News

Victoria Hall, Saltaire afternoon concert

6th April 2008

Saltaire, the beautiful World Heritage Site village near Shipley, Bradford, is a place steeped in tradition. The village was built for the workers of the famous Salts Mill, which is now a thriving centre with art galleries, cafés and shops, including the Early Music Shop, the largest source of historical instruments.

Standing proud in the centre of the village is the Victoria Hall, a place of recreation, culture and learning for the local community. The grand Main Hall, with its double storey windows, decadent 10 metre high ceiling, large stage and traditional Victorian balcony level was the perfect setting for an afternoon concert of wind music with the Yorkshire Wind Orchestra.

In typical Yorkshire style, the weather was more wintry than our afternoon Spring concert had led us to expect; sleet and snow drifted gently down while the hall resonated with the sounds of Woolfenden's Shakespearean hotch potch Gallimaufry, Grainger's Children's March and Country Gardens.

The audience were taken for a spin in Adam Gorb's open-top sports car of a piece Awayday, passing by the beauty of Ellerby's inspired Paris Sketches before taking a trip along Ticheli's Shenandoah and finally arriving for a drunken party and Hoe Down with Horovitz's Bacchus on Blue Ridge.

We were fortunate enough to have Stewart Smith record the concert for our archives and has kindly given us permission to post some extracts on our music page. Why not take a listen?

Thanks again to the staff at the Victoria Hall for all their help and to the Saltaire Brewery, ENJO UK and Steven Ford who donated raffle prizes and all our advertisers and supporters who made the afternoon a success.

National Coal Mining Museum concert

8th March 2008

The first event of 2008 was a performance on Saturday night at the National Coal Mining Museum for England, located at Caphouse Colliery, on the western edge of the Yorkshire coalfield, where mining has been carried out for centuries.

Music included Holst's First Suite in Eb, Tomlinson's Suite of English Folk Dances, Horovitz's Bacchus on Blue Ridge and Martin Ellerby's Paris Sketches which went down well with the appreciative audience.

The evening charity raffle was split between the Yorkshire Wind Orchestra's Percussion Fund and the National Coal Mining Museum's Pit Pony Appeal.

It costs almost £2,000 to care for each horse at the pit every year and ensure their retirement is a happy and carefree one. Perhaps, if you are looking for a special gift why not consider adopting one of the Pit Ponies for one year for only £12.50? You can choose to adopt Eric, Ernie, Colonel, Patch or Robbie!

We are grateful to the NCM for giving us the opportunity to play at the Museum and to a number of local supporters who either advertised their business in our evening concert programme or kindly donated raffle prizes to help raise money for the YWO and the NCM Pit Ponies.

Help us raise funds

10th January 2008

You can help raise money for the Yorkshire Wind Orchestra Percussion Fund at no extra cost to you!

All you need to do is visit our Fund Appeal pages and then visit any of the 700+ retailers' shopping links who are signed up. The YWO then earn commission from your shop at no extra cost to you!

For example:

• You book a holiday online through thomascook.com.
  YWO receive 2% of the total value of the holiday.
• You buy home insurance online through Barclays Insurance.
  YWO receive a fixed amount of £50.
• You register to receive the free Yves-Rocher newsletter.
  YWO receive 23p.
• You are a winning bidder on an ebay auction.
  YWO receive a percentage of the ebay commission.

As it shows above, even if you don't buy online many retailers will pay commission when you complete a simple action, such as registering on a website, completing a survey or even entering a competition.

Please visit our Fund Appeal pages first and then click on the competion and free stuff categories for further details.

Thank you for your help and happy shopping!