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What is a brass band? A brass band is a musical group consisting entirely of brass instruments with a percussion section. Sections with a brass band include cornets, horns, baritones, trombones, euphoniums, basses and percussion - all skill fully lead by musical directors normally referred to as conductors.
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The National Methodist Youth Brass Band (NMYBB) play a concert at St. Johns Methodist Church in Amersham - 15 May 2010.
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In 2008 we toured the North East and got to appreciate the dramatically changing scenery from the cathedral city of Durham to the industrial heartland through Middlesborough on the way to Saltburn-by-the-Sea. Our two weeks started off in Durham and included an outdoor concert in the grounds of Gibside, a National Trust garden, and a visit to the newly opened Durham Swimming Pool. Our time in Durham concluded with an evening concert before we travelled up north to Morpeth. In Morpeth the now annual band ceildh was enjoyed by all, we played in the town centre and had rounders and a barbeque on the beach at Druridge Bay. We also had a Saturday evening concert and played for the Sunday morning service. We then started the journey south, firstly to Saltburn-by-the-Sea with its funicular railway. Whilst we were there we played for the evening service at Marske, went on a band outing to the cinema, enjoyed go-carting and had an outdoor concert indoors because of the rain! We also had a formal indoor concert in Saltburn Methodist Church as well as playing for the guests of Brockley Hall, a Christian hotel. Our journey south continued to Scarborough where we stayed at Central Hall, giving a concert there and playing for Sunday morning worship. We gave an outdoor concert in Whitby where we also had a band sandcastle competition. The delights of Scarborough were explored in both rain and sunshine, football and adventure golf were played and dragons were peddled around the lake of Peasholm Park. It was a great tour, thanks to all the churches who hosted us and to the McAdoos for all their hard work.
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The 2007 tour was a very special tour for the band being, as it was, in our 20th Anniversary year. In order to celebrate this achievement, we broke with our usual tradition and had a home tour in an odd year! Our two weeks took in stays at Barry (Cardiff), Aylesbury, Stamford and Nuthall (Nottingham). At each venue, we did an outdoor concert and a more formal indoor concert. The highlight of the tour was the last weekend. On the Saturday lunchtime, we had a reunion event where many past-members of the band came to Nuthall to meet old friends and chat about old times. That evening, we played a celebration concert in Southwell Minster, a superb and fitting venue for what turned out to be a wonderful occasion. Many ex-members of the band came to concert, either to play or to watch, and all the bands conductors, both past and present, conducted some pieces, the past conductors choosing their favourites from their time with the band. On the Sunday morning, there was a service of rededication at Nuthall Methodist Church, led by the bands now four-strong chaplaincy team.
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In 2006, we spent two weeks touring the beautiful Lake District. It was a very busy tour, where we performed 17 times! Our 14 days started in Carlisle, where we spent a weekend, playing a concert and service. After that we played for a songs of prsiase service in Seascale, then concerts in Millom Parish Church, Egremont Market Hall and on the platform Ravenglass & Eskdale railway (affectionately known at the ratty). After that we moved on to Kendal where we played at evening concert at the Methodist Church, Kents Bank where we played at the Christian Guild Holiday Centre at Abbott Hall, and then to Cartmel where we had the privilege of playing outside the magnificent priory. We were due to play on the bandstand at Grange-over-Sands but unfortunately the rain intervened. Not to be deterred, we simply played in the Methodist Church instead! One of the highlights of the tour was playing to a packed Coronation Hall in Ulverston, one of the biggest venues the band has ever played in. We also played for the Sunday morning service in Ulverston before moving on to Sedbergh for another songs of praise in the evening. The following night, as the sun set, we played beneath the Hardraw Force waterfalls in Hawes, before moving on to Windermere. Here, we played at the Glebe bandstand in Bowness and an evening concert at the United Reformed Church. The last concert of a busy week was at Penrith Methodist church. In between all our playing we found time to Go Ape in Grizedale Forest, go tenpin bowling in Barrow-in-Furness and doing lots of sightseeing. Another super tour!
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In 2005, we visited Ireland. It was the first tour arranged entirely by band members and so we decided to keep it fairly close to home, despite the fact it was an away tour. The first part of the tour was in Belfast. As well as looking around the city, we spent a lot of time rehearsing so that we would have plenty of music to entertain the crowds over our two weeks away! After that, we moved on to Londonderry, where we did concerts in the city, in the seaside towns of Portstewart and Portrush, and at the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. We were lucky enough to have a guided tour at the rope bridge, and the whole band made it across the bridge to the island. We also found time to visit the Giants Causeway. Then we had a brief stay in Sligo (less than 24 hours!) but we still managed to fit in a concert there. Then on to Galway, where did a concert and played in a wonderful, lively Sunday morning service. The final leg of our two-week tour was in Clontarf, Dublin. Here, we did concerts in Skerries (raising a substantial sum for their stained glass window project), in St. George & St. Thomas church (where we raised another large sum, this time for the Beslan Fund) and in St. Stephens Green bandstand. We also found time for some sightseeing in Dublin. Another very successful and enjoyable tour!
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In 2004, we went to the South West. For the first few days, we stayed in the beautiful Devon town of Barnstaple. There, we played a concert and took part in the Sunday morning service, before spreading our wings to visit the beautiful village of Clovelly, perched on the side of the cliffs, where we gave on concert on the harbour wall. We also visited Ilfracombe where we entertained the crowds from a very windy bandstand. After Bideford, we moved on to Weston-super-Mare. As well as concerts in Weston, and Wells Cathedral (a delight and privilege for all of us), we held a Band Olympics event - our tribute to the games being held in Athens. The band was divided into five groups, each one performing in the opening ceremony and setting an event for the other groups to tackle. Great fun was had by all! The final leg of the tour took us to the beautiful city of Bath. During our stay there, we travelled to Bristol to visit John Wesleys New Room. After a guided tour of the oldest Methodist Chapel in the world (given by John Wesley himself), we gave a short concert in the courtyard, and entertained the passing shoppers. The tour ended with a concert in Bath and then the Sunday morning service, before we all departed and went our separate ways. Another great tour!
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In 2003, we had a two-part tour. We first visited Potsdam, near Berlin in Germany to take part in the European Methodist Festival. The festival was attended by over 900 Methodists from all over Europe, gathered together to celebrate the 300th anniversary of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. The band took part in each of the five Celebration Services providing music for most of the singing and also gave a lunchtime concert each day. We were blessed with 5 days of very fine weather, which was fortunate because many of the events were in the open air! The band was very well received throughout the festival and it was a real privilege for us to be there, especially as we were the major source of music throughout the event. After the festival had finished, we moved on to Poland where renewed some acquaintances first made during our tours in 1991 and 1993. Whilst in Poland, we visited Poznan, Chodziez, Bydgoszcz and Szczecin, giving church concerts in all four places. In Szczecin we were lucky enough to be among the first guests to stay in the new hostel attached to the Lutheran Church there. The hostel is so new that it doesn\'t have any beds yet! From Szczecin, we returned to Berlin from where we flew home. Another exciting tour over!
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In 2002 we visited Southampton and the Isle of Wight. The tour started on a Friday night and we had what we would call a normal weekend in Southampton, with an extra day on the end where we visited an outdoor centre, with team challenges including Archery, Rope Bridges, Orienteering and Raft Building. After that, we continued our tradition of visiting islands when we took the ferry from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight. We stayed for 6 days until the following Sunday. We stayed in churches at Newport, East Cowes and Ryde, performing in Yarmouth, Totland, Cowes, Newport, Ventnor, Shanklin and Ryde. In and among our busy playing schedule, we also had time to visit some tourist attractions, taking the chairlift down to the beach at the Needles to see the beautiful coloured chalk cliffs.
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In 2001 we went to Naples in Italy and stayed at the Casa Materna childrens home. This is a home for disadvantaged children run in partnership between the Social Services and the Methodist church in the Portici area of the city. We were privileged to stay at the school and meet some of the children who live there and some of those who attend daily. Continuing our island theme, we spent Easter Sunday on the beautiful island of Capri in the Bay of Naples, where we took part in a service in a German Church. We also had time to visit the historical sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, both towns buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, and to visit the picturesque Amalfi coast with its spectacular scenery.
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Our Summer tour in 2000 was indeed special. We toured in the Channel Islands - making up for our lack of an island performance on our 1998 tour in Kent. Okay, the islands are not strictly part of Great Britain (did you know that?) but close enough for us. We gave performances in both Guernsey and Jersey and a special performance on the little island of Sark where there is no traffic, except horses and bikes. We remember having to stop suddenly in the middle of a piece as of music caused a passing horse to rear up in alarm. We didn\'t think we were that bad! The transfer flight between the two islands was a special memory too for this was the first time that we had chartered a flight and so we had the plane to ourselves - for all the 5 minute flight! The meals provided by our hosts on all our tours is always outstanding - not more so on this tour as various churches from around the islands seemingly vied to provide the best and biggest meals. It was nice too on this tour to meet up with our old friend the Rev John Tudor (formally of Westminster Hall) who MC\'d one of our best concerts of the tour in a packed hall at Les Cotils Christian Centre on Guernsey.
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It was at an Easter People event that we received an invitation to visit the Shetland Isles. This would we thought have to be a home/UK tour but a bit limited to spend two weeks there and certainly too far for a weekend. But then we learnt that Shetland is nearer to Norway than England. So our 1999 tour took us to Norway and the Shetland Isles. We travelled by coach staying in Cullercoats Methodist Church in Newcastle before taking the ferry across to Stravanger. This was a church floor/church youth hostel type tour. We gave concerts in Stavanger and Flekkefjord on the southern bulge of Norway and then travelling north to give a concert and share worship in Oslo. Then it was cross country through some wonderful majestic scenery to reach Bergen on the west coast for another concert and stay before taking the ferry across to Shetland. We arrived after midnight but what a warm welcome we received - and the church had showers! We experienced such wonderful and generous hospitality from the Methodist folk there. Our concert in Walls must be the most remote and out of the way place we have ever played at - but what a lovely welcome and reception we received. The little chapel, as someone remarked, was shorter than our coach, and it was packed for our concert where the band had to split into two - one playing the first half and the other the second. All too soon it was time for a very choppy crossing to Aberdeen and the long ride down almost the full length of Britain to home, rest and sleep.
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Two years later saw us on the other side of the country in the garden of England - Kent and Sussex. On this tour we gave performances in Faversham, Canterbury, Dover, Folkstone and Eastbourne. Although we played in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral we were not allowed to play inside and strangely in fact we did not feel very welcome. Was this our first tour without a performance on an island? We were to put this right on our next UK tour.
1997 was our 10th anniversary year and so our overseas tour this year had to be something extra special - and so it proved to be, for we flew to Jamaica to support the work of the National Childrens Home in Kingston. But first we flew to New York and then coached on to our friends in Bloomsburg - friends made on our very first overseas tour back in 1989. We shared worship there and gave a concert and then travelled south through the autumn foliage to Hanover. The highlight here was our visit to the Harley Davidson motor bike factory. Then on to Washington staying with folk from the Falls Church Methodist Church which they call The Friendship Church. And it certainly was. A concert here and shared worship before sight seeing in Washington. Then the real adventure - a flight to Kingston, Jamaica! We landed in the late evening and walked out of the plane into what felt like an oven! - to be taken by police vehicles to the orphanage in Hope Road where most of the band stayed and where we all ate together. We had a great deal of fun with the children, went to a deserted island in Kingston bay (a spot of paradise - just like the Bounty Bar advert), climbed the falls at Dunns River, lazed in the sea in Montego Bay and amongst all this managed to give a few concerts and shared worship. Yes managed because of the heat - it was too hot to play in uniform - and we never did get to grips with their so laid back attitude. We learnt quickly the meaning of soon come!! We all took with us presents for the children which when laid out covered to large boardroom table. This was in addition to the cheques for over a £1000 that with much delight we handed over to then - donations from our funds and friends and earnings from our concerts in America. It was fantastic. We are all looking forward to our return to Jamaica ---- some day!
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1996 saw the band touring in South Wales giving performances in Aberystwyth, St Davids Cathedral, Swansea, The Mumbles, and Cardiff not forgetting, of course, our island performance which was on Caldy Island where we were so graciously treated by the monks of the monastery there.
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Two years on in 1995 our overseas tour took us to the glories of Switzerland where we gave concerts in 3 of the loveliest regions. The first concerts were in Davos, Chur and Bergun in the north of the country. Then to the central Bernese Oberland region for concerts in Meiringen, Brienz (by the lakeside), Hasliberg and Adelboden. Then onto the south where concerts were given in Lausanne (the Olympic capital), Geneva and the small suburb town of Genolier. One of the special privileges of this tour was our performance in the very grand entrance hall of the World Council of Churches. Band members are sure to remember the chairlift adventures and the thrill of paragliding.
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The next UK tour took us to West Cornwall. Here we stayed not in churches but in the YMCA in Penzance and from here we gave performances in the holiday resorts of the area including one on St Michaels Mount and a concert in St Marys in the Isles of Scilly. The crossing was so smooth to start with but once past Lands End it became quite choppy and most of the band only just made it! Whilst in the area the band participated in Rod Frosts Share Jesus Mission in St Ives and led the singing for the Radio 4 live broadcast of the Sunday open-air service.
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We thought our summer tour in 91 was pretty exciting - well this next overseas tour in 1993 was something even more special. We took the north sea ferry crossing from Harwich to Gothenburg in Sweden where we performed in a music festival in Malmo and gave concerts in Norrkopping and Stockholm before crossing the Baltic sea to Tallinn in Estonia. What an experience that was! Joining in worship in the Methodist church in Tallinn and meeting the ever so friendly Estonians. We travelled south calling in at Parnu given an open air concert in the main town square and seeing the building of the most ambitious Methodist centre there. Then it was further south and into Latvia to the capital Riga. Another wonderful experience as we performed in the small Methodist church which had just been returned to the small and elderly congregation only two weeks prior to our visit. Here we were under the spot-lights of the state television cameras and were showered with flowers and how the Spirit moved amongst us as we prayed and sang together. For them it was years of prayers coming true and we could see and feel their joy, thanks and praise in their tears and smiles and the flowers. A long days travel followed as we motored south through Lithuania and into Poland staying overnight in Elk near the north east Polish border. It was so nice to meet up with polish friends we had made only two years earlier during our summer tour. From Poland it was into Berlin staying overnight at the British army barracks, courtesy of the Methodist Army Chaplain there before traveling up to Hamburg to catch the ferry back to Harwich and home. Phew!! A tour none of us will ever forget.
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The 1992 home tour started with a concert and leading worship in Glasgow before crossing to Edinburgh and the North East coast giving concerts in Berwick-on-Tweed, on Holy Island (Lindisfarne), Lanchester, Durham and finished at the Darlington Youth Harvest event. We were stranded on Holy Island for a while because of the tide and it was here that we met Cardinal Hume the Roman Catholic Primate of all England who was making a documentary about the origins of Christianity in England and who chatted to us and posed for photos with us.
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Two years later in 1991 we saw the other side of the coin, so to speak. Having seen the affluence of Canada and America, we thought it right to visit Eastern Europe and in effect, see for ourselves. This East European tour took us into Poland and Czechoslovakia. We travelled in a twin deck coach - that is one with a lower saloon pitched behind the rear wheels - which was packed full with instruments including a complete drum kit, all our personal cases and loads of food. This was just after the Berlin Wall came down and we had heard of food shortages in the Eastern Block. We had an overnight stop in Hanover staying in a youth hostel, then once over the border having had to bribe the customs guard to return a passport into Poland where we made for the small town of Chodziez. A concert and a march here then onto the capital Warsaw where we unloaded our 40 ton juggernaut of aid (medical and educational supplies and equipment) which we had been collecting over the previous twelve months. Concerts and a news TV appearance here before travelling on to Krakow to give another couple of concerts and participate in worship plus another march in Katowice. From here we crossed over into Czechoslovakia and made our way to Prague where we gave our final performances in Jan Hutz Square and in a most beautiful church on the edge of the same square. Then it was back home with a stopover in Paris. A most exciting and adventurous tour - but that is the NMYBB, of course!
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The second tour in 1990 was a week in the North West coastal area where we gave concerts in Morecambe, Blackpool, Chester and Llandudno. Memories from this tour include Rachel (our wheelchair bound cornet player) on a boat on Lake Windermere and all the butterflies in the church in Blackpool.
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Our second tour in 1989 was in fact our first overseas tour - which set the pattern for future tours - even years in the UK and the odd years abroad. This first overseas tour took us to the East coast of Canada and America. The tour started in Hamilton, Ontario where we were hosted by the Methodist church there - but this time it was not on church floors but in church members homes. This made us feel that we really got to know the country and were not just tourists gaping out of coach windows. Mind you, we did do a lot of gaping, particularly when we visited Niagara Falls and the CN Tower for instance. From Canada we travelled south into America to be hosted by the church folk in Franklin Lakes in New Jersey which was conveniently quite close to New York where of course we saw all (well quite a lot) of the sights - Empire State Building, Times Square, the John Lennon Imagine memorial, a Circle Line cruise etc etc. Then it was off westwards into Pennsylvania to a university town called Bloomsburg and then up to a place called Bemus Point in Northern New York State close to Lake Erie. Then it was back into Canada and our last couple of days were spent in the homes of the kind Methodist folk in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto. We must add that we were very pleasantly surprised by the reaction of the audiences to our music. It seems that English brass is something quite new to them and obviously quite different to their expectations of blary college brass sounds.
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The first tour in 1988 was a weeks summer tour along the south coast where we gave concerts in Plymouth, Torquay, Exeter Cathedral, Sidmouth, Weymouth, Dorchester and Bournemouth. We remember the sand in the wind at Weymouth soon jammed the trombone slides and in Bournemouth we had the privilege of being conducted by Eric Ball. He conducted his arrangement of the hymn How Great Thou Art and was the first time that he had heard it - what a special privilege and memory that was. We raised £900 from our tour concerts which we donated the National Childrens Home.
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