The Moment of Truth!! The Federation Day!!

What a busy month June has been for all pluckers and strummers, not only for the Bromley Guitar Society but also for those at Enfield, Greenwood, North Bucks, Home Counties and Oxford.

After a relaxing drive to the lovely district of Woburn in Bedfordshire, we experienced the kind hospitality of the Noth Buckingham Guitar Society who were hosting this year's Federation Guitar Societies.

They had also arranged for Peter Nuttall to lead us through his arrangement of his composition 'Alta Vista'. Peter was excellent as a conductor. He patiently explained what he wanted and managed to lead us through a few tricky patches without too many knocks or scratches.

He also had that knack of making you feel more competent and confident about yourself than you would otherwise think. The result was a very satisfying sense of achievement plus a lot of laughter and good humour. For me, the only drawback was the effect the food and drink will have on my waistline but I have no one to blame but myself.

All the Societies provided their usual high standard of group performances for the day.
I am pleased to say that the Bromley BGS managed to acquit themselves admirably this year with Leichte's Trio and the performance of Forrest's Joropo ( well we got away with it!!)


Once more I would like to express my thanks to John Mann and Robert Sellery for their expertiss and patience in helping as prepare for the day.  I know at times that poor John was worried about how the Joropo would go but he did his best to hide his concern.

See the video link provided by Ray Butcher



You can access other copies of the video performance at http://www.youtube.com/user/raymond3325/videos?query=2012+Federation


Personally I would like to extend my thanks and best wishes to Peter Nuttall and all members of the North Buckingham Guitar Society and others 'behind the scenes' who made us feel very welcomed. And to our car pool providers Steve Pearson, Dave Hampton, Vince Chittenden and Trevor Pike for conveying us safely to Woburn and back.

Well I assume everyone made it back safely and in time for the football (although the results didn't appear to justify the effort)

I have enclosed a copy of our chairman's letter to Wendy Wagstaff (North Buckinghamshire GS) which expresses all our sentiments

Dear Wendy,


Both personally and on behalf of the Committee of Bromley Guitar Society, I would like to thank you and The North Bucks Guitar Club for a superb FGS Day.


The venue was in a lovely area; the whole day was well-organised in every detail; everything took place at such a leisurely pace; the seating was very comfortable; the food and drinks were excellent and plentiful and we were all made to feel most welcome. I know that your own personal input to the day was enormous, so I hope that you and your colleagues are all deriving considerable satisfaction from its undoubted success.


Peter Nuttall, to whom I have sent a copy of this letter, is a master of ensemble leading and you could not have chosen better. Everybody warmed to him and he has a great sense of humour. He worked us very hard and yet it didn’t feel that way.


Thank you, all of you, for taking so much trouble to ensure that we had a most enjoyable day.


Best wishes,


Denis Stockton.


Chairman of Bromley Guitar Society.

June Meeting 2012

Your correspondent wasn't available so I have to rely on the recollections of our chairman.

Fortunately he was sober when he sent them to me.

The June meeting was well-attended and the first part was given over to our final rehearsal of the FGS Day pieces. As always, Rob Sellery, John Mann and Ray Butcher displayed their leadership skills, so we should acquit ourselves quite creditably on FGS Day. I was reminded that we will be expected to play as an ensemble at The Beckenham Festival in November and that these might be our choice of pieces again.


After the coffee break, when we not only enjoyed Trevor’s excellent brew ( I assume we mean coffee -Editor) but also some very tasty home-made confections from Larisa, there were five individual performances, all of which were of a high standard. Among the performers was Ash Blasse, who hadn’t visited BGS for well over a year as he has been studying Music at university. He is seeking a Performer’s Diploma, so we were all pretty knocked out by his playing!! We hope that he will resume his membership and attend regularly.
  • Marion Davies played “Swallows” by David Cottam.
  • Dave Hampton played Prelude No: 1 by Villa-Lobos.
  • Ash Blasse played “Asturias” by Albeniz.
  • Paul Yates played “Bonza’s Blues” by William Baulch.
  • Tessa Protheroe played a Mazurka Choros by Villa Lobos.
The rest of the evening was taken up with the three South American Trios provided by David Wheeler.

Ray Butcher took us through these and we enjoyed playing them.

 

 
Tessa Protheroe has asked us to support the guitar section of The Maidstone Music Festival in November, where Gary Ryan will be adjudicating. I have asked Tessa to provide details of this festival for inclusion on the Blogsite.

(See below- Editor)