Championship wins with Kinneil already under his belt, perhaps uniquely having won once as Solo Euphonium and also as Principal Cornet. Alex had a lengthy and very successful spell with Whitburn and has subsequently had spells with all the top bands in Scotland.
The experience and strength of these two players is already evident at rehearsals and their signing can only improve Kinneil’s chances of achieving a top class result at the Scottish Championships in March.
Kinneil have two good reasons to celebrate 2010
Posted by admin in General News on January 7th, 2010
The band is delighted to announce that Allan Ramsay has accepted an invitation to conduct the band at the forthcoming Scottish Championships. ‘English Heritage’ has been selected as the test for the 2010 Championships to be held in Glenrothes, Fife. The piece was commissioned for the 1990 National Final’s and witnessed a historic win by the Scottish Co-Op Band which featured Allan on Principal Cornet. Allan will work with resident conductor Paul Drury to assure a top finish at the Scottish Championships.
The second piece of good news the band has to declare is that Jim Buchanan has received his fifty year service medal from the Scottish Brass Band Association. Jim started playing with the band in late 1959 and has played nearly every instrument, including percussion! Jim has spent all but one of his fifty years playing with Kinneil, and the band was proud to award him his medal at our annual Christmas concert at the Old Kirk in December.
Jim Buchanan being presented with his 50 year service medal by band secretary Robert Doherty.
