Co-operative Funeralcare Band Presents Concert In Greenock

Jim Hayes thrills the audience with his performance of "Charivari"

On Friday, 12th February, 2010, The Co-operative Funeralcare Brass Band gave a concert in St. John’s Episcopal Church in Greenock in aid of the Salvation Army. The band was conducted by Michael Fowles, the band’s Musical Director who led the band through a wide variety of music, much to the enjoyment of the large audience which had turned out to hear one of Scotland’s leading brass bands.

From the first strains of the opening march “The Contester” by T.J.Powell it was evident that this was to be a night, not only for the connoisseurs of brass band music but for anyone who appreciated good music generally. The overture “Le Corsair” by Berlioz followed the opening item and showed off the band in all its technical glory in a spectacular rendering of this Berlioz masterpiece.

During the course of the evening, the band’s three soloists gave fine performances of completely different styles of music. Jim Hayes, the band’s principal cornet player thrilled the audience with a sparkling performance of “Charivari” by John Iveson while principal trombonist Paul Kiernan played Dewhurst’s “Brasilia”.
Finally, principal euphonium player, Alison Bonnar, played John Golland’s “Peace” and this performance was dedicated by Michael Fowles to the memory of those who had died in the recent Haiti earthquake and to those people in the area who were still suffering the after effects of the disaster.

The programme ended with a powerful performance of Ravel’s “Bolero”, arranged by Howard Snell. However, the audience demanded an encore, which they got (and participated in by clapping to the music) in the form of Julius Fucik’s march “Entry Of The Gladiators”. This brought the evening to a most satisfying conclusion for all concerned.

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