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Band Members
TROMBONES:
John Scott: John joined the band in
1993 after moving to the area from Dumfries. His finest moments whilst
with the band include winning the McEwan Trophy for best trombonist at
the Fife Charities Contest in 1996 – and hitting a top "C" – sung!
during a Civic Reception in Wilhelmstadt, Germany whilst on tour.
Germany was also the scene of his most embarrassing banding experience,
which saw him for some forgotten reason playing euphonium – badly! – in
an Aschaffenburg bier keller.
When not busy in his "day job" as Depute Head Teacher of a Perthshire
primary school, John plays trombone with the Tayside Big Band, the
Woodlands Dance Orchestra and Tayside Symphony Orchestra, and still
finds time to fit in the occasional round of golf, playing off a
handicap of 15.
+ Callum Strachan
BASS TROMBONE:
Gordon Seith: Gordon first came
along to Youth Band in 2000 as an aspiring trombonist, although over
these seven years he has proved his versatility by challenging Jason for
the Band’s record for most instruments played in contests or concerts –
from memory he has appeared on bass, baritone and percussion as well as
tenor and bass trombone.
It is on trombone, his principal instrument, that Gordon has proved
himself to be an extremely talented and hard working musician. He is
currently studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in
Glasgow and is in great demand, regularly undertaking several concert
engagements in a week with a variety of orchestras, bands and ensembles.
The 2005 Czech Republic tour gets an honourable mention as a highlight
of his Band career thus far, although a somewhat less fond memory comes
from that same tour, when his room-mate (a bass player by the name of
Stevie apparently?) and he were woken up on the final morning by a
baguette-waving Mr Annan, having missed the previous six days’
breakfasts. Whether the baguette was being used as an offer of
breakfast, or as a weapon, is not recorded.
He lists his favourite concert number as "That’s a-Plenty", whilst
enjoying/enduring numerous pieces in various styles that he plays with
different groups.
Gordon’s dad is our hard-working Band Chairman, Fraser, who must be the
most "hands on" chairman of any band, driving hundreds of miles a year
towing our trailer full of equipment and attending rehearsals for both
Youth and Senior bands even although not a player himself. Fraser and
his good lady, Janis, are responsible for the Band connection with
Millport, Isle of Cumbrae. Their enthusiasm and standing in the local
community on the island ensure that our regular visits are extremely
enjoyable, the welcome and hospitality that we receive is second to
none.
EUPHONIUMS:
George Annan: George, along with
brother Jim and solo horn Gillian, is one of the longest serving members
of the band having joined as a primary pupil in 1987.From early contest
appearances on horn, he moved over to euphonium several years ago and
has made the solo chair his own with consistently high levels of
performance.
His personal highlights are found in "every single Tour", especially a
Saturday night in Holland in 2001 after playing on an island in the
middle of a lake to a huge audience on the shore, and "Schmuckerfest" in
1997, especially the taxi journey to Erbach…Another Tour, in 1993,
provides a "lowlight", when marching along with a French band in a
Bastille Day parade. The French front row suddenly stopped causing
mayhem as bandsmen literally crashed into each other. Another bad
experience was being part of the band that somehow took the wrong route
whilst marching at Brass in the Park at Newtongrange a few years ago.
George holds a very challenging post in his professional life, as an
Education Project Worker with the local authority in Perth. He works as
part of a re-integration team, aiming to get youngsters who have dropped
out of formal schooling for numerous reasons back into education and
training.
Married to the Band’s flugel player, Clair, George is the proud Dad of
Ross who was born in August 2006. There is apparent domestic conflict in
the Annan household over whether Ross should play euph or flugel….so if
anyone out there knows where they could lay hands on a Flugonium for use
in approximately seven years time, please get in touch!
Jason Blyth: Since joining
Perthshire Youth Brass in 1995, the one and only Jason has probably made
concert and contest appearances on more instruments than most –
currently playing trombone for the 2007 Scottish Championships, he has
also featured on euphonium, baritone, E flat and B flat bass and
percussion.
Jason is employed as a highly skilled sculptologist – the rest of the
band think that he works as a coffin maker, but what do we know? Listing
his favourite piece as "Culloden Moor" , Jason’s banding highlights
include the Scottish Challenge Cup contest in November 2006, the tour of
New Zealand (his mum’s home country) in 1999, a concert at a hotel in
Dundee in 1998 (!) and winning "best E flat bass" at Falkirk in 2000.
His less favourite moment, which he will not be allowed to forget, was
driving all the way to Aberfeldy on a wet December day in 2005 for a
Christmas playing job, and then opening his car boot to find that he
hadn’t actually brought an instrument with him. With a drummer already
in place and no spare instruments available, we were "treated" to 2
hours of tambourine / sleigh bell accompaniments – and if you’ve never
heard the sleigh bell part to "Silent Night", you’ve not missed much!
Away from banding, Jason enjoys his involvement in the local music
scene, currently fronting a band called "Hello Pirates" – he asks that
you visit www.myspace.com/hellopirates for some "great rock"!
E BASS:
Euan Ramsay: Euan recalls joining
Perthshire Brass in about 2000, back in the dim and distant days when he
was an aspiring tenor horn player. He made his contesting debut,
however, in the percussion section – "Vizcaya" being the test piece –
before being granted a free transfer to E flat bass, where he has been
trapped ever since……
A student in Edinburgh, he lists his favourite piece as "That’s a
Plenty" – whether that refers to instrument moves or not, we’re not
sure; let’s just say that he lists both his "best" and "most
embarrassing" banding moments as being "demoted to the bass section".
+ Steven Gellatly
B BASS
Alan Thom: One of our newest
recruits to the contesting band, Alan came into the Youth Band as a
trombonist only in the last year, but readily accepted the challenge of
preparing for this year’s "Scottish" on B flat bass. He claims to be
enjoying the whole band experience so far, with no particular favourite
moments although he has already embarrassed himself by dropping his mute
on stage during the 2006 Annual Concert….and wearing a St Johnstone
woolly hat when Christmas playing! He is a pupil at Perth Academy, and
his other interests include playing hockey for the school, and football
for the exotically-named Abernethy Caledonia.
+ Henry Philip
PERCUSSION:
Grant Roper: After originally taking
lessons on cornet , and playing that instrument at school band level,
Grant took up percussion during third year at Perth High School and has
developed into a solid player , leading a band percussion team that
regularly receives praise from contest adjudicators. He joined the Youth
Band in 2000, and took over the drum stool for the senior band soon
afterwards.
Being both a drummer and a Falkirk supporter, Grant misunderstood the
question about his favourite "piece", which perhaps explains his answer
of "cheese and pickle", and his most embarrassing moments as far as the
band is concerned may not be suitable for a family readership such as
this website hopes to attract. Highlights include his first tour, to
Holland and Germany in 2001, and his commendable endeavours to forge
good international relations between Scotland and Norway in the spring
of 2002 after the band shared a joint concert with a visiting Norwegian
orchestra……
Grant is employed as an overhead linesman with Scottish and Southern
Energy, meaning he spends much of his working days 30 feet off the
ground maintaining and repairing power lines in all weathers. His
drumming skills are also put to good use playing with Perth indie band,
Submachine, who perform at various venues around Fife and Dundee as well
as locally.
Sara Beaton: Describing herself as
playing "Tuned percussion, timps, and a bit o’ tambourine", Sara linked
up with the band in 2004. She is an accomplished violinist, playing with
Perth Symphony Orchestra and teaching strings in local schools. As part
of her job, she is responsible for training and conducting centralised
school ensembles in addition to providing individual tuition.
Sara joined the band on the Czech Republic tour in summer 2005, which
she nominates as her banding highlight to date. Insofar as any
embarrassing moments are concerned, she is wary of tempting fate but
thinks that any have yet to happen. Sara does not like it when people
call her Sarah, and would like to advise all that she has Sicilian
ancestors – so "don’t’ mess….."!!
+ Iona Crosbie
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