Parc & Dare have eyes on first win at Open
THE Welsh Open Brass Band Entertainment Championship takes place on Saturday, February 17 at the Riverfront Theatre, Newport starting at 11am.
One of the bands hoping to make their mark is the Parc & Dare Band from the Rhondda. Parc & Dare has a rich history having been crowned Champion Band of Wales no less than 15 times and have represented Wales in the European Championship on four occasions and being awarded 4th place on two of those occasions.
The band was founded in the tiny village of Cwmparc in 1893 and went on to establish itself as one of the most famous names in the country.
Like many bands at the time the band was funded by the miners of the Parc and Dare Collieries.
As an internationally known band they were very often to be heard on the radio and performed concerts all over the UK and in Europe and often being conducted by the leading personalities of the band world.
Parc and Dare Band has been the subject of numerous press articles and even has a book published covering its illustrious history, aptly named “A Life Divine”.
Like many bands before them the band went into decline and found itself in the lower sections.
In 2004 they started to regain some of their former prestige and became the Welsh First Section Champion Band and again in 2005 and gained 2nd place at the National Championships of Great Britain.
In 2006 the band represented Wales at the National Championships of Great Britain at the Royal Albert Hall. They were back, but not for ever!
They were back in the 2nd Section National Finals in 2014 and gained a creditable 4th place and in 2017 the band became the Champion First Section Band of Wales and soon found themselves back in Championship section in 2018.
The band’s conductor, Dewi Griffiths, has been pivotal in improving the band’s player strength and is keen to encourage and nurture young members, and this, with a mix of experienced players is starting to see the band deliver consistent polished performances.
The band has recently established a community band under the leadership of Lynne Turner, which has attracted a core of players who attend practice once a week on
Wednesday evenings during school term time.
This is open to players of any ages wanting to learn to play brass or percussion from beginner level or having played before and would like to start again.
This policy is already paying dividends with members quickly progressing to the main band.
Meanwhile, Tredegar Town Band, who are not involved in the Welsh Open, have just recruited four new players who played their first concert at the Hafren Theatre, Newtown, which is managed by Delme Thomas – who himself is a very fine euphonium player – on January 14.
The new players are Cerys Hughes, flugel horn, Ioan Jones, trombone, Joe Strowger cornet, and Elliot Harrington baritone.
Ian Porthouse, Musical Director of Tredegar, told 4BR’s Iwan Fox: “We have been very fortunate to have enjoyed a very settled line up over the past few years, but this is another new chapter for the band with wonderfully talented players who share our musical outlook”.
Members of the North Powys Youth Band were in the audience and Ian added: “Our thanks go to Del Thomas and the staff at Theatre Hafren who are working so hard to provide a vibrant arts hub that includes brass bands”.
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