Internationally renowned trumpeter [bclink id=”1082″ target=”_blank”] was the guest soloist as the [bclink id=”962″ target=”_blank”] (Bandmaster Jonathan Corry) presented its 65th Annual Pre-Contest Festival on Friday, 14 October 2011 at St. John’s, Smith Square, London.
Jaudes is one of the premier lead trumpet players in New York City, working on top-line Broadway shows. He is also in high demand as a clinician and featured soloist at conferences and competitions around the world. Since 2005, he has been jazz trumpet instructor on the faculty of the Julliard School.
The compère for the festival was Paul Hindmarsh, noted British singer, conductor, editor and academic.
The Enfield Citadel Band began the event with two contrasting items, Roger Trigg’s Almighty and an arrangement by Andrew Wainwright of There Is Peace. Following prayer and introductions, the band offered the tone poem A Psalm of Praise (James Curnow).
Chris Jaudes’ first solo of the evening was Onward, Christian Soldiers, arranged by American composer Mark Freeh. This was followed by the band’s presentation of Nativity (Philip Wilby) and another solo from Jaudes, Maria (arr. Pete Korey).
The first half of the concert ended with one of Ray Steadman-Allen’s most innovative and celebrated works, Victorian Snapshots: On Ratcliff Highway. This work is a collection of “sound pictures” inspired by the War Cry sketch of Whitechapel Band marching through the notorious Thameside thoroughfare in the 1880s. Weaving a number of melodies and sounds through the texture, Steadman-Allen accurately captures the feel and struggles of the Salvation Army during the early years, when opposition to the message often took physical and violent form.
The second half began with a classic Salvation Army march, Under Two Flags (Bramwell Coles). Two more items from the guest soloist, This Is My Story (Krister Lundkvist) and The Green Hornet (arr. Dorothy Gates), were each followed by a work by Wilfred Heaton. An outstanding composer who was not fully appreciated during his lifetime, Heaton is the subject of a forthcoming book by compère Paul Hindmarsh, who is also in the process of editing Heaton’s complete works. The two examples used here were Victory for Me and one of the finest meditations in the repertoire, the exquisite Just As I Am.
Following a Scripture reading, Jaudes returned for his final presentation of the evening, Stephen Bulla’s arrangement of Holy, Holy, Holy. The Enfield Citadel Band concluded the festival with an exuberant work by Peter Graham, Renaissance.
Source:
[bclink id=”962″ target=”_blank”] web site (PDF of souvenir program for the event)