Brass Group

The Grosvenor Brass Group has gone from strength to strength during the academic year of 2017-2018 under the enthusiastic leadership of Mr W. Thompson, a former pupil of the school.

The group includes musicians from Year 8 through to Year 14 and brings together brass musicians who play cornet/trumpet, tenor horn, baritone, euphonium and tuba in various groups outside school, both in the City of Belfast School of Music and local brass bands.

Meeting on Tuesday mornings before Registration, members of the group have enjoyed working on a wide variety of music throughout the year. Mr Thompson always manages to be witty, patient and encouraging, even at such an early hour of the morning.

This year the band enjoyed playing traditional Christmas Carols in the wonderful acoustic of St. Anne’s Cathedral before the Grosvenor Carol Service.

We also played at the Open Evenings for the Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils viewing the school. We were located in the Science Department which allowed the parents and children to listen to us playing as they walked around the Biology, Chemistry and Physics Laboratories. Some families stopped and listened to us playing, which hopefully is an indication of future brass players coming to Grosvenor in the future.

Our final performance to wrap up the year was the Spring Concert which showcases all the talent, especially in the Music Department. In the concert we played two pieces, the first was the familiar Can-Can by Jacques Offenbach and the second was Zambezi by Nico Carstens and Anton De Waal, arranged by Derek Broadbent.

The Brass Group thoroughly enjoyed working with Mr Thompson throughout the year on new pieces that pushed us to demonstrate our talent. Any new brass or percussion players would be very welcome, especially any trombone players!

Andrew Lawrie 14 TG2 and Victoria Lloyd 12R