Riviera Concert Brass

This week we have learnt that one of our fantastic bass players, Bernard Ryan, has passed away. Those who knew him will agree that as well as being a great musician, he was a wonderful source of knowledge, the true sense of a gentleman and a good friend. Travelling from Saltash to rehearsals with his wife June, he was never missing, even when he didn’t feel 100 percent. I am sure we will still hear the echoes of his unforgettable laugh ringing out at our rehearsals. Our thoughts and prayers are with June and all of Bernard’s family.

This evening on zoom we had a minutes silence for our dear friend Bernie and shared our memories of him.

Zoom tonight was teddy bear themed with Teddy Bear music and our “old” (some very old) bears. Even Sally brought along her teddy. Chris brought his cat but it left when we started playing!

This week, Sally was joined by her brother Max. He gave us a lovely rendition of ‘New York, New York’. Hopefully our audiences might get to hear him when we get back to doing our concerts. Theresa and the band are really looking forward to raising some money for charities again soon.

Last year we let you know about our zoom meetings via our news page. Well, we were really honoured to have the famous local singer, Sally, join us for our Zoom play and chat last week. She was very well behaved and polite and sang along to the music. Although the band are missing seeing each other, we have a fantastic time on a Thursday night and are all looking forward to getting back to rehearsals. A big ‘thank you’ to our Chairman Ray Lloyd for keeping us all going with his technical expertise!

All the Band were really upset that we had to cancel our Festival of Remembrance this year. A number of them did still play in services organised under covid restrictions or in their streets. Here is a video of Hannah who played for Torbay Council at the Cenotaph in Torquay which is 100 years old this year. She is playing from the roof of the Pavillion across Torre Abbey Gardens. It was a scary business as the maroon was let off right behind her and the cruise ships in the bay signalled the start and end of the silence.

Here are some photos of our percussionist Roger and his wife Sharyn who really went to town on the Clap for Carers evenings.

Members of the Band have been played on Thursday evenings during the Clap for Carers to support our keyworkers.

The Band were really disappointed that we were unable to play at Beacon Quay this year so we honoured the day by playing Last Posts around the County. Here are a few of our members remembering the fallen.