Enderby Band Announces New Musical Director at De Montfort Hall Concert

01 Jul 2018

Enderby Band were delighted to receive an invitation to perform with the Leicestershire Rock Choir at a sell out concert at De Montfort Hall on Saturday 30 June 2018 to raise money for Rainbows Children’s Hospital.  The concert involved nearly 500 Rock Choir members who took to the stage in two groups and gave rousing renditions of rock classics which included California Dreaming, Don’t Leave Me This Way and A Little Respect.

The Band opened their part of the concert with Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s ‘Enter The Galaxies’ and went on to play Little Hymn, Breezin Down Broadway, Storbystev, The Cossack finishing off with MacArthur Park.  Sarah Stephens, renowned Soprano Singer and conductor of the Rock Choir sang a beautiful rendition of ‘Let the Bright Seraphim’ accompanied by the Band.

The evening concluded with the Choir and Band members joining together to sing and play uplifting and joyful classic pop songs which included ‘Don’t Stop me Now’ ‘Uptown Girl’, ‘Don’t Stop Believing’.  The finale of Dancing in the Street rounded the concert off, with Rock Choir members leaving their seats to ‘flash mob’ amongst the audience.

BBC Radio Leicester presenters compered the evening and were thrilled to be asked to make an announcement from the Enderby Band to introduce Ryan Richards as their new Musical Director.  Ryan had been taking the Band for rehearsals over the last couple of weeks in the run up to not only this prestigious concert, but also the joint concert for the Enderby Youth Band and Enderby Band.

Ryan is from Telford in Shropshire and attended Abraham Darby Academy which has a steep tradition in music education over the last 40 years. Ryan started playing the Trombone around the age of 9 and quickly fell in love with performing music. At the age of 21, Ryan has already had performance opportunities in some of the best concert halls around the world including Symphony Hall, Royal Albert Hall, KKL Lucerne and Carnegie Hall in New York.  In 2014 Ryan gained a scholarship to study at Birmingham Conservatoire under the tuition of Chris Houlding, Tony Howe and Ed Jones. Since being at music college Ryan has been a part of many different ensembles ranging from Symphony Orchestra to Brass Band to Brass Quintet.  Ryan joined the Tredegar Town Band in November 2014 and was a part of the band who won the Welsh Regional Championships in 2015, gaining qualification for the European Championships in Ostende. Ryan has also played in many other bands including: Whitburn Band, Flowers and Brass Band Oberösterreich winning the best soloist prize at the 2015 Austrian National Championships. In 2017 Ryan was also a member of the CBSO Youth Orchestra.  In 2017 Ryan was one quarter of the Trombone quartet that won the Bernard Brown ensemble Prize at Birmingham Conservatoire and then won the Brass Prize himself in May.

Ryan has stated:

“I am delighted to accept the position of MD of the Enderby Band.  They are an innovative band with lots of exciting projects lined up and I am very much looking forward to leading them in some high profile concerts and contests”.

Band Chairman, Ian Hayto commented:

“Ryan has made tremendous impression over the last couple of weeks with his meticulous rehearsal and concert preparation. This, along with his positive and enthusiastic approach has enabled him to get the best out of the players in a short space of time.  We are all looking forward to working with Ryan, particularly over the summer months in preparation for our trip to Cheltenham for the National Finals, and look forward to a long and successful partnership”.

Published for:

The Enderby Band

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