Lizzie shines as silver band strikes up again
A young trombonist from Bath is using her skills to help one of the South West’s most prestigious bands get back on its feet.
Lizzie Perryman (16) from the Warminster Road is one of the young generation of musicians who are leading the Midsomer Norton Silver Band back to glory after a hiatus due to Covid-19.
“It’s great to be back at band after the Covid lockdowns,” said Lizzie. “I enjoy playing more challenging music than at school and I’m looking forward to playing live concerts again with the chance to play solos.”
“We’ve had a bit of a tough time, but things are going in a positive direction,” said Lizzy’s mum Lou, who plays the flugel horn in the same band. “We’ve got some really good jobs coming up: Parade Gardens in the spring, Keynsham Bandstand in the park and the Downside Food Festival.”
Lizzy, who attends Hayesfield Girls’ School in Oldfield Park is the band’s longest serving youth member. She started playing the cornet and joined the Midsomer Norton and Radstock Silver Band training band in 2012 when she was 6.
After a year she changed to playing the trombone, starting on a plastic mini p-bone.
In 2017 Lizzy joined the “Senior band” where until recently she was the only female trombone player.
Lizzy has played at the Bideford Band solo and quartet contest and has won the 10-12 age group, 13-15 age group and been awarded “Best Instrumentalist”.
The young trombonist is currently studying for her GCSES including music at Hayesfield where she is considered to be one of their leading musicians. She plays in the school wind band and show band, when the school puts on a musical production.
Lizzy has attended workshops by the “Bones Apart” all female trombone quartet and is a regular at the Wessex Band Summer School in Sturminster Newton in the summer holidays.
The silver band is very prestigious, because the instruments aren’t brassy like other bands. These are all plated in silver, costing upwards of £2,500 for a cornet and £3,500 for a Tenor Horn.
They are also in a buoyant mood, having recently appointed their ace new musical director Gareth Key, who is also a composer and arranger, so members are expecting to play their own original music in 2022/3. Now the band are looking for some new young blood to recharge the different instrumental sections after the pandemic.
“We rehearse on Tuesday and Friday nights at the Methodist Church in Radstock,” said band chairman Trevor Curtis, who plays the horn. If you’ve got a bit of experience, come along and meet us.”
Mark Johnson, who plays the soprano cornet, said: “We’re restarting the training band to focus on the local community. The band has a good stock of instruments of all levels to provide to prospective players.”
The band is also looking for a new home as Radstock Trinity Methodist Church closed to worship at the end of January and now seems destined to be sold.
If you’d like to learn an instrument, the band provides beginner tuition so drop them a line at: hello@msnrsb.org.uk