Banding Together at Seale-Hayne 2013

[Jan]

We can now announce dates for next year: 14th - 16th June, 2013. More information to follow.

 

 

 

In the meantime why not read a couple of reports from this year's event?

 

Banding Together weekend at Seale-Hayne: 15th – 17th June 2012

 

Banding Together was a lovely weekend in good company in inspiring surroundings, on so many levels... sometimes literally!

 

Straightforwardly comfortable accommodation in former Agricultural College student blocks, near a purpose-built Rehearsal and Recording Studio and a Dining room inside a Quad meant much-needed short walks in blustery stormy weather to enliven us in between practice sessions.

 

I was lucky enough to arrive in time to speak to some of the staff in the shop,  the cafe, the artists' studios, and a volunteer in the art studio working with adults with learning difficulties. Being a city dweller, I loved this site, particularly the bank of dancing rabbits behind the kitchen where we could make an early morning cup of tea. Thanks Jan for supplying the very welcome arrival drinks!  

 

We had 6 pieces of music in various styles to play, working on these under the guidance of Paul, an experienced ensemble leader who works mainly with enthusiastic and talented young people.  He knows that concentration on music reading and interpretation in a group unused to playing together in an unfamiliar venue can take time to gel, and is mindful of how exhausting this can be in learning terms.  So he provided frequent respite and thinking time, together with insightful comments, exercises in keeping-time, and suggestions for fruitful practice.

 

He encouraged us to listen to the other parts around us, and pointed out how effortful body rigidity is, inviting us to surprise ourselves by relaxing in to the music.  I think he noticed the way body stiffness, whilst striving to count beats with head and upper torso, reaches arms and fingers, making playing accurately more difficult; anyway that's one of my explanations for my own nervous tapping squeaks with fingers not intended at some points!  

 

He had also taken the trouble to set an arrangement of a piece in swing time, which everyone seemed very responsive to, but we were overtaken by the desire to keep practising 3 other pieces to try and reach a standard worth recording, since the technician and equipment were on site, and it was exciting to use that facility.  I know people love the idea of this, and it is useful to have something to play along to next time a piece is scheduled, if you have the music. However I am interested more in live entertainment  and the ways a piece of music can be experienced if taken at a different speed or dynamics, depending on the leader - I would have been quite happy to spend less time on those particular pieces. Many thanks to all those who organised this very worthwhile experience.

 

Angela Hammond.

 

Kettle Bridge Concertinas

Banding Together to Band Together!

Banding Together weekend at Seale-Hayne: 15th – 17th June 2012

 

It was with a great deal of excitement but also some temerity (for some of us at least!) that five Kettle Bridge Concertina members (Pat, Liz, John, Sally & Sally) set off for first ever The Banding Together weekend at Seale-Hayne, Newton Abbot held in June 2012. For some of us in our group this was the first time that we had ventured into a concertina weekend advertised for competent and advanced players. We were pleased and got moral support from the fact that a group of us would be experiencing this together. All sorts of thoughts were running through our heads – would we be able to cope, would we let the others down, would we enjoy it? But underneath it all there was a real excitement in the knowledge that this weekend was really going to take us forward in our concertina playing.

 

Seale-Hayne is a beautiful place. As soon as we stepped out of the car our fears were blown away (literally, it was very windy!) by the breathtaking views across the Devon countryside. Any lingering doubts were dissolved by the very warm welcome we received from Esther, Beryl and Claire, some of the organising committee.

 

Having settled into our comfy accommodation, explored the grounds and enjoyed a very delicious meal, it was time for the first of what proved to be many very challenging but very enjoyable concertina band sessions. Everything had been so very well organised – we knew the parts we were playing and had received the music a couple of weeks earlier. We would be playing a range of music composed or arranged by Claire Wren. For us in Kettle Bridge we had only played one of the pieces before. The music included Claire’s arrangement of The Overture to the Mikado, Simkhes-Toyre Time, El Paso and Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen as well as her own compositions of The Langley March and Moonlight on Cadgwith, a diverse range of challenging but also very stimulating music. There were pieces in the music that would challenge and extend even the most able musicians. So, with everything in place, we made our way to the band room, found our seats and waited for the music to begin!

 

The band sessions were being led by Paul Hornsby, a professional musician and very talented conductor. His approach made it immediately evident that there was going to be a lot of fun and laughter in our sessions at the same time as very high musical expectations. Paul started every session with a range of exercises to further develop our sense of timing and dynamics. These exercises were going to be very useful to take back to the rest of our band to help us play more closely together. Then we began to work on the music, taking it apart and building it up again as we adjusted our playing to the clear directions from Paul. It was so exciting as the sessions continued to find our playing improving, achieving things that we had not been able to play before. Playing in a band of 25 musicians, some of whom were very experienced and skilful, really lifted us – that was a real privilege.

 

There were 5 band sessions during the day, so we were very busy but pleasurable so. In every piece of music we had a different seat and new playing companions, so we also got to know the others who were experiencing this weekend. It certainly gave the term “Musical Chairs” new meaning, no longer a party game but a great way of getting to know a little better other like-minded people.

 

There was also time for relaxation both at meal times and in the bar in the evening where lively and fun chatter with lots of laughter could be heard all around. Everyone was so relaxed. This was helped so much by the brilliant way we were cared and catered for by the staff of Seale-Hayne.

 

Time flew by and in what seemed like next to no time we found ourselves at the last session of the weekend. Three of the pieces were chosen to perform and record, another heart stopping moment for some of us in Kettle Bridge Concertinas who had never been recorded before. But that was a great way to end the weekend’s work and music making.

 

Then following a final cuppa, it was time for our goodbyes. We were tired but very happily so with a feeling of deep achievement. As we drove home and for the next few days our hearts were full of the music we had been playing plus a real glow of satisfaction. It had been a really amazing weekend. Thank you to everyone who had worked so hard to organise it.

 

We were told before we left that the Banding Together weekend will be held again next year, at the same place and at the same time. That was exciting to know for certainly some of Kettle Bridge Concertinas will again be making the journey to Devon to participate in this very special weekend.

 

Sally George

Kettle Bridge Concertinas