Past News
During Old Hall Brass's performance of Kingdom of Dragons in the 2nd Section North West Area Championships at Blackpool Opera House on Sunday 14th March 2010, Sarah Neal, our 2nd Baritone player, suffered a seizure on stage. The Opera House staff and St Johns Ambulance were quickly on hand to attend to Sarah who, after a very worrying period of time, came round, and was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
After discussing the situation, and being given to option to return with a borrowed player if required, the band chose to compete no further, as we didn't feel that we could have gone back to perform without Sarah. Ben and David, Sarah's brothers, were both playing with Old Hall Brass on stage at the time of the incident.
Sarah was checked over and discharged, but on the way home, she suffered another (lesser) fit, and was taken straight to Wigan Infirmary. The latest news is that initial CT scans have shown nothing out of the ordinary, but that she will remain in Wigan Infirmary to have an MRI scan as a precaution.
Sarah and her family would like to thank the members of Old Hall Brass for their support, and to thank the many people who have asked about her condition. Sarah was complaining yesterday that she was too well to be in hospital, so she is getting back to her normal self (according to Ben!).
On behalf of Old Hall Brass, we would like to wish Sarah a speedy recovery, and look forward to seeing her soon.
New solo cornet to keep the front row boys in check!
We are delighted to welcome Becca Downs on solo cornet. Becca helped the band out at two engagements at the Lowry Shopping Mall over christmas, and made an instant impression on the band. Becca will be taking the principal cornet seat for the NW Areas at Blackpool in March. Here's hoping for a good result to build on the excellent performance at Preston Guild Hall in February.
Looking for a new challenge in 2010?
A new year brings for some the opportunity of a new challenge. If you fancy a change, then Old Hall Brass would welcome any interested players down. The band are still looking for cornet players (Principal to the right candidate), Eb and Bb Bass, but all players are more than welcome. If you are interested in any of these positions, please look at our vacancies page for further details.
Come and help Old Hall Brass live the dream in 2010!
New solo cornet to keep the front row boys in check!
We are delighted to welcome Becca Downs on solo cornet. Becca helped the band out at two engagements at the Lowry Shopping Mall over christmas, and made an instant impression on the band. Becca will be taking the principal cornet seat for the NW Areas at Blackpool in March. Here's hoping for a good result to build on the excellent performance at Preston Guild Hall in February.
Looking for a new challenge in 2010?
A new year brings for some the opportunity of a new challenge. If you fancy a change, then Old Hall Brass would welcome any interested players down. The band are still looking for cornet players (Principal to the right candidate), Eb and Bb Bass, but all players are more than welcome. If you are interested in any of these positions, please look at our vacancies page for further details.
Come and help Old Hall Brass live the dream in 2010!
Another success at Southport
Old Hall Brass made a successful return to Southport Little Theatre on 5th July 2009 for their third concert since the success of "Brassed Off" in 2007.
A review of the concert and some pictures can be found here
Welcome to the Owens!
Old Hall Brass are pleased to announce the signings of Jim & Julia Owen on Solo EEb Bass and Front Row Cornet.
Jim & Julia are well known in the banding scene, having played with many bands, recently including Yorkshire Imps, Besses, and have been part of many recent sucesses with Boarshurst.
Jim is moving from his comfort zone of Euphonium to to important role of Solo EEb Bass - while Julia is going to rise to the challenge of the front row.
We are delighted to have Jim & Jules down at OHB. Their passionate and dedicated bandsmanship are second to none and their character is a welcome influence in the mix that is Old Hall. Jim is particularly excited about his new challenge - and personally I think that the Tuba is the instrument for Jim and he will really excel. This is another pivotal corner being turned in the regeneration of the band.
New 1st Horn at Old Hall
Old Hall Brass are pleased to welcome Chris Childs on 1st Horn. Chris, who currently also plays for Wigan Youth Brass and Runshaw Brass Bands, is a welcome addition to the horn rank. Along with Sarah Baxendale from Hesketh Band Silver Band, who regularly helps us out on 2nd Horn (thanks Sarah!), we now have a complete horn section. More about Chris can be found here
We are still looking for bass players and a front row cornet (Principal seat to the right candidate). More details on our vacancies page.
Glad to be there....
Old Hall Brass were glad to see the Empress Ballroom on Sunday. The band set themselves a target in January to be at the Areas on Sunday, and after a lot of hard work from band and MD John North, we made it! A disapointing 9th place slightly took a bit of shine off the day, but we enjoyed being there, and had a few deserved drinks in the Galleon Bar after our performance!
In order to build on this, the band are looking for Cornet, Flugal and Bass (Eb or Bb) players to live the dream with us throughout our busy 2009 schedule. Please see our vacancies page for more details, or get in touch via our contacts page.
Good luck in Harrogate to Oldham (Lees) and Silk Brass, and also to Pemberton Old on their qualification for the Royal Albert Hall in the Championship Section.
Blackpool, here we come!!!
Old Hall Brass are ready for the North West area contest at Blackpool Winter Gardens on Sunday 1st March 2009. After a successful recruitment drive, the band has been hard at work rehearsing the Dan Price composition "New World Sketches" for the 2nd Section contest. MD John North has been putting the band through their paces over the last few weeks, and Old Hall will hopefully put in a performance that will satisfy Malcolm Brownbill in the adjudicator's box.
The band would like to thank Sarah Baxendale, Johnathan Hall, David Neal and Helen Kearsley for stepping in to help us out and for their hard work.
Got Cornets & Bari's , now for Basses!!
The Old Hall Brass recruitment drive gathers pace! We are pleased to welcome to the band the brother and sister duo of Rob and Catherine Singleton (Front Row & Baritone), Matthew Smalley (Front Row ) and William Parkinson (Soprano). Matthew and Will rejoin the band after a few years out and we are glad to have them back. The bandroom has got dafter since Will's return, that's for sure!!
We also welcome Ellen Arnold on 3rd Cornet, who joins us from Trinity Girls, and Sarah Neal on Baritone. Sarah is the sister of Ben, our percussionist.
More details about all of them will be on the players pages in due course.
We are still looking for bass players, so if any basses out there fancy a new challenge, come down and join in the fun!!
New Start for the New Year!
After a few uncertain months, it is with great pleasure that Old Hall Brass announce the appointment of John North as MD of the band. John has assisted the band over the Christmas period, and conducted the majority of the band engagements in December 2008. John is now preparing the band for the area contest at Blackpool on 1st March.
John brings a fresh approach to banding, and Old Hall are looking forward to working with him.
You can find out more about John here .
The band are also looking for a Principal cornet and bass player. Anyone interested in these positions, or if you just want to come down to Old Hall Brass and see what we do, please see the vacancies page for more details
