Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows play Leeds ArtForms Town Hall Prom

It is one of our favourites: Leeds ArtForms Schools Prom at Leeds Town Hall. We played our Music For Youth Three [Some Enchanted Evening, California Girls, Living on a Prayer] plus Mozart's Symphony Number 40. 

The Orchestra was playing Stars Wars as the joint number. I thought Rocket Man or Starman might fit nicely. Bex located the sheet music, I wrote Rocket Man out, did a preliminary arrangement, gave it to Kips and Ed, and they did an arrangement for our agreed joint moments.



On the day, I pretended to myself that I was conducting the Leeds Youth Orchestra, although really David Greed was doing that. Actually I was flapping my arms a bit, while concentrating like mad on the score, and hoping somehow that the players, eyes down in their pans, knew where they were, because they sure weren't looking at me. I only wrote this tune out into a Foxwood Songsheet ten days previously and the band has only played it once through at a practice back at Shire Oak.







Players were Owen, Kirsten, Annie, Ella, Isha, Kurum , Esme, Millie, Alice, Claudia. Natalie drummed. Jermaine and Chris guested. I found that, at the public performance I played all the songs on different pans from the ones I had played at the rehearsal. Great. Not.



I'll spare you how long it took to collect pans from practice school, load into van, out of van, into Town Hall, along to stage, and back and back and Control Z, and back. [did I say I would spare you?].

East Steel play the YAMSEN:SpeciallyMusic concert at Leeds Town Hall

Prejudging

Final judging

This is my second year coordinating the YAMSEN:SpeciallyMusic Concert and Art Competition. So, in between rehearsing with Bex with East Steel, I, with the rest of the Christmas concert team, am sorting out 352 art competition entries, prizes, tickets, framing the winning pictures, booking Father Christmas, and all the rest.

Accords rehearsing at St Chad's

Tony and Tinker framing the pics

Yorkshire Post Band rehearsing

Pinning down Father Christmas! Very hard. He is so busy at this time of the year.

Joanna

Sue was whizzing round so fast!

Alyosha with Yorkshire Post Band

The Minster Choir

display by the back doors

The YAMSEN:SpeciallyMusic Christmas concert committee: myself, Mavis, Pat, Anna-Marie, Diane C, Diane P, Sue S, Joanna. Framing the winning pictures were Josh and Tony from St Anne's Road Framers. Judging the competition were Anna-Marie and Cath. Special guest was Alan,

Sophie T

David H

Shirley from the Box Office organised the tickets. Making the mince pies was Val; buying the wine and generally doing the sums was Anne; rattling buckets, selling tickets and cards on the day were Liz, Chloe and parents and sister,  Barbara, Colette, Irene, Elsie, Emily, Pat, Margery, Lyn, Ann; Nativity scene was from Lucy and the kids from Queensway. Liz from the Town Hall administered us; Olwyn stewarded us safe; Eric, Steven, Michael, Mark and  Robert rearranged the furniture on an industrial scale!

Off the Cuff were Philip, Alex, Michael, Alice, Bart, Joanna, Diane. The Yorkshire Evening Post Band were Diane, Rebecca, Matt, Tom,  Samantha, Paul, Steve, Glyn, Julian,  David, Steve, Kathryn, Alyosha.

Father Christmas just to right of the pillar

Leading the Accords were Joanna, Sophie and Clare; leading Off By Heart were Mavis, Alosha and Joanna; leading East Steel were myself and Bex. Conducting the Yorkshire Evening Post Band was Alyosha, with Diane C organising it. Leading Off the Cuff was Diane.  Simon compered, and conducted when Alyosha wasn't; David played the organ, and conducted the Minster choir.

Queensway rehearsing their Nativity

Prize-winners were congratulated on stage by Lord Mayor, Cllr Jerry Harper.




Meanwhile, really this is a blog for steelband concerts, so back to East Steel: For our featured tunes w e played Dance of the Hours by Ponchielli and Rolling in the Deep by Adele.

East Steel were Bex, me, Lynn, Wanda, Joyce, YiBai, Anne, Trish, Maddie, Josie, Vicky, Sophie. Gill, alas, ill on the night.

East Steel is a Leeds ArtForms Music Centre band, who rehearse Thursday evenings at Swarthmore College, Park Lane, Leeds. Followed by a beginners class, beginning January 12th. Beginners welcome.

Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows play Leeds Town Hall

When I offered my lovely Sparrows to play at the CLYM [City of Leeds Youth Music] Prom in March, I wasn't anticipating being thrown across the London Tube carriage in February. And so by the time the day arose they were self-directing while I could only watch and admire.



They were George, Millie, Milly, Georgia, Alice, Owen, Deangelo with support from Chloe, Natalie and Yi Bai. Their schools are or were Allerton Grange, Abbey Grange, Park Lane, Lawnswood, Bruntcliffe, Oulton [PS], Allerton High,

We/they played the Music For Youth set of Raindrops Keep Falling on My head, Fix You and Hold My Hand. And, to fit with the movie theme we/they played I Dreamed a Dream. Now several slightly untoward things here, and showed what consummate professional players they nearly already are.

1. Half of them went back [correctly] to a repeat in Raindrops but some of them, by now playing by ear I guess, went on to the final line. And, oh beauties of ensembility, they all just fell in together.

in rehearsal

2. For Fix You [a quiet, intense, sensitive piece], the audience decided to clap along, sadly not exactly in time with the Sparrows. The band, however, always stayed in time with itself. From the stalls I was unable to dissuade the audience from this course of action. [But next time I'm at the Oval, I will be clinging onto the safety rails].

3. Hold My Hand rocked the hall without disaster. That only leaves I Dreamed a Dream, for which Millie had her version of the music copied. This is the version with the first two line repeat not identified. After that I am not sure anyone was, musically speaking, with anyone else, but they did all end at the same time.

Note: This unwillingness to part with the original version of a song is a common phenomenon with all three steelbands [Sparrows, Foxwood, East Steel]. Players get attached to that first piece of paper, on which they added their notes, such as how they voiced which chord, or what rhythm is for which bar or section, and when I have made the structure clearer, or added Charlotte's belated picture, it makes no difference!

Leeds Silver Steel Sparrows is an ArtForms CLYM ensemble. They tumbled out of their nest in 1999, have played all over Leeds and beyond, won awards, trod the boards at London Royal Albert and Festival Hall, and in June, with three teachers, three Sparrows are playing in Lille, Leeds twin city in France. Band leaders are Victoria Jaquiss and Bex Ainge.

East Steel at YAMSEN:SpeciallyMusic Town Hall Concert

art display

Yo ho ho

This year, not only is East Steel playing the YSM concert, but I have taken over co-ordinating the whole event from Sue, so the stress levels are higher than usual. Anyway this blog is about the steelband, so readers are spared any unnecessary details. Well maybe a couple. Here they are:

art display

rehearsing Sleigh Ride in Aberford Village Hall

art competition winners

Off By heart

On the day before the concert I assisted the team displaying the art competition winners. This marathon job involved pins, ribbons, display boards and backache. We were Mavis Sue S, Anne and Douglas, Diane C, Chloe and myself.



pan rehearsing with OBH

This also involved negotiating with Eric, Mike and team to get some maximum noticeboards plus I have donated to the Town Hall the one from West Park that has been cluttering up the City pan room for years. [I was only waiting for a good home, honest!].

dressing room stuff

On the Friday a week before, I joined Mavis at West Park to try out the numbers that East Steel would accompany Off By Heart on. On the Sunday before Bex and I hit Aberford Town Hall in order to do our joint Sleigh Ride in B flat. As you do if you have shared a stage for a decade with the lovely Yorkshire Post Band [conductor- Rob, cracking whip- Diane C2] who plays the same top tune. [Although I am sure that  someone once said we didn't use the note of B flat!]

On the day Rick takes me Millie and a large set of steelpans down to Leeds Town Hall.  Millie, in real life, a Sparrow, spends all day as the most wonderful technical support - this must be noted.



NWSILC rehearse Nativity

In the afternoon, Margaret and the crew brought the NW SILC nativity to rehearse.  They went through their paces four times until they were all familiar with what they had to do. And I must say both the rehearsal and the actual performance were very professional. Unfortunately I can't show too many [well hardly any]photos without permissions.

On the night the choirs are, besides OBH [led by Mavis and Pat], Young Accord and One Accord, [led by Sophie and Clare], the Minster singers [led by Simon][including Jan who transformed my educational life 30 years ago], Off the Cuff [led by Diane P; they are a mixed bag of ArtForms music teachers who teach children with Additional Needs all year round, plus flautist, Philip].

I have not name-checked everyone who contributed to the organising of or performing at this event, but I do need to name and credit Irene Peace who started these concerts off, on the grounds that children with additional needs deserved the best, the best of everything, and, if that means a concert in Leeds, it must be at Leeds Town Hall. And so it still is, 32 years later.

In the evening we have ALL our regular players [see Staveley's pic above]: me, Bex, Vicky S, Wanda, Lynn, Kirsty, Pippa, Anne, Trish, Joyce, Wendy, Vicky R, Sophie, Yi Bai, Maddy, and when Yi Bai sprints off to work, Bart finds himself crossing the stage for Break of Day and Diwali.



Bart joins us after Yi Bai heads off to work

East Steel for YAMSEN:SpeciallyMusic Town Hall Concert

on da phones

So, it's that time of year again when East Steel takes their place on stage with Off  By Heart, Young Accord, The Yorkshire Post Concert Band, St Peter's Choir, and Diane's impromptu ensemble, and many many others.

In the afternoon Yi Bai and I load in the pans n kit, find Mavis glueing pictures back onto the display boards. As you do!


We were me, Bex, Wanda, Anne, Kirsty, Lynne, Sophie, Trish, Pippa, Vicky and Yi Bai on kit. Small but perfectly formed. You should hear the CD! And we didn't know it was being recorded!

Sophie Bart Claire

Wanda staying glued to her favourites [basses]!

in the dressing room, probably a bit late now!

Bex posing on a table top- as you do!

This year our featured tunes are completely unseasonal Viva la Vida and Somewhere Only We Know.

in da pub

We play Go Tell it on the Mountain for the prize-giving. Bex and Vicky put a great display up in the side-foyer, sold no books or CDs, but they looked good.

We packed the van, and rewarded ourselves with a swift half [well!]. Who did we find in da pub?