Proms on the Green 2015

The weather was perfect, the crowd the biggest we've ever seen!

The sun shone down upon Epping on the afternoon of the band's annual Proms on the Green.
MD Keith chose a popular programme for the first half, consisting of modern hits and film music, ranging from 'Let it Go' from the Disney film 'Frozen, which was a hit with our younger audience, through to a selection of ABBA's hits and the chart-topping 'Get Lucky'

Soloist for the afternoon was Soprano Cornet Jean, who entertained us with a classic - 'Over the Rainbow'

Following a welcome refreshment break (for the band!) the second half saw a change of personnel at the front - Assistant MD Andy was at the helm for part 2, whilst Keith took the opportunity to sit in with the tenor horn section and cover the only vacant seat in today's line up (NB: there are any tenor horn players looking for a permanent position, we'd love to hear from you!)

We enjoyed some more popular hits in the second half, followed by the traditional Proms music - Fantasia on British Sea Songs, Jerusalem and, of course, Land of Hope and Glory. A technical hitch meant we didn't have our usual songsheets this year, but the crowd still joined in and waved their flags with great enthusiasm.

The band would like to thank all of our supporters for making our Proms a huge success yet again, and cordially invite you all to our 80th Birthday Celebration Concert on Sat 17th October, 19.30 in Epping St. John's Church, CM16 5DN

President's Concert 2015

Saturday saw the band perform our annual President's Concert when band president Letitia Berry sponsors a concert with proceeds going to chosen charities. This year's charity was the Make a Wish foundation, and we hope to have raised a good sum for them.

The programme consisted of:

Midway March

Bridge over Troubled Water

Over the Rainbow

Pirates of the Caribbean selection

Sir Duke

Let It Go

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Mr Sandman

James Bond

(Is this the way to) Amarillo?

Gabriel's Oboe

Song for Ina

Abba Selection

Fat Bottomed Girls

Happy

The American Patrol

Can You Feel the Love Tonight? (from the Lion King)

Hymn of the Highlands 1st Mov Ardross Castle (Highland Cathedral)

Our next concerts will be the Proms on the Green, provisionally booked for 2nd August, and our 80th Birthday Celebration on 17th October. We look forward to seeing you there.

Shelley Frost - Memorial Concert 20th September

Many of you will know Roy Frost, as he has been a part of the brass band scene in London and Essex for many years, and was Epping's principal cornet player for many of those! Roy was often accompanied to concerts and rehearsals by his daughter Shelley, who was a keen member of the audience any time her Dad was playing.

Sadly, Shelley died unexpectedly in April this year, and as a tribute, Roy is organising a concert in her memory.

The concert will take place on Saturday 20th September at 19.30 in St. John's Church, Epping, Essex CM16 5JB.

The band will be members of Harlow and Epping Forest bands, plus other players who have worked with Roy over the years. We are anticipating a massed band of 30+ players, and intend to have a fun evening remembering Shelley and playing some of the music she loved.

We will post a reminder for this concert nearer the date. In the meantime please mail if you want any more details, contact Harlow Brass via their website (www.harlowbrassband.co.uk) or click on the 'contact us' link at the top of our own homepage.

London and Southern Counties Area Contest 2014

London and Southern Counties Area Contest 2014



Today saw the band take part in the London and Southern Counties area competition. This is the most significant contest of the year, as it decides our placing in the Brass Band league tables for the coming year.

Some bands choose not to undertake contests, preferring to concentrate on concert performances, whilst others make contesting their primary function as a band.

Here at Epping we try to strike a balance between the two - contrasting the discipline of preparing a set work for a competition with the challenges of working on music chosen to entertain rather than be judged on.

This year's set work, Chaucer's Tunes by Dr. Michael Ball, consists of movements written to represent various stories to be found in the Canterbury Tales. It's a relatively modern piece compared to some of the test pieces we've played over the last few years, and makes demands of the band's ability to play as a unit ('ensemble playing') as well as being able keep tempos and dynamics under control.

18 bands entered the L&SC second section, and Epping were placed 10th out of 18. This is an improvement on last year's 12th place, and a good result for our first Area contest under our (now not so) new MD, Keith Schroeter.

10th position means we hold our ranking in the middle of the Second Section, a placing which most of us are happy with, as it shows that we can hold our own in competitions, but also allows us to spend our time putting on entertaining concerts throughout the year rather than getting totally caught up in the contesting world.

Obviously next year we will be aiming to beat this year's result - What band wouldn't? - but for now we will be concentrating on preparations for the annual President's Concert on 26th April in St. John's Church - Keep an eye on the website for full details to follow.

Epping appoint new Musical Director

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Keith Schroeter as our new Musical Director.

Keith brings with him a wealth of experience, having worked with bands in the London and Southern Counties area for the last ten years, previously as MD for both Thundersley and Soham Comrades bands.

Coming from a background in the Salvation Army, Keith is a graduate of Salford university, and a long-serving playing member of Zone One Brass.

Commenting on his appointment Keith stated "I am very impressed with the bands outstanding infrastructure and commitment to improving themselves as players and the band as a whole. I'm very much looking forward to working with the band on future contest and concert performances"

We would like to thank Andy Brittin for conducting us through the summer season, including our hugely successful Proms on the Green concert. Andy now returns to the Euphonium section with a sigh of relief.

We would also like to welcome Laura Bailey who has recently joined our cornet section.

Our next contest performance will be the Leicestershire Brass Band Association open contest on 24th November, and don't forget it's our Christmas Concert on Saturday 7th December in St. John's church, Epping.

Record-breaking crowd at Proms on the Green!

Thanks to everyone who turned out to support our Proms on the Green concert today.  The weather was good to us, and it was great to see so many of you there.


We have put some photos of the event up on the website, and you can see from them that, without a doubt, today's audience was our largest ever for the Proms, and the band really enjoyed the afternoon. It's so cheering for us to have a 'full house' to play to, as it makes all the hard work and preparation seem worthwhile.

The playlist (for anyone who wants to know) was:

Barnard Castle
All Through the Night
Rhapsody on Negro Spirituals No.1
One Voice
Anthem
Trumpeter's Lullaby
Confection for Brass
Padstow Lifeboat

Cha Cha for Band
Ticket to Ride
American Trilogy
DIsney Fantasy
Bouquet de Paris
Fantasy on British Sea Songs
Jerusalem
Pomp and Circumstance No. 1
Encore: Amparito Roca

Special thanks to Viv Kelly and Neil Connell who sat in with us to cover our own players who are on holiday, and to Sarah Bell who played 2nd Euphonium whilst our usual 2nd Euph conducted the concert.

We are, as ever, indebted to James Miller for his vocal contribution and (on this occasion) compering skills and to Andy Brittin who put together the programme and acted as our Musical Director for the afternoon.

The band hope to appoint a new permanent MD very soon - Andy does not want the position as he would miss playing too much - We are currently auditioning potential candidates, so watch this space, as we will announce the new appointment here.

Band AGM and news

Band AGM tonight - A good turnout and a productive meeting at which we were delighted to welcome Band President Letitia Berry. The existing committee were unanimously voted back in for another year, and we are grateful to the band for this clear mandate as it reassures us that our decisons and actions have the backing of the whole playing membership.

Our aims for the coming year are to find a new MD who shares our vision, get a decent result on to the contest stage in 2014 and continue to entertain the local community. We're preparing for a couple of performances around Epping as part of the 'I Love Epping' festival, and putting together a programme our own Proms concert, taking place from 3-5pm on Sunday 4th August.