Brighouse & Rastrick Band’s 150th ‘Massed Bands’ concert will be held at Huddersfield Town Hall on Saturday October 26 (7.15pm).
The concert hall and the Brighouse & Rastrick Band have so much in common, not just in presenting great musical performances, but the fact that both date back to 1881.
And it was, coincidentally, also an October date when Sir Charles Halle conducted the grand opening concert there with Huddersfield Choral Society.
As the largest venue close to their home town, ‘Brighouse & Rastrick’ inevitably played at the town hall several times in the early days but were first inspired to plan their own first ‘Massed Bands’ concert in 1945.
Those initiators would have been stunned to know that the series would be running, always with fantastic support, almost 80 years later.
Countless bands, and a few choirs, have performed alongside ‘B & R’ over these decades but this time the choice of Guest Band was soon obvious – The KNDS Fairey Band from Stockport.
Faireys have already appeared on a record 37 previous occasions, testimony to their popularity, talent and stability from 1947 onwards.
Guest Conductor for the evening is Dr David Thornton, now Director of Brass Band Studies at Royal Northern College of Music, and former Solo Euphonium with both bands.
He then became Musical Director with ‘Brighouse’ where he made a huge impression on both colleagues and audiences making him a perfect fit for this unique anniversary.
The programme for this celebratory evening will dip into the countless programmes of glorious music from down the years but also bring pieces from current times to give the audience a feast of fine music performed by two great bands.
Tickets cost from £18 and are available from Huddersfield Town Hall Box Office HERE and the usual Kirklees outlets.
