28th October 2006 Berryman conducts Last week, Murley Silver Band invited John Berryman to conduct them at the 89th North Of Ireland National Championships. John also took the band for an intensive three days of rehearsal before the contest where everyone was impressed and educated by his musicality, professionalism and boundless enthusiasm. Although the band did not come away from the Ulster Hall with a prize, the players and staff would like to thank John for all his help and also resident conductor Keith Anderson, for laying the foundation work on the set test-piece, Le Carnival Romain. 13th August 2006 Summer concert in Dungannon It was a glorious summer day for Murley's concert in the beautiful grounds of Dungannon Park. The locals were treated to a feast of music of varying genre from Hymns of Praise to My Fair Lady. Prinicpal cornet Caroline Fleming charmed the crowd with her warm sound in a solo version of How Great Thou Art before flugelhorn player Robert Wilson (left) took the spotlight with a fine rendition of My Ain Folk. Linda, Valerie and Niall - aka Murley's trombone section (right) - were also in action performing the foot-tapping, gospel hit, I Will Follow Him. The mood calmed briefly for the lyrical hymn I'll Walk With God before the band launched into Amarillo. Many thanks to Dungannon Council for inviting the band once again and for the refreshments provided afterwards. 1st August 2006 Murley on show Murley Band was privileged to play at the 171st Enniskillen Show. This annual event featured the usual displays of agricultural equipment alongside various stalls of arts and crafts, photography, flower arranging demonstrations and animal shows. While the hundreds of spectators bustled eagerly between the various trade stands, Murley provided a light musical background, directed by Keith Anderson. After the traditional opening march, James Cooke (soprano) and Boris Pinto (euphonium) entertained with the solos Memory and Varied Mood respectively. The band also played Beyond The Sea (from the film Finding Nemo), Ruby Tuesday, Is This The Way To Amarillo? and Valero. The band was also delighted to welcome back baritone player Lynsey Orr who is currently studying music in Cardiff under the fantastic David Childs. Four lovely horns: Carol, Avril, Shelley and Alanagh! 27th May 2006 Valley echoes to the sound of brass The inaugural Brass In The Valley, organised and funded by Dungannon District Council, was a wonderful success. This cross-community event saw Murley parading alongside six other bands from across the district. The format was similar to the Saddleworth festival in England whereby the bands alight from their bus, play several marches through the town, get back on the bus at the other end of the street and then head for the next town. The route passed through the beautiful towns and villages of the Clogher Valley, beginning in Aughnacloy then passing through Augher, Clogher and Fivemiletown. It was a hectic schedule (with some steep hills!), but all the bands played admirably through. Tea and cakes greeted the bandsmen and women in the Methodist Hall in Fivemiletown where the Sinn Fein Mayor of Dungannon, Francie Molloy, thanked the organisers and presented commerative plaques to all the participating bands. 20th May 2006 Murley cleans up at BBL Seniors A poor turnout at the 2006 BBL Senior Solos and Quartets helped Murley to sweep the board at Patton Halls, Belfast. The results were: C solo: James Cooke (Eb Cornet) - Murley B solo: Mark Kelly (Bb cornet) - Murley A solo: Keith Anderson (Eb Bass) - Laganvale C quartet: Murley B quartet: Murley Trombone Quartet A quartet: Murley Large Ensemble: Murley 'B' Congratulations to all who took part! 13th May 2006 Murley Juniors taste victory Murley Junior Band won the annual BBL Junior Band competition at their first attempt! They saw off both 3rd Carrick and Downshire Junior Band to secure first prize at Paton Halls, Malone Presbyterian Church, Belfast. The band opened with a March and Prelude by Stuart Johnson, and concluded with an old sea shanty, Haulaway Joe. The adjudicator, Mr John Houston, was full of praise for the band describing it as a 'great performance' with 'good tuning' and some 'excellent ensemble playing together'. Conductor Boris Pinto said: 'I think that is the best the band has ever played. And the last two notes of our final piece were so clean and together that it would put some of the senior band's performances to shame!' In the solos, Murley had more cause to celebrate with Leanne Wilson (baritone) winning the u-17 section and Phillip Bleakely (euphonium) coming third. Phillip gave a secure account of Blue Moon while Leanne played the Londonderry Air with lyrical smoothness and a warm sound. Many thanks to Keith, Lesley, Boris, Robert, Alistair and Valerie for their help. Well done to all our juniors! 29th April 2006 Laganvale celebrate on home soil Congratulations to Laganvale and our conductor Keith Anderson (Eb Bass) who came 3rd in the European Brass Band Championships 'B Section' - not a bad acheivement since the winning band was basically a reunion of ex-professionals from the Vienna and Munich Philharmonic Orchestras! They performed admirably in Belfast's Waterfront Hall and lifted a healthy cheque for €1500. Well done! 28th April 2006 1000th visitor The new Murley Band website has reached the big one thousand! 24th March 2006 Another wonderful spring concert Murley's annual concert was again hosted by the Methodist Church Hall in Fivemiletown and once again, it was almost a full house. The two hour concert was a varied programme which both entertained the crowd and tested the musicians. The first half opened with the earth-shattering Fanfare For The Common Man and a fine march, The Contestor. The first soloist of the day was Boris Pinto (below) on euphonium, playing Lucy Long. Boris had only been playing euphonium for six weeks after moving from 1st baritone, but gave a tidy performance of the tricky variations. The brass playing was nicely complimented by one of the town's most successful musicians, David Robertson (left), ably accompanied on piano by sister Judith. Next up were the junior band to entertain with the music of Stuart Johnson. There were also a few not-so-young members (Robert, Alistair, Alanagh, Avril, Erwin, Gunter & Boris) dressed up like Grange Hill drop-outs and frankly, enjoying firing paper balls at conductor Keith Anderson just a little too much! Willy Lyons' brand of local humour kept the crowd enthralled before the band played Czardas, I'll Walk With God and extracts from My Fair Lady. The second half featured more golden film tunes including Gabriel's Oboe and Tara's Theme. David returned to sing with the band and brought the house down with New York, New York and Amarillo. The band concluded their concert with Cry Of The Celts, which featured a beautiful euphonium duet, Lament, and the foot-tapping finale, Victory. After rapturous applause the band gave an encore with John Miles' magnificent work, Music. A brilliant night for all involved and special thanks to the main organiser, George Graham! 24th February 2006 Murley celebrates hatrick heroes Murley's latest CD '...and the band played on' was only the band's third hard copy recording in their long history. Seven members of the current band also participated in the earlier recordings Murley Makes Music (1974) and Murley In Concert (1980). Murley would like to recognise not only this unique acheivement but also over 200 years of dedicated service to the band between them! Back L-R: Erwin Haslett, Mark & Stephen Bloomfield, George Graham and Willy Lyons Front L-R: Alanagh Fleming, David Trimble (President) and Valerie McKeown 4th February 2006 Youth brass shine in Armagh The 'Best Of Youth' concert hosted by Armagh Old Boys in the Marketplace Theatre, Armagh is becoming an annual event. This year, five respresentatives from Murley's new Junior Band took to the stage accompanied by the magnificent Foden's Richardson Band from Cheshire, England. For all the players, it was their first time performing a solo/duet in front of a live audience. Stephanie Cooke (13) and Alexandra Maxwell (10) opened the concert with a lovely rendition of Annie's Song as a cornet duet. They were quickly followed by another cornetist, Elaine Porter (17) who gave a confident performance of Jeremiah Clarke's Trumpet Tune & Air. Leanne Wilson (17) and Philip Bleakley (16) concluded Murley's cohort with another duet, The Sunshine Of Your Smile. It was a wonderful concert with a great variety of ages, abilities and music. The Foden's Richardson band conducted by Derek Broadbent were professional throughout and offered great support to all the young soloists. A special word of thanks to Ivor Stevenson for such a well organised concert during a very busy week! 4th January 2006 Happy New Year!!