Another magnificent concert with our friends at Cory Band, what a night.
The night before Brass in Concert saw the World famous Cory Band back in York to run their BiC set before the contest. We are so privileged to be invited to share the stage with them when they visit and we love catching up with the players we have come to know so well.
This year was certainly eventful. Cory left Wales in some of the worst weather we’ve seen for a while and were really up against the clock when they got to York. A quick Pizza and rehearsal and we were good to go. The first set was Shepherd Brass and we hope we warmed the audience up for the treat to come. There was however a cloud on the horizon in the shape of Gavin Wynn Saynor, the Cory Eb Bass player who was still on his way from Anglesey in that terrible weather. Gav simply wasn’t going to make it. The only option, someone from Sheps was going to have to step in and “dep” for Cory Band.
There was a very quick run through of what was being played and Cory took the stage with Craig joining their ranks. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more challenging, Phil Harper came on stage to discover that someone had helpfully removed Sheps music from the conductors stand, and had inadvertently taken the Cory band scores with them. The Cory opener was conducted without a score until a rather sheepish player returned the rest of the scores before the second piece started.
After the break it was onwards with the BiC set and Craig was overjoyed to find Gavin had arrived by this time and he wasn’t going to have to play the second half.
In the BiC set, we were treated to a time travelling journey back to the days of JB Arban in France. Anyone who plays a brass instrument will be familiar with the Arban while the non brass players had the Back to the Future references in the set.
Finale time saw both bands come together for a John Williams based set which was sadly cut short due to the limited drivers hours left for the coach drivers who had magnificently navigated Storm Claudia on their journey north. They certainly deserved a commendation for their work that weekend.
We are looking forward to seeing our friends from Cory again in 2026. Watch this space.
Having had great feedback on the Snowman over the last few years, the Senior Band embarked on a film based show where the centrepiece was a live performance of The Wrong Trousers starring Wallace and Gromit.
The story is one of intrigue, deceit and a criminal mastermind whose plans all come to nothing when the plucky Gromit saves the day. The band have loved working on this piece over the summer.
Sadly for some folks there were not enough seats in the theatre for everyone. Fear not, we will be back in 2026 to do it all again. We will also be on the look out for the next film score that is produced for a live brass band performance and rest assured we will be back with that one as well. Keep an eye on our social media for more information on this.
The annual Community Carol Concert held at the Barbican will see the Shepherd Brass Band join with St Paul’s CE Primary School Choir, All Saints RC School Choir and Ken Humphreys in an event that has now been running for over 66 years.
The event host will be Rev Andrew Foster.
Please join us for what is going to be a really great way to start the festive season.
The Shepherd Brass Band is proud to present a spectacular concert in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Cory Band—widely regarded as one of the finest brass bands in the world. Renowned for their innovation and excellence, the Cory Band has secured every major brass band title and is celebrated for their pioneering use of choreography and immersive audio-visual elements, which elevate their performances to unforgettable experiences.
This special event will feature a dynamic programme of popular, classical, and traditional brass band music, including original compositions and arrangements by Cory Band’s esteemed Musical Director, Philip Harper. Audiences will enjoy performances by both the Cory Band and the Shepherd Brass Band—one of the leading ensembles in the North of England.
Held on the eve of the prestigious Brass in Concert championship at The Glasshouse in Gateshead, where the Cory Band will once again compete to defend their title, this concert promises an evening of musical brilliance not to be missed.
An Unforgettable Afternoon of Music and Film for the Whole Family
This October, experience a unique and captivating afternoon as the renowned Shepherd Brass Band of York partners with Aardman to present a live screening of the Academy Award®-winning short film Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers(Cert U)—like you’ve never seen it before.
Nearly 30 years after its original UK release, The Wrong Trousers returns to the big screen in a special performance featuring live brass accompaniment by the York-based Shepherd Band. This much-loved British classic will be brought to life with a dynamic live score, offering audiences a fresh and immersive cinematic experience.
Follow the beloved duo, Wallace and his faithful dog Gromit, in this delightfully quirky tale. When a mysterious penguin lodger moves in and shows an unusual interest in Wallace’s latest invention—his techno-trousers—Gromit must uncover the truth and stop a cunning criminal plot.
In addition to the screening, audiences will enjoy a lively programme of iconic family film music, performed live by the Shepherd Brass Band.
Perfect for all ages, this one-of-a-kind event promises laughter, nostalgia, and musical brilliance—a must-see for families and film lovers alike.
The weekend of the 9th and 10th of December saw the Senior Band kick off Christmas in real style. First of all a small group of players headed off to Bishopthorpe Club on December 9th to play carols at the annual Lollipop Christmas Party.
Lollipop is a charity supporting d/Deaf children and their parents and offers them a social environment where they can get together. The band have joined with the NCEM I Can Play programme over the last year to offer places in Brass Roots where d/Deaf children can take up playing a brass instrument. We are so excited to be part of this initiative and many members of the band have started learinig to sign using BSL as part of this. More on that Later!
Lollipop party flyer
Sean Conducting the band
Carols with the band
December 10th saw the senior band head to the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall at the University of York where we put on three performances of The Snowman live. We were pleased to welcome Buffy Breakwell who accompanied us on the Grand Piano and Sophie Sylvester who provided stunning vocals in the iconic Walking in the Air. Thanks also have to go to York Concerts who partnered with us on both this and the recent Cory concerts and withouth whom we would have found this much harder to do.
We couldn’t just leave things there though and we added in a couple of extra pieces, the first was Into the Unknown from the film Frozen II and then we introduced something really new for the band. As we move into 2024, we are going to build on the work we have done with Lollipop and I can play and we are making our concerts more inclusive for our d/Deaf friends. The first step here is going to be the introduction of signing at our concerts. With this in mind our Principal Cornet player Sean Chandler, who is himself d/Deaf, taught the audience the BSL words for Merry Christmas Everyone having first explained the challenges faced in selecting the correct cutlery.
Paul meets his hero
Getting set up for a big day
Sound check time
Sean teaching the audience to sign Merry Christmas Everyone
Happy faces all round
The feedback we have had was that the audience participation in this number was a real highlight for everyone who was there, and Sean has confessed he was quite choked up to see the players in the band not only getting involved in the signing themselves, but also giving a round of applause using signing at the end of the piece.
Sean teaching the signing for Merry Christmas Everyone
Thanks to Jenni Chandler for ther video clip.
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