For the past two years, the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland (NYBBS) and everyone associated with it have been preparing for a landmark tour to Japan and, on Sunday 6th July, 71 of Scotland’s finest young players will depart for a two week concert tour to coincide with the band’s golden jubilee celebrations.
During the period, the NYBBS will perform in eight concerts across the country, including appearances in Tokyo, Kyoto, Hamamatsu and Osaka.
Richard Evans, who is to NYBBS as haggis is to a Burns supper, will once again lead the youth band. For the Japanese tour, the NYBBS will also be joined by international euphonium star, Steven Mead.
Richard Evans was one of the very first British brass band personalities to work in Japan. In 1979, he coached and advised some Japanese students before he returned with Leyland Band the following year. The irrepressible musical director told British Bandsman: “I’ve been working with Japanese bands and Japanese brass students since 1979 and I’ve watched the standard improve to excellent levels, all due to their own hard work and diligent practice. They are an amazing people, full of respect and consideration for each other and for visitors from other countries. We, as the NYBBS, will have the honour and enjoyment of performing for the Japanese audiences and also performing with other Japanese brass players. This tour will truly be a trip of a lifetime.” The addition of Steven Mead to the forthcoming NYBBS tour is a stroke of musical and, indeed, financial genius. Steven’s presence with the youth band will undoubtedly boost ticket sales, while he will be sure to inspire both the youngsters in the NYBBS and his loyal Japanese fan base with his unique talent.
Steven Mead told BB: “To be touring Japan with the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland is indeed a great privilege and honour for me, and to be working with my good friend, maestro Richard Evans, makes it a double pleasure. For over 15 years, I have visited Japan as a soloist and teacher and during that time, I have built up a rapport with so many Japanese brass players. We have shared so many great musical experiences, with world première performances of major euphonium works, recitals, concerts with orchestras, and numerous specialist brass camps that have always been enjoyable. Now the Japanese music fraternity has a unique opportunity to enjoy this wonderful band of the best young brass players in Scotland as they come together for a trip I know we all will never forget.”
As many readers will know, Steven Mead is not just an incredible talent on the euphonium. In recent years, he has emerged as a promising conductor and adjudicator. Last October, he led Whitburn Band to the National Championships of Great Britain at the Royal Albert Hall in London and, while working with the new Scottish champion, he had the opportunity to meet seven Whitburn members who are also players with the NYBBS.
Steven continued: “I have never heard the NYBBS live, but its reputation has been greatly enhanced over recent years and now it has the chance to experience the incredible hospitality that the Japanese can offer. Having worked with several Scottish bands over the years, and particularly in the last 12 months or so, I have seen at first hand the young talent that is there and how these talents have been nurtured by great teachers. Despite the high level of performance by Japanese students, I have no doubt that the NYBBS will astound its hosts. With great music, great spirit and the terrific social and friendly atmosphere these young people have, I know the Japanese public will adore this band. It will be entertaining, yet with playing of the highest order. It is a treat not to be missed and is yet another milestone, through the genre of the brass band, which Japan and the UK can enjoy and treasure in the years to come.”
As with any foreign tour, the players of the NYBBS will get an opportunity to sample the delights of the host country. Many in the band will have a circle in their diaries around a trip to the Japanese Disneyworld. Even Mr Evans, this writer is sure, will don his Mickey Mouse hat (or in his case, a cravat!) for the occasion. The band will also get the rare opportunity to visit one of the most important sites in world history – Hiroshima, the site of the first dropping of an atomic bomb in 1945, which brought the war in Asia to an end.
Neil Cross, the course director of NYBBS, has been working on this tour with Richard Evans and Shoko Morimoto for several years. He commented: “It is a wonderful opportunity for the students to visit a country like Japan. For many of them, it will be their last course with the NYBBS and I am sure they, like the rest of the band, will remember it for the rest of their lives. The tour of Japan has been a massive financial undertaking, made all the worse by the recent drop in the value of the pound and the hike in fuel prices, so I urge businesses and band aficionados to continue to support the NYBBS before and after we undertake the trip.”
Two students who will wave goodbye to the NYBBS after Japan are Richard Kidd and Lucy Forbes. Richard, a native of Aberdeen, delighted audiences last year with some stunning contest performances on principal euphonium with Whitburn, before returning to Bon Accord Silver band in Aberdeen. Richard commented: “I’m delighted to be part of this groundbreaking tour that will showcase not only the British brass band movement, but also the Scottish youth. There has been a real buzz about the band since the trip was announced, and with it now so close, we are all really excited. We have all the ingredients of a spectacular tour - a committed band, huge venues, one of the best guest soloists around and arguably the most entertaining conductor going. I really can’t imagine a more fitting way to celebrate the NYBBS 50th anniversary.” Lucy Forbes is the principal baritone with the NYBBS and 2nd baritone player with Scottish Co-op Band. Like many in the band, Lucy has been part of the NYBBS set-up since her early teens. She began: “I was fortunate enough to be a part of the NYBBS that toured Germany in 2002. I can’t believe I now have the chance to go to Japan as well. This will be my final year with the band and there surely can’t be a better way to finish my time with the NYBBS than this. Everybody involved with the NYBBS has been working hard trying to raise the necessary funds for the trip, but huge thanks have to go to Neil Cross, Shoko Morimoto and Richard Evans for making it possible. I’m just looking forward to experiencing the Japanese culture and playing with the band again, in what I’m sure will be an amazing tour.”
As Richard and Lucy both commented, the preparation of this tour has been a long-term project. A year ago, the band held a ceilidh to raise funds before a large, co-coordinated sponsored walk saw the students trek to every corner of Scotland. Many members of the band then took to the streets last Christmas for a period of busking and, in March of this year, the players came together at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow to record a CD.
While the players have made the effort on the fundraising front, many of the finer points of the tour’s organisation have been left to Shoko Morimoto. She added: “We are officially part of ‘UK - Japan 2008’, organised through the British Embassy in Tokyo and will be forging cultural links in Japan by playing concerts along with university bands and local pipe bands. We are arranging a ‘Scottish Night’ - a sort of watereddown Burns supper - in Kyoto, a city which is twinned with Edinburgh. Within our band we have Highland dancers and pipers who will perform for our hosts while others will recite, play and sing. The concert halls we have booked have an average capacity of around 1,000, so this is a big tour!”
Before the NYBBS depart from its homeland, it will perform in a concert at the RSAMD on 5 July. 80 players from the NYBBS Reserve and Training Bands will also perform in this event after a week’s intensive training in Glasgow.
So all that is left now is to wish everyone involved with the NYBBS a safe and memorable trip to the land of the rising sun.
National Youth Brass Band of Scotland Japan Tour - July 2008 SCHEDULE
Saturday 5 Concert in Glasgow, Scotland
Sunday 6 Flight from Glasgow
Monday 7 Arrive in Japan
Tuesday 8 Chiba, host: Seitoku University / Japan Brass Band Directors Association. Venue: Seitoku University (http://www.seitoku.jp/) / Capacity: 1,000.
Wednesday 9 Yokohama, host: Senzoku Gakuen College of Music / Japan Brass Band Directors Association. Venue: Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall (http://www.yaf.or.jp/mmh/) / Capacity: 2,020.
Friday 11 Osaka, host: N/A. Venue: Mielparque Hall (http://www.mielparque.jp/osk/osk01.html) / Capacity: 1,010.
Saturday 12 Kyoto, host: Grest Brass Band. Venue: Joyo Plum Hall (http://www.city.joyo.kyoto.jp/parc/parc-index.html) / Capacity: 1,350.
Sunday 13 Fukuoka, host: N/A. Venue: Hibiki Hall (http://www.kicpac.org/hibiki/) / Capacity: 720.
Monday 14 Hiroshima
Tuesday 15 Hamamatsu, host: N/A. Venue: Act city Hamamatsu (www.actcity.jp) / Capacity: 1,030.
Friday 18 Tokyo, host: N/A. Venue: Shinjuku Bunka (Cultural) Centre (www.shinjukubunka.or.jp) / Capacity: 1,802.
Story courtesy of British Bandsman
Photo courtesy of James Chisholm