A Rehearsal with John Hudson

Snow the previous week had meant the weekly rehearsal had been cancelled and so it was with under rehearsed trepidation that we gathered together at Benenden Chest Hospital who kindly allowed us to use their conference rooms for the weekend. John who last visited the band over six years previously had not yet many of the band and we were a little unsure of what to expect, but in his inimitable style John quickly had the band at ease and concentrating hard on Hollywood.

By the end of Friday evening we were all looking forward to the following Saturday when we were to have a mammoth 5 hour rehearsal. Saturday not only allowed us to look at Prelude and Jubilate in detail but provided us with time for a couple of runs through Carnival of Venice which not only did John arrange but played superbly.

As Saturdays rehearsal focused mainly on our preferred contest piece of Prelude and Jubilate it was up to our normal conductor Ian to cover the Soprano part for absentee Bob Turner. While he did an admirable job getting the pitch and the higher notes it was noted that they were not necessarily always in the right place at the right time and most of the band are looking forward to Bobs return.

Saturday evening saw a number of the band accompany John to the local curry house for a few drinks and a meal which was very welcome after the days playing. But Sunday came all to quickly and the band were back to concentrating hard for a final couple of hours to run through Hollywood again.

Our thanks go to guests who covered for a couple of players who couldn’t make the weekend and to euphonium player come percussionist, Peter Steer whose sterling effort and during the weekend helped the band enormously.

And of course the whole weekend would not have been possible without John whose patience and expertise gave us the chance to focus and improve our performances in a thoroughly enjoyable way.