Camborne Youth Band to perform at Tremough

The award-winning Camborne Youth Band is staging a concert at the Tremough Campus in Penryn on Sunday 22 March 2009 at 7.30pm to which members of the public are warmly invited.

Celebrating its tenth year under the musical direction of Alan Pope, Camborne Youth Band has won the National Youth Championship for five consecutive years and offers a varied programme to suit a wide range of tastes.

Alan Pope was given the challenge of reforming the Camborne Youth Band in 1999.  He started with seven players and increased the membership to fifty within the first year through presentations at primary schools in the Camborne area, where he demonstrated the cornet, tenor horn, trombone and euphonium.  Pupils were then offered lessons and invited to join the training band.  Such was the success of this initiative that, after only four presentations, all of the existing 44 instruments belonging to the Band were taken up.  Within five years, the Band had progressed from winning County Junior Championships to taking the title of National Community Champions of Great Britain in 2008.  To mark this impressive achievement, the Band has recorded a CD celebrating its favourite pieces and showcasing the excellent solo playing that the Band is renowned for, which will form the basis of the programme at the Tremough concert, where it will also be on sale.

The programme for the evening will include such favourites as Breezing Down Broadway; Helter Skelter featuring soloist, Jeremy Taylor, on xylophone; Nessun Dorma featuring soloist, Samuel Eddy, on soprano cornet; and An American Trilogy featuring all the Band's soloists.

"The youth organisation at Camborne prides itself on its professionalism but at the same time encourages a sense of belonging, which is reflected in the number of original players still being with the Band today," said Alan Pope.  "The achievements of the players must not be underestimated.  Most have worked their way up from the training section for novice players through the juniors and into the youth section," he added.  "It is a testament to their hard work that they are able to play so skilfully in such a short time.  In the Youth Band there pervades a desire to achieve.  This, along with the camaraderie of the players, is a winning combination, and we look forward to welcoming members of the public to our first concert at Tremough."

"Following University College Falmouth's recent merger with Dartington College of Arts and the arrival of degree courses in Music, Theatre and Dance in Cornwall in September 2010, we are very happy to support the endeavours of these talented young musicians as they prepare to compete in this year's national championships," said the College's Pro Rector, External Relations & Knowledge Transfer, Dr Andrew Upton.

Paul Robinson, who is Director of Support Services at the Tremough Campus added:  "University College Falmouth and the University of Exeter, who jointly manage the Campus, are committed to sharing their facilities with the local community, and it is events like this that encourage people to visit the Campus and experience those facilities first-hand.  We are looking forward to a very enjoyable evening."

At only £5 for adults and free for children under 16, tickets are available from Tamsin Merritt (01209 218218) and Jane Upton (01326 374263).

For more information about the band, visit www.cambornetownband.com/cyb.html.

For more information regarding the hiring of facilities at the Tremough Campus, visit www.tremoughservices.com/conferencing.

For further information about University College Falmouth, visit http://www.falmouth.ac.uk/

For further information about the University of Exeter in Cornwall, visit http://www.exeter.ac.uk/

Ends

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792; or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

Notes for editors

About Alan Pope

Alan was born in Redruth in 1961 and began learning to play the cornet at the young age of five.

He joined Carharrack and St Day Band and then moved to St Austell Town Band, competing in the National Finals with them.  Alan also played in numerous solo contests throughout Cornwall and the South West with major success and in 1974 he joined Camborne Town Band, remaining there until 1977 when he joined the Army.  Alan spent two years training at the Band of the RAC Junior Leaders Regiment in Bovington, Dorset, and was posted to Germany in 1979 with the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards Band.  He later studied at the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall under Professor Ian McKintosh and was awarded the prestigious Cousins Memorial Parchment for exceptional proficiency on the cornet.  He was principal cornet for six years and was also Commanding Officers' Trumpeter.  This gave him the opportunity to travel throughout the world and play at numerous prestigious occasions in front of the Royal Family and dignitaries.

In 1999, Alan was asked to take on the challenge of reforming Camborne Youth Band.  He started with seven players and increased the membership to fifty within the first year through presentations at schools and subsequent lessons.  With the advanced players of the Youth Band, Alan formed Camborne B Band in 2001 and the ever increasing numbers of new players saw the formation of a Junior Contest Band in November 2007.

Since 2003, Alan has been a tutor with the Cornwall Youth Brass Band.  In 2004 he became a tutor at the Wessex Band Summer School and in the same year Alan was awarded the Cornish Gorseth Trevada Shield for the encouragement of music making by young people.  Alan was also crowned 'Cornwall's Best Contributor to Music' in 2007 by St Austell Brewery and Pirate FM.

In 2008, with five national titles in a row under his belt, Alan received the prestigious Harry Mortimer Medal from The Worshipful Company of Musicians ‘in recognition of his services for the teaching of young people in the brass band movement.'

About University College Falmouth

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name.  It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2012, that will be unique to the South West.

The College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union, the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

About the University of Exeter

Exeter is a top 15 UK university which combines world leading research with very high levels of student satisfaction. It is one of the UK's most popular and successful universities with campuses in Exeter and Cornwall. The University also has a permanent office in Dubai.

Exeter is ranked 13th out of more than 100 UK universities in the Times league table. It was the 2007/08 Times Higher Education University of the Year. The University scores highly for degree completion rates, and for students achieving good honours degrees (Firsts or 2:1s). It is ranked fourth in the UK for student satisfaction in the latest National Student Survey amongst full service universities.

The University is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union, the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

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