Tube

An Hour of Brass

2008-03-15T22:52:00.003Z

5pm - Sunday 30th March

St Peter's Church, Duxford

Come and see TUBE and support the Flying Kites charity at the same time!

Tuba - Paul Farr

2008-01-27T22:43:00.000Z

Paul began his musical career at the age of 7, when he learnt the Violin at Haverhill Music School. Having stuck at it for 4 whole years, he finally realised that he was never going to understand 4^th position, so swapped his rosin for some valve oil and found his true vocation – the Tuba.

He played with the Haverhill Silver Band, and local quintet ‘Polished Brass’ during his ‘school years’, and after a brief spell at Cambridge Band, left to study music at the University of Huddersfield. Here he studied the Tuba with Andrew Duncan (Halle), and studied the art of drinking & curry eating with the rest of the lower brass students. Whilst up north Paul played with some of regions top bands, including Brighouse & Rastrick and Besses O’th Barn, and was nominated for the Harry Mortimer prize for best brass player, in his final year.

After leaving music college, Paul moved to London, playing with various ensembles, including the LPYO, Anglia Brass Academy, Bloomsbury chamber orchestra, the Real brass quintet, and was an original member of Surrey Brass. After some time away travelling, Paul then moved back to Suffolk to live & work. Brass playing remains his focus, playing with TUBE and Haverhill Silver Band, as well as various other ensembles in the region.

He is happy to say that he hasn’t touched the Violin now for 21 years…

Trumpet - Richard Hull

2007-11-25T11:21:00.000Z

Richard began his musical life at the age of 9 when he was dragged kicking and screaming to his first piano lesson. At the age of 10 he learned the cello for two weeks before giving up, was found out by his school music teacher and forced into his first trumpet lesson. Luckily it seemed that he had an aptitude for music and he is still playing the piano and the trumpet 28 years later.

Currently Richard divides his time between teaching and performing in a variety of ways. He is Head of Brass at the Perse School in Cambridge, and also has a busy private practice at home. Richard spent a year as Visiting Professor of Trumpet at Cornell University in the United States during 1998/9 when not on his back having broken his ankle sledging! He has been Principal Cornet with the City of Cambridge Brass Band for about three years, having conducted them for the previous three. He has been Principal Trumpet with the Cambridge Orchestra for the last six years, and is the most recent (and oldest!) member of TUBE.

Richard has conducted various orchestras locally, and has played concertos with many different orchestras, including the Arnold and Gregson Concertos on the trumpet, and the Ravel G Major, Poulenc and Grieg concertos on the piano.

Richard’s other main interest is American cars, and he currently is running a 1998 Cadillac STS and a 1989 Chevrolet Corvette.

Trombone - Will Hutchinson

2007-11-18T10:31:00.000Z

Will Hutchinson started playing the trombone whilst at school in Lancashire. As well as making his way through the ranks of his local brass band (Blackburn & Darwen), Will was also active in county ensembles and in local musical and operatic productions.

On leaving the north-west, Will switched codes and became an orchestral player. He was principal trombone of Cambridge University's first orchestra and a member of Fitz Swing, the University big band. Highlights from this time include performing Derek Bourgeois' Concerto for Three Trombones, Strings & Percussion; appearing at the Vienne International Jazz Festival; accompanying services in Kings College Chapel; and playing from the towers of Great Court in Trinity College.

Will holds theory and performance diplomas from Trinity College London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and is currently dividing his time between TUBE, Haverhill Silver Band and reading about the hotel industry.

Tube & Friends

2007-11-10T20:16:00.000Z

We are pleased to report that the recent TUBE concert at Kedington Church was a great success. The audience were entertained by a variety of different brass combinations - brass quintet, brass dectet, trombone quartet, trumpet trio - not to mention hosepipes and B&Q's finest 22mm copper piping! The selection of music included everything from Bach to Mancini and from Beethoven to Steve Reich.

Many thanks to our friends who joined the group for the evening - Andy Powlson, Chris Millington (trumpets); Nick Byers, Gill Bramley, Dave Minchin (trombones); Billie Farr (percussion) and Dave McClintock (conductor).

A Brass Menagerie

2007-09-10T22:54:00.000+01:00

Saturday 22nd September
Ss Peter & Paul, Kedington
7.30pm
£6, £5

Tube are back, and this time they're bringing their friends too! Join us for an evening of music for brass ensembles of various shapes and sizes.

Dog & Duck - Rain Stops Play

2007-05-27T10:50:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, TUBE's Dog & Duck appearance has been cancelled at short notice due to the horrendous weather. We're hoping the event will be re-organised for June - more details will be posted here when the date is confirmed.

27th May 2007 - Fundraising at the Dog & Duck, Linton

2007-05-22T21:12:00.000+01:00

This coming Sunday, TUBE will be spending the afternoon at the pub. Why is this Sunday afternoon particularly noteworthy? Well, on this occasion there is a Fundraising Day at the Dog & Duck in Linton. TUBE will be entertaining the crowds with some light music from about 1pm. Location details can be found on the pub's website (link on left). Please feel free to come along and have a listen/browse/pint!

French Horn - Paul Ryder

2007-03-15T13:58:00.000Z

Paul Ryder started playing the horn at the age of 8, whilst living in Hampshire, and went on to become principal horn of the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra. He studied Physics at Oxford from 1995 to 1999. During this time, he gave numerous solo, chamber and orchestral performances, and organised both large-scale modern horn recitals, and historical chamber music concerts on natural horns at the Bate Collection.

Since moving to East Anglia in 1999, Paul has been principal horn of several orchestras throughout the region, and has given concerto performances with the Colne Philharmonic Orchestra and Trianon Music Group. He has also worked with the Jersey Symphony Orchestra, as well as chamber ensembles and orchestras in France, Italy and the Netherlands.

In 2004, he moved to Cambridge to work for a technical consultancy,and is currently a member of Cambridge Orchestra, Cambridge Philharmonic Society and the Sinfonia of Cambridge. Paul avidly explores all aspects of horn playing and, as well as having a small collection of natural horns and early valve horns, enjoys experimenting with more Unusual ways of making music!

3rd March 2007 - A Supper for St David

2007-02-26T21:42:00.000Z

TUBE & St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir

Kedington Community Centre
Saturday 3rd March 2007
7.30pm
£10 - includes a platter of cold meats, cheeses and breads

Tube are pleased to be reunited with StEMVC after a successful concert back in 2005. TUBE will be contributing a variety of music, including movements from A Brass Menagerie by John Cheetham, classical arrangements and more light-hearted numbers.

This concert is in support of the Sts Peter & Paul Loo Fund

17th February 2007 - Voices & Brass

2007-02-15T10:48:00.000Z

Tube & Huntingdon Male Voice Choir
Priory Centre, St Neots
7.30pm

Tickets are £8(£7) and available from the Priory Centre, or by calling 01480 395814/891189

We are looking forward to sharing a concert with this talented local choir, and are busy polishing a varied programme of classics and light music.

For more information about Huntingdon Male Voice Choir, you can take a look at their website www.hmvc.org.uk

For address and contact details for the Priory Centre, click here.

Trumpet - Gavin Bowyer

2007-01-13T16:57:00.000Z

(This is the first of the hotly awaited Tube biographies - more to follow)

Gavin (second from right) started playing the cornet at the age of 6. The Haverhill Youth and Learner Bands were particularly strong at the time, and music quickly became a serious hobby. Since then he has played in many bands including 'Rigid Containers' (formerly GUS footwear band), and the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain where he was principal cornet for 2 years.

In 1999 Gavin graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After travelling in Australia and Canada,and playing with the West Australia Symphony Orchestra, he now teaches Brass at schools in Saffron Walden and Linton, and continues to play in bands and orchestras in the area.

Cold in Kedington

2006-10-03T22:37:00.000+01:00

Thanks to John Ely for this photo of Tube rehearsing Street Song in Kedington church. You can get a good idea of how chilly it was by looking at how many layers we're wearing!

Summer Holiday

2006-08-14T21:13:00.000+01:00

You may be wondering what TUBE are up to at the moment. Well, we're enjoying a well-earned summer holiday. It won't be long before we are back, refreshed and ready for some interesting music in the autumn.

We have a number of ideas and projects that we are working on, but please let us know if you have any suggestions.

TUBE in concert - Fordham

2006-06-23T18:28:00.000+01:00

Hear TUBE in concert tomorrow night (24^th June) at St Peter & St Mary Magdalene Church, Fordham, Nr Ely – click here for map. The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets are £6 or £5 for concessions.

We're really pleased to be involved in this event, which is also featuring Polished Brass, another local brass quintet with a subtly different instrumentation. The two quintets are going to play separately, then combine for a 10-piece finale.

Highlights will include

TUBE performing Street Song by Michael Tilson Thomas

World Premiere of Echoes of Fordham. This piece by Patrick Brandon was specially commissioned for TUBE and Polished Brass

A brief history of TUBE

2006-05-07T21:47:00.000+01:00

TUBE have only been on the Web for a few months, but the group existed for about a year before that in the real world.

Our début was in April 2005, when we gave a concert with St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir at Ss Peter & Paul Church in Kedington, Suffolk. TUBE opened with a fanfare, gave a varied programme lasting around 20 minutes and joined forces with the choir for the finale.

Throughout the summer and autumn, the group were pleased to be invited to perform at a number of private functions and started to build a core repertoire of both accessible and challenging music.

In October we gave our second concert at Kedington Church, this time with local choir The Ganwyck Consort. The evening was a great success and was enjoyed by both performers and audience alike, especially the lucky winner of our Finale Challenge! This was also the first outing for our hosepipes - more on these at a later date.

In the lead up to Christmas, TUBE were in great demand to appear supporting carol concerts and services around the region.

Repertoire for our 2005 events included:-

La Forza del Destino – Verdi arr Wheeler

The Quintessential Gershwin – Gershwin arr Bulla

Trevor – Graham Fitkin

March: The Pole Star – Peter Maxwell Davies

Quintet (No 1) – Malcolm Arnold

The Four Seasons – Vivaldi arr Frackenpohl

Procession of the Nobles – Rimsky-Korsakov arr Holcombe

The New Colonial – Brown Hall arr Wheeler

Manhattan – Rogers/Hart arr Roberts

Fancies, Toyes and Dreames – Farnaby arr Howarth

The Golden Section – Jim Parker

Honey Pie – Lennon/McCartney arr Willis

News from the Dog & Duck

2006-04-22T10:51:00.000+01:00

We are pleased to report that trumpet-player Gavin is back safely from his African adventure. Now the group are all in the same country, we're busy preparing for our next brace of concerts, details of which are on the left-hand-side of the page.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be posting previews of our public appearances, together with biographies for all the members and guests.

Finally, if anybody reading this wants more information, especially about concerts, don't hesitate to ask.

Photos from the Arts Centre

2006-03-10T17:20:00.000Z

Haverhill update

2006-03-09T20:25:00.000Z

Quick update from our last Haverhill concert - a well-prepared member of the Community Band was kind enough to take some photos of TUBE in rehearsal. Our thanks go to the photographer (nameless for the time being) and to the band management for getting hold of him!

Concert success in Haverhill!

2006-02-19T09:53:00.000Z

Last Sunday saw TUBE in action supporting Haverhill Youth & Community Band. Two of our Tubsters were members of the band some years ago, so we jumped at the chance to share a concert with them at the Arts Centre.

TUBE's half of the programme included movements from The Golden Section, The Four Seasons and various light numbers. It was great to play for a capacity crowd of c180 people - hopefully this will have raised some money to go towards new instruments for the kids in the band!

And yes, the hosepipes went down a storm.

TUBE on the web

2006-02-19T09:42:00.000Z

Welcome to the TUBE Blog!