St. Joe’s are back to basics now as normal rehearsals are underway. Practices are on Wednesday from 7:30pm to 9pm and on Saturday from 7pm to 8:30pm.
All new members are always welcome for a blow so feel free to drop by. Rehearsal room is still behind Strabane Health Centre adjacent to the shop.
Some of the more youthful members of St. Joseph’s Brass Band successfully staged a quiz in the Fir Trees Bar on Thursday 28th October. The quiz had 17 teams and all prizes were organised by the hard work and long walks of the members. Quiz master on the night was Paddy Houston and an enjoyable night was had by all.
All proceeds of the quiz night went to the Haematology Unit in the Royal Hospital, Belfast. This was a charity close to everyone at the bands heart and such a large turnout was testament to the hard work the band carried out to ensure the night was so successful.
The members of St. Joseph’s Brass Band would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who turned out to support our very worthy cause, and to all the local shops and businesses for such terrific generosity. It really did make all the difference.
Here is a video of the ‘Performance of the Day’ at this years NIBA Contest 2011. The set-piece was Kevin Norbury’s ‘Variations on Maccabeus.’
The video is courtesy of TheSplash55, who spent a day in Armagh recording almost all of the bands.
Armagh’s Market Theatre resounded to the sounds of brass band music on Saturday, 22nd October, as brass bands from all over Ireland gathered for the 94th All Ireland Brass Bands Championships.
St. Joseph’s Brass Band, under the baton of conductor Noel Barr, certainly rose to the occasion and brought back to Strabane a collection of awards. Their splendid rendition of Kevin Norbury’s “Variations on Maccabeus” certainly left no doubts as to their musical prowess.
Not only did the band win the All Ireland Grade 2 Brass title, for the third time, but it won the overall best band award from all the bands participating in all sections of the Championship. The Bass section won the Best Bass Section award, whilst the Cornet section won the Best Cornet Section award. But, the accolades didn’t stop at that. The hard work and tenacity of the band’s conductor, Mr Noel Barr, was acknowledged when he was awarded the Best Conductor Trophy.
Band Chairperson, Mr Mark Rouse, said “this has been a wonderful day for band, for our conductor and for Strabane. Our success has been the result of many hours of dedicated practice and I would like all the members of the band to feel proud of their achievements today and congratulate them on their success. I, also,want to thank them for all their hard work. Together, we thank our conductor Noel Barr for his belief in us, for all his hard work and congratulate him on his success.”
St. Joseph’s Brass would like to thank all the people of the Strabane area for their continued support and are now preparing their Christmas programme.
The Band is hoping to start learners’ classes soon, and is always looking for new members. Anyone interested in joining the band should contact our Secretary, Paddy McGranaghan.
With the twice weekly band practices, Learners’ classes, Music for Youth activities and the weekly Vintage Brass session, it’s back to business at St. Joseph’s Brass after a well-enjoyed summer break.
This will be a busy and important year for the band, as it sees the band celebrating two important milestones in its history – the 5th anniversary of the founding of the Vintage Brass Ensemble and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the very busy Music for Youth project. The celebrating of these milestones will take place amidst a busy calendar of events. Besides a busy Christmas programme, the band will play at the annual O.N.E remembrance ceremonies in Cootehill, Co. Cavan on 28th November and the annual Marie Curie Cancer Lessons and Carols at the Alley Theatre on December 20th.
New members to the band, Music for Youth and Learners’ classes are always welcome and, retired brass players who feel they would like to take part in a weekly music session will be most welcome at the Vintage Brass Ensemble.
Band Chairperson, Mark Rouse, said that “the band has a busy year ahead but, as usual the members are up for the challenge. We have a number of events planned for the year and a trip abroad next year has been mooted and the Committee are looking at its feasibility. Some of our members have just started third level education and we wish them all the best with their studies. We look forward to seeing them when they are home on holidays. Also, we are very pleased to see that some former players, now living elsewhere, are keeping up the skills they learned at St. Joseph’s, by playing in brass bands where they now live. This is what banding is all about. If you think you would like to join the band, or one of our activities, feel free to contact me, any band member or our Secretary, Paddy McGranaghan on 07512727373.”
Source: Strabane Chronicle
Well the band are well and truly back in the swing now as they continue with their normal rehearsals. Vintage Brass and the training band are continuing on Monday’s, as well as Wednesday evening and Sunday morning rehearsals. The band have engagements in Cootehill and Strabane coming up over the next few months so are busy in preparation for both of them.
All new (and old) members are welcome to come out any night for a rehearsal with the band. Times are as follows:
Monday – 7:30pm-9:30pm
Wednesday – 7:30pm-9pm
Friday – 6:30pm-8pm
Anyone wishing to know any more information can contact any member or drop us an email here to: info@stjosephsbrassband.com
Holidays are here once again and the band are enjoying the break! This Thursday 15th July sees the Annual presentation of awards for all the Music for Youth students, followed on Friday 16th by a march through Raphoe in Co. Donegal.
Following both of these the band will break for three weeks holidays before getting back for the long haul!
A most sincere deal of gratitude and thanks is owed to Mr. Paddy McGranaghan for all his work with the band over the past 10 years. Paddy is a man well known throughout Strabane and all over the North in Brass Band circles. Paddy was the secretary of St. Joseph’s Brass Band for some 10 years and it all happened by accident for the man who was once told to “stop standing there with your two arms the one length and pick up an instrument!”
After that initial meeting with Noel Barr Paddy found himself to be keen to progress in the band as a player, but with his infectious nature to get knee deep in everything, Paddy soon became a fixture of the band when he accepted the position of Secretary at an A.G.M. back in 2000.
Some ten years later and Paddy has documented the bands 60 year history in a book he wrote, entitled “The Band’s Out” and has been all around Ireland as an avid fan as well as member. It is owed by the band to make such a public acknowledgement of thanks and support to Paddy as he moves on from his post to take a backseat role as the band engage in a period of change from the roots up.
From all at St. Joe’s, we thank you infinitely and wish you all the best for the future.
Saturday 24th April saw St. Joseph’s back in Strabane to try to emulate their success of the previous year as they tried to retain their 2nd Section title from the B.B.L. Playing Philip Harper’s ‘Kingdom of Dragons’ they spent numerous weeks piecing together all the parts to give a performance that had the audience on the edge of their seats.
The piece is relatively new, having been commissioned for the Gwent Youth Brass Band, but found itself being the chosen piece for the Nationals this year so St. Joseph’s, and their conductor Noel barr thought they would rise to the challenge and go for it.
They did not disappoint and although narrowly missing out to Downshire by 1 point they feel they have done themselves and their town proud once more. The adjudicators remarks left them feeling a great sense of pride as he outlined how well the band played the piece and how good their interpretation was.
All that remains now is for the band to think about returning to the N.I.B.A. competition on October 24th!!
Sunday 11th October saw members of St. Joseph’s take to Hill Valley Golf Centre, Sion Mills for a day out. The day promised some entertainment and some laughs and both were provided. Two non-members even turned up for the fun of it all. The day started brightly with all 14 members on the practice green for some rules and regulations. There was a prize kitty set up and even some wagers set between sections of the band. The weather conditions were testing for any experienced golfer, never mind any amateur!
Off they trod however and it was the first group who took some 15 minutes for four players to simply tee off. It was at this point that we decided it appropriate for the players to stagger the starting positions so that everyone could get moving and get the blood circulating. The laughs began for one group as they began their day from the 4th hole. Picturesque scenery was all that was in front, with a driving range to the right and this proved attractive for one member as he proceeded to lose two balls in here before decided to drop a shot down the hill. It was on this very hill that one member even decided to slide down via his derrière!
But onwards they trod through thick and blustery conditions before the weather eventually settled and the sun made an impromptu appearance. Things were going great as the putts rolled in and the occasional par and even a birdie was spotted close by. The one main piece of eventfulness came on the illustrious 13th hole. The steep downward decline led to one unfortunate member requiring a trip to A & E and a cast on a badly broken wrist. However, the show (or rather competition) must go on and that’s what happened. 12 players continued their quest for the illustrious and coveted “St. Joseph’s Brass Band Golf Trophy” and the final scores proved that there was some competition involved. There were some 39 shots difference between first and last place and even 7 points between first and second.
The winner on the day happened to be none other than Tommy Barr Jr, a non-band member, who came up and literally stole the prize! Second place went to Mark Rouse after some great shots throughout. The bass section wager went to Rob Coyle after Noel Barr took fear and relinquished his opposition. For the sake of the players I was going to keep scores from public view but that’s no fun so as follows:
1. 73 – Tommy Barr Jr.
2. 80 – Mark Rouse
3. 91 – Rob Coyle
4. 94 – Adam Barr
5. 96 – Noel Barr Jr & Oran McGranaghan
7. 98 – Jason Barr
8. 99 – Darren Barr & Noel Barr Sr.
10. 106 – Ciaran Simpson
11. 110 – Eugene McDaid
12. 112 – Amanda McGinley
