In Concert with Steve Sykes

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In Concert with Steve Sykes

The Maestro Returns

The Maestro Returns

On Saturday 26th November, eminent musician and tuba virtuoso Steve Sykes returned to play with the band in a concert supporting the Demelza charity. It had been such a long time since we last saw Steve that only 7 of the band members remained from his previous visit some 18 years earlier when he played with us to support the St. Georges Trust in another charity concert (see link below). While we may all have had a few more grey hairs, the intervening years had done nothing to diminish Steves outstanding playing and he delighted audience and band alike with his solos and funny stories. Steve’s busy day had started with a Bass and Lower Band Workshop where he imparted much of his wisdom to players from around the area, he then went on to rehearse with the band before the evenings concert. As you would expect at a concert featuring a player of Steve’s calibre, the hall was full of not only regular concert goes but musicians from other bands and groups all eager to hear Steve perform. No one was disappointed and Steve’s 5 solo items all went down a storm. Steve finished off his performance with a Bass Section Solo item called “Forty Fathoms” which saw all five Bass players out front to perform together.The band also rose to the occasion and gave a stunning performance in their penultimate formal concert of the year. Audience members enjoyed the usual mix of styles and were treated to a number of Rock & Pop items together with some beautiful melodies from “All Through the Night” and “Yesterday”, the second of our Beatles numbers. The pop group Queen were to feature again in one of our concerts and the apptly named “Don’t Stop Me Know” which is fairly new to the band, finished a fine first half. Both new and old pieces were on the programme and in particular Ian talked about “Born Free” being a favourite piece which he had first conducted with the band some 30 years ago.

It was also great to see members of the training/youth band perform just after the interval, albeit with a little help from a few of the adults to cover missing players.

As usual for a big concert we pulled in a few deps to bolster the ranks, a big thanks to Owen, Michelle, Dave, Mette and Tonie. In all we hope to have raised £1000 for the Demelza charity.

Pictures

Programme

Programme

You can click on a programme item to view its recording (if available) in a new window. To view the whole concert, use the playlist in the Video section above.

First Half

Second Half

More from Steve


This article has been improved and expanded in the following link

2016 – In Concert with Steve Sykes

1998 – St. Georges Trust Concert