Flowers Festive Round Up - 2023

Festive Round Up - 2023

2023 has been one of the busiest years in the band’s history, and December was no exception! Contest season may be over, however we have been continuing our hard work in both the rehearsal room and on the concert stage.

Album Recording with Brett Baker

On the first weekend of December we were once again in the recording studio, accompanying renowned trombonist Brett Baker for his upcoming album, ‘Light Fantastic.’ Brett is a former solo trombone of the Flowers Band, and it was wonderful to welcome him back to work with him once again.

The programme included major works including Trombone Concerto’s by Derek Bourgeois, Philip Wilby, and Dorothy Gates, in addition to lighter repertoire from the pens of Tom Davoren, Rob Wiffin, Philip Sparke, and Peter Graham. We will write to you again once the album is released next year!

Sing-Along Carol Concert - HR Champions

A literal stone’s throw from our bandroom in Gloucester, at the historic Blackfriars Priory, we were very pleased to work with local business, HR Champions, who asked us to perform for their Sing-Along Carol Concert in aid of Young Gloucestershire. The charity is based in the building directly opposite our base at Gloucester Academy of Music. They do fantastic work with people across the county, supporting young people’s mental health, growing skills and providing education, and helping people to find community. We are thrilled to say that the evening raised in excess of £2,200 for this wonderful cause.

The audience enthusiastically sang along to our accompaniment of traditional carols, and later in the evening they joined in festive karaoke to popular Christmas tunes, compèred brilliantly by our MD Paul Holland.

We’ve been sent some wonderful photos from the concert, so check those out below!

cAROLLING

In amongst our full band schedule we found time for some carolling, entertaining the shoppers at Gloucester Services. Thank you to passers-by for your generous donations. We are a charity, with no public funding or sponsorship, and rely on donations and concert income to meet our costs, and the boost around the festive season really does make a difference.

Thank you to the players who chose to do this in their spare time to raise extra money for the band; Luke (cornet), Lauren (flugel/cornet), Clare (tenor horn), Matt (euphonium) and Gregor (Eb bass), Coco (sleigh bells), Karin (Bucket).

Maggie’s Candlelight Carol Concert

We were delighted to be invited back to perform to a capacity crowd of over 600 at Maggie’s Cancer Care’s annual fundraising concert in Cheltenham. Our set included band favourites such as ‘Sleigh Ride’ and ‘Santa Claus-trophobia’, plus a solo from bass trombonist Pete Richards and a handful of carols. Maggie’s is a fantastic charity that does so much in our local community, and it is a pleasure to support them each year. We believe in excess of £10,000 was raised at the event, which we were so proud to have been a part of.

Pershore

Pershore is a small town with such a great love for brass banding! We were thrilled to be back at Number 8 Arts Centre for the second time this year, performing a set which included music from Christmas films (Polar Express, Frozen, and by popular demand - ET) and a solo from Lauren Chinn on flugel.

We took the opportunity while we had a friendly and supportive audience to present our annual band awards. Congratulations to all winners.

Cheltenham

Our final concert of the year was an almost sell-out appearance at the Bacon Theatre in Cheltenham. We added a few different pieces to a programme of Christmas favourites, including Eric Ball’s ‘Kingdom Triumphant’ and ‘100% Christmas’ by David Johnson. We always enjoy performing here to such an enthusiastic audience; we hope you enjoyed the audience participation of voting for your favourite ‘whinny’ in Sleigh Ride!

We were delighted to be joined once again by the Beauregard Academy choirs, lead by Vicki Beauregard, who impress us every year with their beautiful singing. Thanks also to Nat who volunteered to join us on a surprise instrument (sleigh bells) for our encore of Jingle Bells.

We enjoy this concert so much that we’ve already secured the date for next year on Thursday 19th December 2024! You can get your tickets now with an Early Bird discount.

Thank you to all of you who have supported our concerts this festive season; your enthusiasm and generosity so hugely appreciated by all of the band. From all of us at Flowers, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas, and send our very best wishes for 2024. We hope to see you soon!