Raising the Roof at St Columba's - a Callander Brass Perspective by Ken Milligan

Saturday night, 14th November, 2009, saw the players of Callander Brass host the Scottish Brass Band of the Year, the Co-operative Funeralcare Band, in a joint concert held in St Columba's Church, Stirling. The move to Stirling was intended to give a wider audience the opportunity to hear one of Britain's finest bands and a good crowd of souls was treated to a grand musical evening.

Callander Brass conductor Ian Milligan introduced the fledgling local band's contribution to the evening, presenting a varied programme. Opening the first concert of only their second season with a rousing arrangement of the 'March from the Suite in F' by Holst, they followed this with the more contemplative melody of the 'Isle of Innisfree' by Farrelly. An impeccable performance of the Flugel Horn solo arrangement of Rodrigo's 'Concierto de Aranjuez' beautifully played by Tanya Currie, led on to Callander Brass's first performance of a former test piece in the three movements of 'A Rural Suite' by Woodhouse. The haunting melody in 'A Special Place', written by Richards for the Children's Hospice Association gave an ideal variation before the final march, Goffin's 'Anthem of the Free' - a firm favourite with the band's bass section. Each item was warmly received, with most generous applause from the gathered audience and the onlooking Co. musicians.

Following a break, during which the Championship Section band's extensive percussion section was moved into place and various seating arrangements were altered, the Co-operative Funeralcare Band took to the stage. Conductor Gavin Lindsay immediately launched the band into the stunning 'Enter the Galaxies' - coincidentally composed by the son of a Callander Brass guest cornet player, Paul Lovat Cooper. The overture from Suppe's 'Light Cavalry' followed before Solo Euphonium, Alison Bonnar most ably deputised for her absent baritone colleague with an outstanding performance of 'Peace' by Golland. Alison continued in a leading role with the melody in the Band's performance of Wilby's hymn tune arrangement 'The Day Thou Gavest' before passing the lead role on to solo Trombonist, Paul Kiernan. Paul's magnificent rendition of Cook's 'Bolivar', complete with the band's powerful accompaniment was for many the highlight of the evening. It was quite simply superb.

A very tuneful performance of Canteloube's 'Shepherd's Song' provided a perfect counterpoint to the percussion section's highlight of the evening. Seldom has a piece been more perfectly named that the awesome 'Drums of Thunder' by Graham in which the rafters of St Columba's were well and truly rocked by some high octane drumming. Even the massive applause of the stunned audience for this virtuoso performance struggled to match the reverberation of the timpani, kit, glock and gong which combined to such marvellous effect. Rounding off their programme the Co finished with the 'Appian Way' movement of the 'Pines of Rome' by Respighi, painting perfectly a picture of the triumphant returning Roman army, again met with tumultuous applause by the appreciative crowd. Another brief pause, while the Callander Brass instrumentalists and conductor returned to the stage, preceded the finale of the concert, a joint performance of Ball's brass band standard, 'Star Lake'. What this rendition lacked in perfection was more than compensated for with energy and once again the crowd responded enthusiastically, bringing the evening's entertainment to a close.

Callander Brass would like to extend their sincere appreciation firstly to the members of the Co-operative Funeralcare Band for their fantastic contribution to this concert. Then a huge thank you is due to the folks who turned out to listen to the event. With many regular band followers from Callander in attendance, as well as the folks from the City of Stirling who joined us, the audience provided both bands with tremendous support. Comments made to this reporter at the end of the night certainly indicated that an evening of magnificent entertainment had been enjoyed by all. Hopefully this message will continue to percolate through, encouraging more folks to abandon the lure of The X Factor in favour of such live events as are promoted on their doorsteps in the future. A final thank you has to go to all of the members and friends of Callander Brass, without whom this concert simply would not have happened. Between performing, practicing, promoting, publicising and persuading you have all done a splendid job.

Callander Brass are now looking forward to their second Christmas season, with a number of events already in the pipeline. First of these comes on Friday 27th November, when an ensemble from the band will perform carols for the Callander Primary School PTA Fair. Then on Saturday 28th members of the band will fulfil two engagements, one at Carbeth then in Ancaster Square, Callander for the switch on of the town's Christmas Lights. Further event details will be published here and on the Band website at www.callanderbrass.co.uk and information about the band, whether you are interested in listening, learning or playing, can be obtained from Band Secretary, Ken Milligan on 01877 339474.

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