Richard evans conductor biography template

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BRASS BANDS IN SCOTLAND
by Alan McLaren

During the early years of the nineteenth century, amateur bands began to emerge in towns and villages throughout Scotland. In many ways this development mirrored the situation in England, although with some notable differences. In England, bands associated with churches were common throughout the country and these church bands are considered to have provided a tradition of amateur instrumental ensembles. In presbyterian Scottish churches however, the singing of unaccompanied psalms was the norm and there was no place for instrumental musicians. Military bands were a major influence in both Scotland and England. The leaders and teachers of many of the early bands were often former military bandmasters.

By the 1830’s there were considerable numbers of what were generally termed instrumental bands. The instrumentation was generally a mix of various early wind instruments including clarinets and flutes and brass in the shape of trumpets and horns with a restricted range of notes. Scotland’s oldest brass bands still in existence today, such as Langholm, St Ronan’s, Barrhead, Peebles and Penicuik, can all trace their roots to these early years.

As the middle of the nineteenth century approached, all brass combinations appeared in growing numbers. The move to all brass instrumentation was made feasible by technical developments which allowed brass instruments to play all the notes of the chromatic scale and thus play a melody. These developments essentially began with the introduction of the keyed bugle and continued with the invention of the valve and the subsequent development of the saxhorn family of instruments which became what we now know as tenor horns, baritones and euphoniums.

Aside from technical developments with the musical instruments and the introduction of mass production techniques in their manufacture, there were various other factors which contributed to the formation of

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Come From Away

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Produced by David and Hannah Mirvish and NAC English Theatre

To Sept. 1, Babs Asper Theatre, National Arts Centre

Tickets and times:nac-cna.ca

A new production of the Canadian musical, Come From Away, is being whipped into shape at the National Arts Centre this month before returning to Toronto for what is expected to be a long-running residency. 

Who are the players (and conductor) who we have chosen as the 4BR Band of the Year for 2004? Some great performers from all around the world have made it into our band for us, but do you agree with our choices?

We have toyed with this a few times over the past few years, but we now think the time has come to make a definitive line up of the players who we think made the greatest impression on us throughout the past year with their performances on the contest and concert stage, radio and CD recordings.

The criteria for inclusion is simple � just read the above paragraph; so it is not a question of who are simply the best players in the world (that would be a bit of a pointless cherry picking exercise), it is a question of those who have performed at the very top of their form during the past twelve months and have made a real lasting impression on us by doing so.  

We think we have made a pretty good selection of players from all around the world (we have been to contests in the UK, Europe, North America and New Zealand this year) and although not everyone will agree with our choices (that's for sure) we believe they make a pretty formidable line up and we hope they give a bit of festive cheer to those included, although it was an immensely difficult task in picking just 25 players and four percussionists � we could have made up two or three bands without any problems.

After we made our choices we had the problem of what to do with the band we chose, and we came up with the idea of an entertainment concert so that just about every player could showcase their talents and show the world why they were chosen.

And to conduct them? None other than the best in business of course � Richard Evans. What a concert that would be!

These are the choices:

Conductor: Richard Evans

No other choice for an entertainment concert is there? He would be the ideal front man; plenty

Posted by TechEd& filed under Announcements.

Richard Evans dedicated his life to widening access to education, a mission born of his experience of failing the 11-plus on two occasions. He went on to achieve five degrees, including a PhD in physics. He credited this to the support of teachers who encouraged his love of science.

After attending Hilsea secondary modern school, Portsmouth, Richard took his A-levels at Portsmouth Technical College, while working night shifts in various jobs, including at R White’s lemonade factory. He studied physics at the University of London, graduating in 1965, and did his doctorate at the University of Essex, completing in 1969. He later took a Graduate Certificate in Education in London, an MEd at Manchester University (1977) and a DMS (Diploma in Management Studies, 2000).

He started his career as a supply teacher before becoming a lecturer in further education at Great Yarmouth in 1971. After three years teaching in Blackpool, in 1978 he became head of science, maths and computing at Peterborough Technical College. In 1982 he became deputy principal at Cornwall College and in 1990 was appointed principal and CEO at Stockport College of Further and Higher Education.

After working in further education for over thirty years he retired and continued to work part-time in technical and vocational education in UK and abroad.

Throughout his life he looked for ways to help widen access and to support technical education at a local, national and international level. He set up local groups wherever he worked, contributed to numerous government policy white papers, chaired panels and participated in reviews. He was a prolific writer, with 350 articles published on education and science – many of which are available here. His websites were an important part of his mission to increase public understanding of science, technical and vocational education.

Richard never forgo