The band is sad to announce the cancellation of the Christmas Concert at Morriston Tabernacle this Saturday, December 11th.
The health and safety of our audience and band members must come first and it would be unwise to go ahead given the rise in cases in recent days, following the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 Coronavirus.
The band are in the process of contacting everyone who had purchased tickets to offer a refund.
Thank you for your understanding.
A long 20 months after its last appearance at a brass band contest due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, the band performed at the Wychavon Festival of Brass, held on October 30th 2021 at The De Montfort School in Evesham.
Competing in the 1st Section at this Entertainment Contest, the band was pleased to achieve 4th place in a field of 9 bands, with the band’s euphonium player, Lyndon Harris, winning the David Morris Award for the Best Euphonium.
The band chose to perform the following programme, complemented by an audio and video presentation prepared by Jayne Kinnear.
Full results for the section are below.
| Position | Band | Conductor | Draw | Points |
| 1 | Eccles Borough Band | Marieka Gray | 3 | 195 |
| 2 | Haydock Band | Mark Quinn | 8 | 193 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes Brass | Jonathan Mott | 4 | 188 |
| 4 | Pontardulais Town Band | Paul Jenkins | 7 | 187 |
| 5 | Markham and District Band | Jayne Thomas | 1 | 184 |
| 6 | Stannington Brass Band | Derek Renshaw | 2 | 180 |
| 7 | Langley Band | Cliff Parker | 6 | 178 |
| 8 | Strata Brass | Richard Marshall | 5 | 175 |
| 9 | Shirley Band | Tom Stoneman | 9 | 173 |
Winning MD: Marieka Gray (Eccles Borough Band)
Entertainment Award: Haydock Band
Best Soloist: Morgan Hart – Eb Bass (Shirley Band)
Best Baritones: Haydock Band
Best Percussion: Milton Keynes Brass
David Morris Award (Best Euphonium): Lyndon Harris (Pontardulais Town Band)
Almost 18 months after its last public performance at the Welsh Regionals Championships 2020, Pontardulais Town Band was delighted to perform two concerts in August 2021 in the local area.
The first was a fantastic ‘Night at the Movies’ concert at The Clubhouse at Pontardulais Golf Club on August 14th as part of its summer series of concerts.
The second was a free ‘Music from the Movies’ concert held at Coed Bach Park in Pontardulais, on Bank Holiday Monday August 30th. The event saw an audience numbering in the hundreds with garden chairs in hand enjoy an afternoon picnic while being entertained by the band.
The past 18 months has been a difficult period for the band, as it has been for everyone, but despite being unable to carry out normal band activities, there has been a lot going on ‘behind the scenes’.
Though the band has been unable to perform in person since the start of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, the band has tried to embrace the lockdown trend of ‘virtual performances’ as a means of keeping its members engaged and trying to bring some welcome relief to its supporters in difficult times.
The first was our Virtual Annual Concert, compered by Band President Garry Owen, which featured performances recorded at previous Annual Concerts and footage and photos collated by current band member Jayne Kinnear.
Next was a video released on Remembrance Sunday, which again featured recordings, footage, photos and newspaper clippings collated by Jayne Kinnear. The video also included recorded performances of Pontarddulais Male Choir.
Christmas soon followed and saw the band release a series of videos daily in the run up to Christmas Day, showcasing recordings from previous Christmas Concerts, in addition to three new videos which had been created using recordings created at home by individual band members and combined to create a single ‘Virtual Perfomance’.
With the wonderful news of a COVID-19 vaccine having been created at the turn of the year, the band answered the call and made the bandroom available as a venue for vaccinations from February 2021. A huge thank you to the team at Tal-y-Bont Surgery for their hardwork in administering the vaccine to so many local residents, some of which included members of the band!
With so many brass bands around the country embracing the trend of virtual performances, the Cory Band and Kapitol hosted an Online Brass Band Championships, where Pontardulais Town Band competed in the 1st Section.
Having enjoyed the experience so much, the band entered Foden’s Band’s Online Whit Friday Championships a couple of months later, again competing in the 1st Section.
The band are grateful to have been awarded grants to facilitate some much needed bandroom improvements, which took place in the Spring. These included replacing the flooring, replacing the boiler and installing radiators, re-tarmacing the car park and fitting new gates.
The band are also fortunate to have been awarded grants to purchase gazebos, which allowed the band to rehearse outdoors when COVID-19 restrictions and guidance (and the weather!) allowed.
With the relaxation of some COVID-19 restrictions in May 2021, the band was finally able to re-commence indoor rehearsals, though not at the band room due to the size of venue needed to meet the minimum spacing required between players to conduct safe rehearsals. The band are grateful to have been allowed the use of Penygroes Memorial Hall for this purpose.
Having enjoyed its first taste of virtual contesting with the Kapitol Cory Online Brass Band Championships, the band entered the Online Whit Friday Championships, run by Foden’s Band.
The contest was broadcast on the 28th and 29th of May, the weekend the Whit Friday contest usually takes place in the Tameside and Saddleworth areas.
A total of 119 bands from around the world entered the contest, performing 57 different marches! In true Whit Friday fashion, all bands competed against each other, but with prizes awarded to the highest placed bands in each section. The contest was adjudicated by Michael Fowles.
Pontardulais Town Band were band number 38 in the draw, performing ‘The Contestor’ by T. J. Powell, which starts at around 2:56:10 in the video below.
The band were pleased to be placed 35th overall (from 119) and 15th in the 1st Section (from 24).
The band were thrilled to compete in the Kapitol Cory Online Brass Band Championships 2021, a virtual music contest broadcast live on YouTube and hosted by the Cory Band. Broadcast over three successive weekends in March, the contest included Championship, 1st to 4th, University and Youth Sections, with bands entering from all around the world!
Pontardulais Town Band competed in the 1st Section, broadcast on 20th March in a field of 12 bands. The adjudicators for the section were Cory Band members Chris Thomas, Simon Howell and Helen Williams.
The entire contest is worth watching, but if you only want to view our entry, it starts at 1:12:57 in the video below.
The running order for the section was as follows:
The band are delighted and very grateful to have been awarded a grant from the Mynydd Y Gwair Windfarm Local Community Fund, which will go towards carrying out improvements to the Bandroom.
Full details of all local community organisations awarded a grant are on the Swansea Council for Voluntary Service website.
The ongoing COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has unfortunately restricted our ability to spread some much needed Christmas cheer in the local community.
Instead of public performances at local supermarkets, pubs, in the community and of course our annual Christmas concert, we are delighted to share a selection of past performances of our favourite Pontardulais Town Band Christmas pieces to put you in the festive mood.
As we countdown to the big day, we will be posting a new piece every day, including something VERY special on the weekend of the 19th/20th.
Keep an eye on our Facebook page, or check this page for updates!
For our final video, a socially distanced offering of the piece we normally finish our carol playing sessions with.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our Christmas videos, we end with a message from the Chair of Pontardulais Town Band:
This year has proved to be a difficult one for us all. We are very grateful to all of you for your support in these very challenging times and value your continued assistance. The committee has been busy in working together and collaborating in keeping our members safe. We are now looking forward to the future in 2021 and would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Sue Aldrich
Chairperson, Pontardulais Town Band
Time for a sing-along! This has become a bit of a tradition at our annual Christmas Concert!
Now a different take, by Jonathan Mead, on the classic Silent Night, performed by the Senior, Training and Beginner Bands. Definitely another one to watch until the end…
A change of pace today with this piece, arranged by our solo horn player, Tara Smith.
Next up is the second of our special videos, recorded especially for this Christmas!
Here is the first of the special videos as promised, recorded especially for this Christmas!
Another festive favourite today!
How many Christmas songs and carols can you count in today’s offering?
Next up is a solo from our soprano cornet player, Kevin ‘Snowman’ Shanklin. Once again, keep watching for the hidden bonus track at the end…
Today’s piece feature a solo from our solo horn player, Tara Smith.
Now a joint effort from the Senior, Training and Beginners Bands.
Next up, we feature our solo euphonium player, Lyndon Harris. Watch to the end for an extra treat…
Sit back, relax and enjoy our first piece, Festive Intrada – do keep a look out for a very naughty elf…
Due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic there is no Remembrance Parade in Pontarddulais this year. This video, using footage from previous years’ parades and the 2018 WW1 100 Years Remembrance Concert, as well as contributions from Pontarddulais Male Choir and Pontarddulais Town Band, has been put together as a tribute to the service and sacrifice of our Armed Forces, veterans and their families.
The band are delighted to have been awarded a generous grant from The Arts Council of Wales, funding which has been made available by the Welsh Government as part of its Cultural Recovery Fund.
The grant will go a long way in helping the band continue its activites as best as possible during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
The band are very grateful to The Arts Council of Wales for the awarding of this grant and for its continued support.
Further information is available in the news release on The Arts Council of Wales website.
The band’s first ever ‘Virtual Concert’, published during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, and associated fundraiser has been featured by BBC Cymru, both in a television news broadcast on Sunday 13th July and online.
The news item can be read on the BBC Cymru website (in Welsh) with the televised item also available on the BBC Cymru website or below.
The Virtual Concert is available to view from the Virtual Concert post on this website.
As mentioned in the news feature, if you would like to make a donation to the band, please follow this link to the band’s current campaign on GoFundMe.
