Success at The National Concert Band Festival
Corby Business Academy’s Concert Band and Big Band won prestigious accolades at the National Concert Band Festival on Sunday 1st December. The two ensembles performed at the annual competition in front of a select panel of distinguished adjudicators at the Bridge Theatre at Warwick School.
The Concert Band performed a 10-minute programme starting with Souza’s ’Liberty Bell’, followed by Year 13 student Amelia Vickery’s virtuosi cornet solo of Alan Morrison’s ’Buster Strikes Back’, and finishing with music from ‘Encanto’ by Robert Smith.
The Big Band began their set with the classic Stevie Wonder hit ‘Superstition’ before Year 10 student Scarlett Morgan’s vocal solo of ‘Fever’. Then, they performed a jazz standard in ‘Steppin Out’ by Carl Strommen and closed their set with Mike Story’s Spanish number ‘Fiesta Del Tigre’.
Both the Concert Band and the Big Band won the Silver Award for their performances at the festival, where they competed with the best bands from the most reputed private and grammar schools in England.
The students who represented Corby Business Academy identified their regular rehearsals at school to be the main reason behind their success on the national stage. Trumpeter Vlad Musat from Year 12 said: “Every chance we get to practice our skills at school is very special because it is impossible to find opportunities like that anywhere else. We also get plenty of opportunity to rehearse at famous venues like the Royal Albert Hall, and the chance to perform in front of large audiences with hundreds of spectators at our concerts, so it is incredibly rewarding to be part of the ensembles at our school.”
The Director of Music, Mr Wears, said: "We are immensely proud of our students and all the hard work they put in to win us this superb opportunity to perform at the National Concert Band Festival.”
To hear these award-winning bands, please join us at our annual Winter Showcase on Thursday 12th December at Corby Business Academy. To secure your tickets, please use the link below;