This preview has been provided by the Triangle Brass Band.
It’s not always easy to quantify a performing arts group as “the best” at what they do; after all, scores are for sports teams, not musical groups, aren’t they? However, in the world of brass bands – wildly popular in Great Britain and many other parts of the world – competitive rankings go hand-in-hand with the more subjective types of appreciation that a group might expect (large concert audiences, major followings on social media, frequent recording downloads, and so forth). By virtue of their accomplishments on the competitive front, there is a brass band ranked #1 in the world: the Cory Band, from Wales, in Great Britain. They are getting ready to embark on a tour of the United States, their first in 40 years. Raleigh is the southern-most stop on their tour itinerary, with a one-night-only concert in Meymandi Concert Hall, in the Duke Energy Center. This concert is presented by our local brass band organization, the Triangle Brass Bands, encompassing its own award-winning groups: the Triangle Brass Band, the Triangle Youth Brass Band and the Triangle Youth Academy Brass Band.
The theme of Cory’s concert is “A Space Odyssey,” a program exploring space in popular culture, which includes music from movies such as Star Wars, E.T. and 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as Hoagey Carmichael’s Stardust and highlights from Gustav Holst’s The Planets Suite. In keeping with the spirit of brass band camaraderie, the Triangle Brass Band joins the Cory Band on stage for two selections on the program. Come hear what makes a brass band the best in the world!
Tickets for this concert are available through Brown Paper Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2450807
Tickets are available at the door, the evening of the concert. For further information, call 919-238-9108 or visit http://www.trianglebrass.org/the-cory-band—special-concert-february-16-2016.html
About the Cory Band:
The Cory Band hails from the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, Great Britain. It was formed in 1884 as the Ton Temperance Band. In 1895, after hearing the band, coal baron Sir Clifford Cory was so impressed that he offered to finance the band’s first-ever professional conductor, and the band became known as the Cory Band, the finest in Wales.
It rose through the sections and, in 1920, gained Championship Section status, enabling it to build its reputation, and laying the foundation for its future competitive dominance. In 1923 it achieved the distinction of performing what is believed to have been the first radio broadcast by a brass band.
The Cory Band has developed musically outside of the contest field. In 2001, together with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales it was appointed as resident ensemble at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and in the same year appointed Dr John Pickard as its Composer in Residence. John Pickard’s tenure with the band ended in July 2005 when the band made history giving the première performance of his Gaia Symphony at the prestigious Cheltenham International Music Festival.
In 2002 the band was chosen to play for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and has since performed in many of the world’s finest concert venues including the Grieg Hall (Bergen), Stravinsky Hall (Montreux), the Royal Albert Hall (London), Symphony Hall (Birmingham), and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In 2003 it performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Last Night of the Welsh Proms and was more recently featured during the opening celebrations of the new Welsh Millennium Centre. Its numerous CD recordings and live concert performances have received worldwide acclaim.
The Cory Band has a full concert schedule throughout the UK and Europe, as well as releasing several new CDs every year. In 2013 their disk “Words and Music” won both the British Bandsman and Brass Band World magazine’s CD of the Year Awards. Their upcoming tour of the United States is their first appearance here in forty years. Their first-ever visit was in 1976, as representatives of Wales and the United Kingdom, on the occasion of the U.S. Bicentennial Celebrations.
