Towcester Studio Band is delighted to announce that it has commissioned talented young composer, Jonny Bates, to write a 10-minute brass band piece to celebrate Towcester 917. The music will illustrate and celebrate Towcester’s 1100th anniversary as a modern town and will provide a musical legacy for the Towcester 917 celebrations taking place this year.
The commission has been generously funded by the Towcester 917 committee and South Northants Council and the World Premiere will be given by Towcester Studio Band in St Lawrence Church, Towcester - possibly on 7 October 2017.
"It's a real pleasure to be able to work on a project like this as someone who has come through the ranks as a brass band player myself. Far too often it is only the brass band movement's elite that can afford to commission new music, so therefore bands from smaller communities with lower budgets miss out on the chance to work with a composer on large-scale projects such as this. I feel writing music for such a specific event can offer some sort of longevity to the project and something to look back on in future years, whilst also offering the local communities a piece of work to showcase to assist any celebrations or ceremonies which may be linked with the Towcester 917 anniversary.”
Jonny Bates, Composer
http://jonnythehorn.wix.com/jonathan-bates#!biography
It is planned that the celebration and legacy will be enhanced by composer-led workshops with young musicians in the town to experience how a composer, Musical Director and players work together on a new commission and to improvise the new commission’s main theme for other instrumentation and different levels of ability.