gentians

January 2000 saw the first residential concertina band weekend at Hawkwood College U.K. I am proud to announce that the 20th annual January C.band is now booking .. . In fact it is nearly full. Steve Ellis and Dave Townsend will conduct and lead. Music is organised and ready to be made available after Christmas. The menu includes a Tango, a March, a Waltz, a piece from the opera Hansel and Gretel, and a Victorian composition about Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Best wishes to all concertina players wherever you are, and to all your instruments.

Nice piece....I even forgive the hoary old cliche that people think concertina players are hoary old seadogs.

Whitby - the place and the Folk Week - both splendid. I'm sure the new management team will do a great job. They were very active last year, consulting people, planning, determined to carry the best aspects of the festival forward, but also to have some new strategies, including attracting more young people. Great news that Eliza Carthy has agreed to be Patron. gentians

I'm delighted to see Alan and others have been collecting data on the historic concertina bands. The original glorious Heckmondwike photo was found by Pete Coe on a market stall - he very kindly allowed me to copy it. I know of various people who have got some archive stuff (including me). It would be good to try to make a cosmic list. Just to bring you all up to date, concertina bands are not just historical. There has just been a very splendid concertina band weekend at Hawkwood College under the professional Musical Direction of Steve Ellis (City of Bristol Brass Band and Redland Wind Band) with Dave Townsend and Stuart Estell also leading. 37 concertinists and percussionist Ruth Hunt. 2 "G" basses, 5 "C" basses, lots of fine baritones, 2 piccolos, uncounted trebles and tenor/trebles. Music for the whole band was Jealousy Tango, Fucik's Florentiner March, Selections from Showboat, Grieg's Hall of the Mountain King, Stuarts new Statements for Piano and Concertina Band and Dave Townsend's Valse de l'Artiste. Smaller groups played a Bach Chorale, a Canon for 5 dated Venice 1608, a new Village Band style arrangement of Ffidle Ffadle by Emma Gardner, and a group improvisation led by Stuart.

There's a fine photo I've not seen before of the Premier English Concertina Band c. 1910 - 20 in a good article by Dick Henrywood in "The Antique Collector" magazine December 6th 2006- Jan 7th 2007. It shows 17 players plus conductor....i.e. 12 treble concertina players, plus three holding what look like 2 Basses and a single action Baritone. There's a wooden ended Edeophone and two large hexagonal metal-ended concertinas on the floor, a drummer with bass and side drum.... and a harpist with an orchestral-sized Harp! This is described as an advertising postcard: "Lachenal & Co., makers, London W.C." and "Agent: J.J. Vickers, 82 Royal Hill, Greenwich S.E." being printed under the picture. Apparently Lachenal sponsored Alexander Prince and the Premier English Concertina Band. The players are all men, smartly attired in dinner suits with matching high-collared shirts, white with two coloured diagonal stripes. There are two more concertina band photos in the article - one anonymous c. 1905 -10 of 7 players (probably 5 trebles and 2 baritones, English system) but neither percussion not harp. The other band postcard shows the Salvation Army Old Ford Brigade band dated 1920 - 21, 27 players, just six treble concertinas visible, plus a very long-necked banjo, a violin and lots of tamborines. Does anyone know any more about the Premier Concertina Band? gentians

Hallo from Jenny I thought I had posted again yesterday, but it's not appearing today (I am not familiar with forums) so IT has beaten me again --- **Thanks Theo, your idea 1) looks good......2) takes too much organising. ** Thanks Ranier. You are right that each concertina event is different - they reflect the priorities of the people who direct and organise them. Good luck next time. If you "risk" another Witney I'll make sure you are not on your own.! **Chris, my answer may have looked complacent, but I don't believe I am. Obviously if people don't enjoy an event they won't return. Yes, I have been to - and enjoyed Kilve, Swaledale, Folkworks, West Gallery weekends, three times to a classical weekend where I was the only concertina player (using oboe music), training weekends with my Redland Wind band (playing oboe music) and numerous workshops. I've been the organiser for 5 Halsway Manor concertina weekends( WCCP pre-Kilve), 8 Concertinas at Witneys (stopping in 1998 after illness) and 11 Concertina Band Weekends at Hawkwood College (my very own favourite game). Conclusion --- you can't please every one of your clients every single time, but you are open to possible ways of adapting the administation. If it's not possible (outside catering at lunchtime) you don't attempt it. cheers Jenny

Hallo again. Theo's suggestion 1) sounds sensible and helpful. his 2) would take much more organising Thanks also to Rainier for his new posting. You are right - different weekends have different focuses, different sizes and priorities. I hope I am not complacent, Chris. Yes, we did consider the "local sandwich company route." But you couldn't say how many people would take this up - many of people like to sample the odd half of Hook Norton, or bring or buy our own sandwiches to eat in the hall at lunchtime. I've known about this site for many years - but had only visited it once before Chris's recent prompt. It's clearly a v.g. resource, well designed. I'm not being snooty - just prefer playing to spending more time than I have to on the computer. Obviously lots of people do use the site - but I bet lots don't. I have been to one classical music weekend (as the only concertina player) where everyone seemed to be in pre-formed groups and not very interested in outsiders, so know what that feels like. Perhaps I'm lucky to be an extovert - I found another person "on her own" and was happy playing with her at odd moments. Just to make it clear - I have not been involved in the organisation of Concertinas at Witney since 1998. I have been to Swaledale, Folkworks and Kilve. I organised 5 WCCP Halsway concertina weekends in the late 1980's. Nowadays I organise and run the annual Concertina Band weekend at Hawkwood College in the Cotswolds (last weekend in January). best wishes all round Jenny

Thank you, Chris, for alerting me to this thread. I’ve joined the site in order to reply, having read with disappointment the postings about the event being “unfriendly”, particularly people who have travelled a long way.. I co-founded Concertinas at Witney with Dave Townsend in 1991 and am still a regular tutor. Dave Townsend is Director of this and the other Witney workshops. From the start we recognised that there are two aspects to meetings and workshops for concertina players: 1) social – people meeting concertina enthusiasts, and comparing instruments, experiences, listening to each other’s playing. 2) musical and technical. In most parts of the UK it’s just not possible to find experienced players who can give concertina lessons (cf piano or flute players who can find a teacher in most towns). How can anyone sample a wide range of musical styles on their own? Concertinas at Witney is for musicians who want to try new things and progress. So while we hope that the weekend is enjoyable – yes, and friendly – it is unashamedly a tuition weekend, for people to explore techniques, musicianship and musical genres. Dave schedules focussed workshops (3 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday) so people have the opportunity to work closely with two tutors on areas of music and musicianship. He sends out music in advance. There are two “sharing” sessions where workshop leaders and players demonstrate what they have been studying, and a fascinating and unique concertina concert featuring the tutors on Saturday night, where a great range of musical possibilities unfolds before your very ears. Yes, other concertina weekends are residential. This isn’t, leaving people B & B options ranging from sleeping in the car park to staying with friend, in a guest house, or a hotel. Samantha’s suggestion of a mid-day buffet we considered in the past – but it is just not practical. You couldn’t guarantee prepared food would be eaten, and who would organise it? Not the stewards, who work hard as it is. The one and a half hour lunch hour allows time for people to eat (in the school or in Witney), socialise and play concertina. I’m surprised that some folk feel too shy to say “Who’s going where for lunch?” in the morning sessions. Maybe other people in the room were hoping you would suggest eating together! One key thing I have learned in the 20+ years that I’ve been organising events, is that you can’t please all the people all the time. So, it’s a pity that a few people writing above did not find Concertinas at Witney to their taste, very many players do. Me – I’m much looking forward to the Village Band Weekend (4th-5th March) - Mellstock Band – singing - Klezmer music – Wow! I know I will enjoy it. And yes, I’ll be a paid up punter sleeping in the car park in my small campervan. Greetings to you all. Jenny Cox