Inverurie Concert Band (formerly Inverurie Wind Band) is YOUR local community band and welcomes woodwind, brass and percussion players of all ages and standards. The band repertoire provides a wide range of music from classical to contemporary, suites to film themes. We perform several concerts each year, so stay tuned for the latest dates and venues! Go to News and Events for all the latest or visit our facebook and instagram pages.
Rehearsals are on Wednesdays at 7:30pm at Thainstone Exchange, Inverurie (AB51 5XZ).
We are always on the lookout for musicians to join the Inverurie Concert Band - Woodwind, Brass, Percussionists, we need you! You should be able to play at minimum grade 3/4 standard. All pieces chosen cover a range of difficulties, so there is something for everyone!
Inverurie Concert Band now includes a Youth Section for school pupils at ability grades 1/3. This rehearsal will take place prior to the current band rehearsal, Wednesday evenings 6:00pm until 7.20pm at Thainstone Exchange.
This group offers a fantastic opportunity for pupils to get together and play with other musicians from the local area as well as getting support from current members of the full band. The term will conclude with a concert alongside the full band.
EXCITING NEWS - Inverurie Concert Band can now offer the opportunity to play in a Big Band!
Recently formed, ICB Big Band will rehearse on Thursdays at International School Aberdeen from 19.30-21.00
Want to join us?! Fill out our membership form here.
To find out more, please go to New Members or Youth Section or you can send an email to:
secretary@inverurieconcertband.co.uk
We are now a registered charity. Our SCIO number is SC 049370.
Press Release
Father and son composers create new work for Inverurie musicians
Composers Pete and Joe Stollery have both written music for two of Inverurie’s music ensembles, the Inverurie Concert Band and the
Inverurie Orchestra, and both pieces will receive their premieres in June this year.
Joe Stollery was a music student at the University of Aberdeen for many years and recently gained his doctorate in Musical Composition. To date, he has written over 40 pieces, most of
which are inspired by the landscape and the people of NE Scotland.
Joe’s commission is for the Inverurie Concert Band. It will be performed at the ensemble’s summer concert at 7pm on June 8th at Garioch Sports Centre, Inverurie, conducted by Hamish
Wood. The piece, Urbs in Rure, is a single-movement series of connected sound pictures inspired by the town of Inverurie itself as well as its local landscape and history. The title refers to the
town’s crest motto and translates as ‘The Town in the Countryside’.
The piece begins with impressions of the two rivers associated with the town (the Ury and the Don), which is followed by a spritely rhythmic section featuring a brisk strathspey
melody. Impressions of animal calls and the general bustle represent Thainstone Mart. And afterwards comes a slower, pastoral melody to evoke the nearby countryside. This is followed by a short
interlude to depict the mysterious Bass, as well as Pictish stone carvings such as those on the Brandsbutt Stone, before the music proceeds to a larger section representing the Battle of Harlaw. This
begins with a sharp steady drumbeat and piercing pipes before picking up speed into a depiction of frantic combat, led by the brass. The piece ends with a celebratory romp led by a fast reel melody
to bring the music to a majestic finish.
Buy tickets now at: Ticketsource
Until recently, Pete Stollery worked at the University of Aberdeen, where he taught for over thirty years. During this time, he’s written for many groups and individual musicians in
the northeast and helped to set up the sound festival, Scotland’s festival of new music, back in 2004.
Pete’s piece is written for the Inverurie Orchestra. It will form part of their Summer Concert with the Learig Orchestra at 7.30pm on June 22nd at St Machar’s Cathedral, Aberdeen and
again on June 23rd in Inverurie Town Hall.
When Pete was asked to write a tango-inspired piece for viola player Nicola Boag and the joint forces of the Learig and Inverurie Orchestras, he jumped at the chance, having played in
the Inverurie Orchestra as well as conducting it.
Pete’s title translates as “A sad thought danced”, which was composer Enrico Discépolo’s description of the Tango. In composing the piece, he has tried to create something which draws
on different styles of tango writing over the years. In three sections, it travels through the flamboyance of the Golden Age of tango, through the passionately lyrical style of composers like Astor
Piazzolla ending with the violent rhythmic punchiness of Osvaldo Puglisese. Nicola Boag plays the highly decorated solo viola part with both orchestras conducted by Chris Gray.
ENDS
Note to editors:
Joe Stollery is a composer originally from central Aberdeenshire. He graduated with a MMus in Composition at the University of Aberdeen (2016) and recently submitted his PhD at the
same institution.
He has written for a wide variety of ensembles, mostly instrumental, but also including art songs and a handful of chamber operas. His musical interests and appreciations cover a wide
range (including non-classical), and as such his compositional aesthetic stands somewhere between common-practice and the avant-garde. He is also keen on putting dramatic statements into his music
and is inclined towards a theatrical element in many of his instrumental works.
He was twice a finalist in the Carlaw-Ogston Composition Award (2015 & 2016), has participated as an observer at the Cheltenham Festival (2016), and has been commissioned by the
Aberdeenshire Youth Orchestra, the Geneva-based wind band Harmonie Nautique, the Aberdeenshire Saxophone Orchestra, Inverurie Concert Band, Cappella Nova, Any Enemy, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Drake Music
Scotland and Hebrides Ensemble, amongst others. He was also commissioned by the sound festival and the Silver Cities Stories project for his opera Mither Kirk (2017) and has collaborated with
Scottish Opera to produce Nature’s House (2014), as part of a Leverhulme scholarship. His first opera The Maiden Stone (2014), based on an Aberdeenshire legend, was given its premiere outdoors at the
foot of the hill Bennachie, where the story was set. He also composed a set of three children’s operas that were performed in primary schools around Aberdeen in February 2019.
His personal interests lie in a wide variety of sources, many of which stream into his music. These include the local environment and its history, nature (particularly animals), myths
and legends, especially mythical creatures, and the supernatural. He is particularly interested in fantastical concepts and would often speculate on these things in his music, usually by finding and
making connections with real-world affairs.
Website: http://www.joestollery.com
Pete Stollery is a composer and sound artist who was based for many years in northeast Scotland, where he created a large body of work reflecting his fascination with sound and how it
relates to place. He studied composition with Jonty Harrison at the University of Birmingham and was one of the first members of BEAST in the early 1980s. From 2000, he was part of the team which
re-introduced music programmes at the University of Aberdeen, including the introduction of doctoral programmes in Composition and the development of the electroacoustic music studios. He was Head of
the Department of Music for many years and he retired as Professor of Composition and Electroacoustic Music in 2022. In 2004 he was part of the setting up of sound, a new music incubator in NE
Scotland which runs an annual festival of new music featuring composers and performers from around Europe, as well as yearlong activity including opportunities for composers and performers of all
stages. He is also artistic director of Any Enemy, NE Scotland’s New Music Ensemble.
Website: https://www.petestollery.com
10th Anniversary Summer Concert
On Saturday 8th June, 7pm, Inverurie Concert Band and Inverurie Concert Band Youth Section will host
their Summer Concert at Garioch Sports Centre in Inverurie.
We have a fun filled to celebrate our 10th birthday and look forward to celebrating with you!
Tickets: £5, available from Ticketsource and there will be a raffle with fantastic prizes on the
day!
A new offering from Inverurie Concert Band...
We are delighted to announce the start up of ICB Big Band - an opportunity for musicians around Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to get together in a group and play Jazz and Big Band
Music.
Rehearsing on Thursdays at International School Aberdeen from 19.30-21.00, the band is available to all players Grade 3 and up!
With the first session beginning on 2nd May, now is your chance to sign
up!
Dates for your diary...
We are delighted to be able to announce that we have secured an Inverurie venue for our concerts over the next few years!
The following dates are confirmed for Garioch Sports Centre, bringing our music back into Inverurie!
2024
Sunday 1st December - Christmas Concert
2025
Sunday 7th June - Summer Concert
Sunday 7th December - Christmas Concert
2026
Saturday 6th June - Summer Concert
Sunday 6th December - Christmas Concert
2027
Saturday 12th June - Summer Concert
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