Hannahthegreat88

Charity Concert - 3rd March

Hello me and Jon (jonny89) are organising a charity concert for a girl who we met in India. The Girl's name is Ms. Santhalakshmi. She is 23 years old. She is studying M.Phil in Tamil Literature.

About 2 months ago she was involved in an accident between two buses.
Her parents paid for all the treatment for her injuries (as there is no NHS in India), costing Rs 500 000 (about £6000), but sadly she lost her right foot and the lower part of her leg.

She now needs a prosthesis, which will cost a further Rs 100 000
(£1200). Her parents have used all their life savings and can not afford this final treatment.

Without treatment she will be forced to use crutches. Wheel chairs are
not practical due to the very uneven roads and pavements. Also buildings and transport are not geared up to disabilities. Therefore she will not be able
to complete her studies and so will not be able to obtain employment.

Since marriages are arranged, her prospects of marriage are poor, since she is unlikely to meet the approval of prospective parents seeking a wife for their son.
She will have no means to support herself financially, especially when her parents are old.

Yet with the prosthesis she can complete her studies, obtain a job and have good prospects of finding a husband and a fulfilled life.

Anyone who is interested in coming along to play or to watch just let me know. It is being held on the 3rd March at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Pyrford, Surrey. The concert will begin at 7.30pm but you can arrive any time from 7pm. There will be no tickets just whatever donations people are willing to make.

So far we have a trumpet ensemble playing, Surrey Brass and also a junior brass group! Even if you cant make it, it will be nice to hear from you to know you are supporting us! Thankyou!!!

You can also contact jonny89.

trumpetmike

There are certain times when you are teaching when your students can really move you. When Hannah and Jon came back from their India trip they told me this story and I was more than willing to offer any assistance that I could offer (hence the inclusion of the groups that I work with).
As Hannah said, it would be great if there are any TM members who would be able to join us for the day - No idea on the musical programme yet, but the more the merrier.

As the programme develops we will keep you updated.

Hannahthegreat88

Please reply to us

Richard Oliver

Hannah, this is a wonderful cause. Great job!

I wish I lived in England so I could attend.

All the Best,

Richard Oliver

silverstar

OMG! That is a really sad story. I hope that she is alright and that her family will be ok!

If I were in England, I would be there for the concert!

I think this is a wonderful idea and everyone that can should go! I mean, what's better than good music AND lending a helping hand to those who need it?

Lara

trumpetmike

As promised (threatened?), here we have an update about what will be being performed at this concert.

Some of the highlights will be:
Bugler's Holiday (featuring the students who have organised this concert)
A couple of movements from Jim Parker's Londoner in New York Suite
The Rakes of Mallow (as the trumpet ensemble demonstrate that they are every bit as agile as folk fiddlers)
Sabre Dance
Mambo No.5 (last time we played this the roof just about survived - this time...)


It is very rare to find a student like either of these two, let alone to be lucky enough to have two of them during the week.

If any of you are able to be there, you are very welcome to join us for the massed Mambo - just bring a trumpet and let me know beforehand

More details can be found on the Surrey Brass website - www.surreybrass.co.uk

Eclipsehornplayer

Good Show Mike!

I'd be there if I could! Let up know how it went.

John

__________________
Eclipse MHY Bb Trumpet with interchangable leadpipes
Bach 229 25A C Trumpet
Getzen Capri Bb Cornet
GR & Monette mouthpieces

trumpetmike

As requested, a report on just how successful the concert was.

The concert opened with a stage full of young brass players. Chapple’s Trumpets walked on to perform the opening fanfare, Towards A New Life by Josef Suk. Their opening phrase was answered by the Surrey Brass trumpet section, who had hidden themselves at the back of the audience. This caused quite a reaction in the audience as heads turned to discover where the sound was coming from. As the evening progressed, the relevancy of the title was revealed.

The trumpets left the stage revealing the combined forces of Bold As Brass and Brass Routes, two local youth brass ensembles, in their very first combined performance. They opened their set with a short fanfare, ably demonstrating that this group can match the power of the older payers who opened the concert. As their set developed they demonstrated not just the power that had been shown in the opening fanfare but also an amazing degree of subtlety and accuracy at the quieter dynamics. This is even more impressive with the knowledge that many of these players have only been playing for a short period of time and that this was their first performance together.

The youth groups left the stage to great applause and whilst it was being reset for the next ensemble, Tim Murrill let the audience know about the St Vincent de Paul Society, the charity involved in the concert.

Surrey Brass then kicked off their first set in antiphonal style, with Melchior Franck’s Intrada, the trumpets demonstrating their dexterity as the ornamentation became more elaborate.
Two of these trumpets then moved onto piccolo trumpets for one of the most familiar pieces for brass, Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary. The featured piccolo players for the evening were John Goodwin and Michael Chapple.

Continuing the theme of featuring trumpeters, the next offering was Leroy Anderson’s Bugler’s Holiday. This was the first chance of the evening for the young students who organised the whole concert, Jon Murrill and Hannah Buswell, to make themselves known to the audience; they were joined by their good friend Polly Beadman to perform this showpiece.

The first half ended with Surrey Brass performing two movements from Jim Parker’s Londoner in New York Suite, which ended with them walking off stage, leaving bass trombonist Cyril Stoneham to end the half on his own, much to the amusement of the rest of the ensemble who were already in the bar by then, enjoying the awesome Indian snacks that had been donated to the concert.

Chapple’s Trumpets opened the second half in glorious style with an arrangement of To God Be the Glory – a very appropriate piece for both the venue and the cause.
There was then the chance for two of the soloists from earlier to return to the limelight. Polly and Hannah took centre stage for a wonderful arrangement of the Mexican folk Song De Colores. These young ladies gave a spirited performance and made it perfectly clear that trumpets are most definitely not just for the boys.
The trumpet ensemble ended their set with an arrangement of Leroy Anderson’s Rakes of Mallow. Those people in the audience who might have thought that this piece started steadily (considering it is based upon an Irish jig) were soon eating their words as the ensemble accelerated to a blistering pace, demonstrating an ability that one would normally associate with much older and more experienced players.

The audience then welcomed Surrey Brass back onto the stage. Michael Chapple explained to the audience that there would only be two ways to follow such pyrotechnics as The Rakes of Mallow; you could either go for a complete change of mood, or try and beat the ensemble at their own game. From the first notes of Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance there was no question as to which option Surrey Brass had opted for.
With all of the soloists so far being trumpeters, the next piece was a nice piece of variety for the audience. David Horden took centre stage for a performance of Christopher Mowat’s Bone Idyll (renamed Bone Idle by Surrey Brass, after all, Dave is a student). This was a great change of pace and style, with a soloist who captured the relaxed feel of the piece superbly.
Staying with the relaxed atmosphere the audience were treated to one of the classic items of the brass ensemble repertoire; Mr Jums, by Chris Hazell. The enthusiastic reaction from the audience easily explained why this piece has become so popular.
Surrey Brass’ final offering of the night was Ray Premru’s Blues March. The fact that Ray was a bass trombonist was highlighted by the opening of the march, as Cyril Stoneham kicked proceedings off. As the piece drew to its conclusion the trumpets once again asserted their power, ascending into the upper register and testing the strength of the building.

Whilst the stage was being set for the massed brass finale, Michael Chapple took the chance to thank everyone involved in making the concert such a success and pointing out once again that it was all the brainchild of two students. These two students also took their chance to thank Michael for his hard work.

The final number was to be Mambo No.5 and was to feature all the performers featured during the night, all seated alongside each other. This led to some of the youngest performers in the youth brass ensemble sitting next to the more experienced performers from Surrey Brass – what an inspiration this was to be and the result was truly spectacular. Michael Chapple started the ensemble by conducting, then picked up his piccolo trumpet and joined in, sailing into the stratosphere and demonstrating that he is equally at home whether conducting, organising players, talking to the audience or performing.

The audience wasn’t going to let the performers leave after just one performance and there were many calls for an encore. Only once the audience had agreed to make further donations did Michael once again lead the group in a performance that left him on the floor.

In a world where young people are so often regarded as antisocial miscreants with no regard to others, this concert was a heart warming example of how certain young people are trying to change the way they are perceived.


The final tally is yet to be announced, but the donations on the night were around £1000.



Many thanks to those of you who have given your support, both on the forum and through PMs
There should be a recording available at some point soon, should anyone be interested.

kadleck

Congratulations to trumpetmike & Hannah. It sounds like it was a beautiful concert for a great cause.

Thanks for the update!
Tony

P.S. Not to be disrespectful ... did the "pink hair" make an appearance?

Richard Oliver

WTG ALL!

What a great thing on so many levels.


Richard