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Christmas Concert, Corpus Christi Church, Saturday 15th December
Article by Cpl James Ainsworth

This was Romford’s last major job of their 50th year, and as it was such a successful year it was decided that it would be free entry to all spectators as a thank you for the valued support that they had shown the band throughout the year, as well as in previous years.  As the time for the concert to commence grew ever closer, the 500 capacity church was packing out nicely and Romford took to the stage.  Bandmaster Paul Binder walked into the church and the Band started playing.

They opened up with ‘The Olympics’.  This has proved a very popular opener in the past and it made sense too keep tradition.  Once this was finished, Paul welcomed the guests and thanked them for showing their support.  A march was played next; the chosen piece was ‘Pennine Way’.  This was very well received and was followed by the first carol of the night; ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’.  The audience were required to sing and you could tell a few of them were a bit shy at first, but by the time the 2nd verse came about, everyone was in full voice.  Next was a medley of the music from Star Trek, Superman and Star Wars.  The piece of music was called ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’.  There were many people in the crowd who had never heard the band before and it was clear that they truly enjoyed this one. 

Next was the first solo piece of the evening. B/Sgt Kirsty Evans took centre stage and performed what is better known as ‘Adagio’ or ‘Orange Juice’.  This can be heard in the film ‘Brassed Off’.  ‘Stop the Cavalry’ was next.  A very famous Christmas tune and was not only a favourite for the many spectators, but also for the band to play. 

Solo time again, this time it was the turn of young Alex Milligan.  He performed ‘Time to Say Goodbye’, a piece made famous in the album of the same name in 1997 by soprano singer; Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli.  This was only the 2nd time Alex had performed this piece publicly, but you couldn’t tell as he played it perfectly.  It was then time to enter into a famous musical; ‘Westside Story’.  Romford played a piece that features near the end of this piece entitled ‘Somewhere’.  For those of you who don’t know this tune, it was recently performed by X-Factor Finalist Rhydian Roberts.  It is a very moving and powerful piece which tells the story of love and that someday, somehow, somewhere, the characters of Tony and Maria will be able to live together in peace and acceptance. 

For the final part of the 1st half, Romford played ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.  This was used as the final piece in the European Championships the band entered in 2006, in which the band achieved an all time record score of 98/100.  A 15 minute interval followed this.

Now back to the action, ‘Gala Flourish’ opened up the 2nd half.  This arrangement was written especially for the band as part of their 50th year celebrations by Philip Harper.  ‘Christmas Song’ was played next.  This was another tune the band was performing for the first time.  It is a slow and relaxing piece and it was played very well.  This was followed by a short performance from the Corps of Drums.  Keeping with the Christmas theme, after all, it was Christmas! The band played ‘Silent Night’.  3 verses were played and sung, with 2nd verse being played by the quartet of Sgt Lisa Saunders, Sgt Sarah Twinn, L/Cpl Jessica Ainsworth and Chloe Robinson.  Next was one of my personal favourites; ‘Can’t take my eyes off of you’.  This features the Trombone section (Aaron U-Glow and I) and even though Paul had asked that nobody show off, we just couldn’t have been listening because when the time came around to play our featured part for the 2nd time, Aaron and I both just stood up and gave it our all! It all seemed to go down rather well if I do say so myself! 

Anyway, back to the carols.  ‘It Came upon a Midnight Clear’ was played, and this was followed by yet another song that was recently sung on the X-Factor, ‘You Raise Me Up’.  This piece always goes down well, and tonight was no exception.  Only 2 pieces remained after this, and one of them was the carol ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’.  ‘Pastime with Good Company was the final piece to be played, which was written by King Henry VIII, obviously and long time ago!  This features nearly every section of the band with the tune moving all the time.  With the scheduled pieces finished, It was requested by members of the Burma Star Association that the band play it's march Green and Gold as this too was their colours which served to be a perfect encore.

With that played, all that was left to do was to thank everybody for coming and supporting the band throughout the year and to wish them all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Many thanks go out to the  Christi Church, for allowing us to use his church for the concert and for Mike Applewhite for jumping in at short notice and playing kit drum for the concert.  Hope everyone reading this has a Nice Christmas and New Year, and Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps will be back in 2008!!

Band Trip to Gibraltar, 24th to 29th October 2007
Article by Mark Newman

The band members arrived at the pick up at Marshall’s Park School, all baring Michael Gladwin, as Mark Newman had forgot to pick him up ….. Woops!! Once Michael had eventually been picked up, the band waved farewell and set off to Luton airport. Once all checked in, the band boarded the plane and jetted off to Gibraltar. The corps did get a mention from the Captain, before landing on the relatively short runway in Gibraltar.

The band then travelled to the hostel and settled in before having Burger King for dinner, and eventually going to bed after a long and exhausting first day.

Day two began with some free time for the band members, which gave them the chance to do some shopping along Main Street. Once some bargains had been bought, the band had lunch. Five members of the band then posed for a photograph to go in the Wednesday’s ‘Gibraltar Chronicle’ which would contain an article about the band. Once complete, the corps prepared for the afternoon’s activity, a tour of the rock. The rock tour was a great experience and gave the band members their first opportunity to see the monkeys. The band also got to see the venue for Saturday’s concert, St Michaels Cave, a beautiful scene with an awesome acoustic. On exiting the cave, a few members bought an ice-cream, which excited some of the mischievous monkeys. Clarinetist Ailish Gray dropped her Ice Cream, which was quickly grabbed by one of the monkeys, who skipped off to enjoy his find, bringing laughter among the band members. The corps then travelled back down the rock and back to their residence to prepare for the evening’s band practice.

The practice was at the local school, and also gave the band the chance to meet the members of the Rooke Naval Volunteer Band, and the members of the Gibraltar Sea Scout Pipe Band. The corps was also filmed by the local TV station, which was aired the following day. After a positive practice, the band had dinner and went back to the hostel.

The 3rd day of the trip was spent in the sun, as the corps spent the day on the beach. The band members had fun swimming, playing beach football and even a game of rugby before having some lunch from the local café. Once the lunch had gone down, the band returned to the beach for a few hours before returning to the hostel. Dinner was eaten at the hostel with guests from the Rooke band. An early night was in store, in preparation for the band’s long day tomorrow.

Showtime. Day four was the band’s ‘business’ day of the trip. After breakfast the band changed into its Green and Gold uniform and walked to its starting point for the morning’s parade down Main Street into Casemates Square. A guest drum major from the Rooke band took control of the corps and began the parade down Main Street. The corps played various marches, creating a magnificent sound as the notes rebounded of the buildings lined along Main Street. The band reached Casemates Square where they had a ten minute break before undertaking an arena type display. The corps displayed its quick and slow matching to ‘By Land and Sea’ before performing the circle manoeuvre to ‘The Billboard March’. The band then returned to slow marching with the well known ‘Time to Say Goodbye’, before finally reforming and completing a double cross to ‘Blaze Away’. The band then had another short break before performing a few numbers in concert formation. During this time, the Guards of the Keys paraded through Casemates Square, and the band were able to sneak in a few photographs. Once the band had played through a few numbers, they returned to the hostel for some lunch, and a quick rest to prepare for the evening’s showpiece.

The band travelled up the rock and unloaded their equipment before having a quick run through of some of the pieces. The band began their performance with ‘The Olympics: A Centennial Celebration’, with the fanfare opening really bringing the fantastic acoustic of St Michael’s Cave to its full potential. This was followed by a relatively new march ‘Pennine Way’. The band’s repertoire was really shown, and reverted to a recent favourite, ‘Where No Man has Gone Before’, a piece of music cleverly incorporating music from Superman, Star Trek, and Star Wars, and the band gave an out of this world performance. Band Sergeant Kirsty Evans then performed the Flugelhorn Solo, ‘Adagio from Concierto de Aranjeuz’. The lively Latin American piece ‘Latin Quarter’ was next in line, and featured lead saxophonist Lydia Stringer. Alex Milligan then took the lead in the well known classic, ‘Time to Say Goodbye’, which even included a part written by Alex himself. The band then once again showed their versatility playing the famous Queen Track, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ which even had the band singing “Hey, hey, hey”. The corps then turned to the west end for inspiration for its next piece, playing the powerful ‘Somewhere’ from West Side Story. The band then returned to film music, playing ‘Conquest of Paradise’ from ‘1492 Christopher Columbus’. The corps then played one of its recent favourites, a piece made up of soundtrack highlights from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl’. This fantastic piece of music lets all the sections play the lead part at some point, displaying the wonderful talent in the ranks of the corps today.

After a short interval the band returned to the stage for the second half of the performance. Before the band commenced, the audience was informed that it was Bandmaster Paul Binder’s birthday, so the audience sang ‘Happy Birthday’, and echoed the ‘Hip, hips’ that were shouted from within the ranks of the band. The first piece after the interval was ‘A Gala Flourish’. A new piece first played publicly at the band’s recent 50th re-union. The band then went back to its traditional roots playing the march, ‘By Land and Sea’. The band then changed the mood completely by playing the warm sounding hymn, ‘An Irish Blessing’, with the climax of the piece echoing round the caves, a wonderful moment. The ever popular ‘Blaze Away’ followed, which allowed the drum section to display their stick drill, and continue doing so after the tune, as a drum tattoo was sounded in the cave. ‘You Raise Me Up’ was next for the band, a piece played extremely well by the band, which also gives the woodwind section a chance to shine in the limelight. The band then continued playing popular music from the charts gone by, as they performed ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’. This new piece was also showcased at the re-union, but the band played it in a way as if they’d played it for years. The highlight of the evening was to follow. The corps was joined by the Gibraltar Sea Scout Band to play ‘Highland Cathedral’. Solo piper Jeremy Sacramento started the piece on the bagpipes, before the remaining musicians joined in, creating a moment where the hairs on the back of your neck would stand. The cave’s acoustic portrayed the sound magnificently. ‘Royal Irish Rangers’ followed. A march where the band and the Sea Scouts played in harmony. The bands final piece was ‘Pastime in Good Company’. This piece starts very quietly and gradually expands into a full rock type piece of music. Once finished, the band received a standing ovation from the audience. The crowd were rewarded once more however, as Highland Cathedral; the highlight of the night was echoed round the caves once more, ending a terrific show put on by the corps and its guests. The band members then had to pack away its instruments and returned to hostel, and was treated to pizza for their hard efforts during the day.

After an exhausting, but enjoyable day, Sunday brought some relaxing time for the band, with a Dolphin Sightseeing expedition to start the day off. The corps went ‘all aboard’ a boat, and sailed off in search of some dolphins, and were lucky enough to see quite a lot, swimming in the Gibraltar straights. Some band members were not quite as lucky as they felt a bit ‘sea sick’ whilst on the boat. Once back at the dock, the band returned to the hostel and had some lunch in Casemates Square. The afternoon saw some band members return to the beach, and others going around town. The corps then had dinner at a local pub, probably one of the best meals of the holiday, before the band headed for Casemates for a bit of evening entertainment on the last night of the trip.

Monday morning saw the band packing up their ‘stuff’ before having a last minute shop. A nice big meal for lunch was had by all, ahead of the band making the short trip to Gibraltar Airport. After a lengthy check in the band boarded the plane and set off home, all reflecting on the good times they had had on the rock … and even discussing when to go back!!

Thank you to everyone that made it possible.

Lord Mayors Show and Grosvenor Hotel
Article by Tom Evans

Once again the band were up early on Saturday 10/11/07 for a long day in the city. Setting off on the coach at 8.00 am the band make theie way into London to take part in the Lord Mayors Show. As experienced veterans of this parade we braced ourselves for a long day and welcomed the cups of tea or coffee at the muster point, and to the delight of some of the band members the menu had changed. Instead of hot cross bun we all grabbed our muffins and relaxed before we start our long march through London.

The band set off on its quest sounding strong despite key members of the band missing. The green machine marched proudly through the streets of London playing our best quick marches in front of the mass crowds. Playing the crowd pleaser Blaze Away as we march passed the cameras we once again received great TV coverage. Before we knew it we were at the half way point already. We tucked into our lunches and relaxed for an hour before we are hurried by our marshal to brace up of the second half. The band finished the Lord Mayors Show once again, and we are all looking forward to next year. After posing for a group picture the band boarded their coach and made their way to the Grosvenor Hotel for there second performance, A charity bash for Children With Leukemia . Once arriving at the Grosvenor, the band had a quick practice before winding down from their long march.

At 6.30 a dinner of chicken and chips is served followed by cheesecake for afters. When finished eating the band slowly got into their uniforms for the nights performance. When all ready the band marched onto the dance floor ready to start the performance in front of the various celebs. The band stepped off to By land and sea marching up and down the dance floor. Then broke out into the circles playing Billboard March to then slow march to Time to say goodbye. The band then formed a square to Blaze Away and played Latin quarter featuring a solo by Lydia Stringer which seemed to go down well with the crowd. The band then reformed and marched off to Slaidburn.

Tattoo, Lens, France
Article by Cpl Mark Newman

The green machine was up early yet again, to travel abroad for the first time in 2007.  The band travelled by Eurostar and arrived in Lens around midday. The band had a quick rehearsal of their own routine, and then a quick rehearsal with our neighbouring band, the Romford Royal British Legion. Unfortunately the band had to wait for a few hours before performing to crowds.

The band entered the arena to ‘Slaidburn’ before a few French words were spoken to introduce the band to the audience. The corps then began their routine with ‘By Land and Sea’ and then performed some circles manoeuvres to ‘The Billboard March’. ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ was the elected slow march to which the band opened up in a fan position ready to play the Frank Sinatra classic ‘My Way’. The band then reformed to ‘Blaze Away’ to which the crowd clapped along to, before exiting the arena with a cheer from the onlookers.

The band then had to wait a couple of hours to perform alongside the Romford British Legion, both bands combining to make a joint band from Romford of around 100 musicians. The bands played ‘Longest Day’ and ‘Tenth Regiment March’.

Once the performance was finished, the band members had to change quickly in order to catch the train. Another professional performance abroad!!

Rapheals Park Concert

On Sunday the 1st of July the band performed in their home town of Romford at Rapheals Park, in the towns only bandstand. The event was under threat due to the harsh raining and flooding that had engulfed the country over the previous few days. However a window of 3 hours dry weather allowed the event to proceed, although high winds were a challenge to all players.

Despite the band going for 50 years it was pointed out that this was the first occasion the band had performed in this Bandstand. Another new experience for the band was the first joint project undertaken with Havering Music School.

The format was that the Havering Music School showcased their two Brass bands. First to perform were the beginners group of mostly primary school age. They demonstrated their talents and that the borough has some rising stars of the future. Next to perform was the Romford Drum & Trumpet Corps who took to bandstand in blustery conditions. For the next 40 minutes they gave a varied programme from fanfares,marches, solos, rock music and film themes. Last on was the senior schools band who carried on with the variety of music styles. The event was supported by a good crowd who appreciated the talents of all the young musicians on display.

It was a pleasure to work with the Havering Music Schools and would we like to thank Isobel Liebman, Phil Thorne, Lisa James and Paul Harris of Havering Music School for organising the event.

50th Anniversary Tattoo

Article by Mark Newman

The tattoo to start the celebrations for the 50th year began with a powerful ‘Olympic’ fanfare performed by the Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps’ fanfare team.

Hertfordshire showband then gave an American style display with various popular numbers including ‘All That Jazz’. They were followed by the Essex Marching Corps who were performing in their first major musical event, and they provided a variety of well known numbers to entertain the 700 strong audience.

The tattoo provided a collection of musical ability, and next, the sound of voice was being used. The Leigh Orpheus Male Voice Choir performed hymns that echoed around the hall to produce a superb sound. The Romford Royal British Legion Band, and Corps of Drums then provided a performance with a wide ranging repertoire, including the theme from ‘Thunderbirds’ and the famous Queen hit, which they dedicated to Dick Bouchard, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’.

After the interval, it was the turn for a Championship Section Brass Band. The Aveley and Newham Band provided a wonderful sound with their high level technical playing. The Surbiton British Legion Band then gave a military display with military marches before a Drum Major Challenge took place. A number of Drum Majors took part and ‘strutted their stuff’ while the Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps Drummers played a selection of Drum Tattoo’s. The winner of the competition was Sam Jepson, from The Romford Royal British Legion Band.

It was then the turn of the birthday band. Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps performed military manoeuvres to ‘By Land and Sea’ and ‘The Billboard March’ before creating a 50 figure to the slow march ‘Time to Say Goodbye’. The band then played Dick’s all time favourite, My Way, before reforming to ‘Blaze Away’

The finale topped the cherry on an already splendid cake. Around 400 musicians took part in providing the audience with an experience never to forget. The massed bands started with ‘Tenth Regiment March’ before incorporating the choir to perform ‘Conquest of Paradise’. The audience were then invited to sing along to the old favourite, ‘ Land of Hope and Glory’. The audience then finished in the traditional way with a hymn, before the bugle players of the Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps sounded ‘Sunset’, and the massed bands performed the National Anthem.

Overall, a truly spectacular musical event that kicked off the 50 th year celebrations with a big bang. Thank you to everyone involved.

Britains Got Talent

An early start saw the green machine travelling up to London for their Britains Got Talent audition at the Shaftsbury Theatre in London. The band arrived in good time, and had to wait a few hours before being called to do their audition. You could sense nerves amongst the band members, but some of these were settled... (Well the girls!!) when the band bumped into Ant and Dec before going on stage to do their performance.

The auditions had a structure of where you performed until three buzzers were sounded, and if your act was unfinished by then, you had to stop automatically. The band marched on, and Paul gave an introduction about the band to the three judges, Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell.

The band began their performance, a marching display to the sound of Latin Quarter, and after about 10 seconds, Mr Cowell had pressed his buzzer, however this did not hinder the band member’s concentration and the performance continued. Peers Morgan sounded his buzzer just before the sax solo by Lydia Stringer, but once again, the band were unfazed and continued as normal. With about a minute to go of the performance, Simon had had enough, and pressed Amanda’s buzzer so you would assume the band would have to stop ….. of course not. The band continued to perform, and finished their performance on their own accord, which went down very well with the audience.

The judges then gave their views. Simon hated it, but what does he know? And decided he didn’t want us to progress to the next stage. However, Peers and Amanda made their comments and decided their vote was a ‘Yes’. The Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps had progressed. Thus meaning the band were required up London on the Sunday.

Sunday was yet another early start. The band then had to fill out the disclaimer forms for possible appearance on ITV and ITV2. Once all were completed the band were taken into the New Connaught Rooms in Holborn, London. The band then had a chance to eat some of the buffet on offer, which they did of course. After a short while, the auditionees were addressed by the three judges who explained the next selection process. The judges were to go away, and watch tapes of the final 120 or so acts, and decide upon the best 24. The band had to the sit and wait until they were called to find out whether or not the band made it to the live TV shows. After an extraordinary long wait (around 8 hours) the band were called to the stand in front of the judges. Unfortunately, they had decided not to progress the band any further. . . . . as we later found out that ‘Marching Bands’ weren’t what they were looking for!

Despite the long waits, this was a memorable experience for all that took part and a big pat on the back for the effort over the two days.

Dinner and Dance

Saturday 7 th April saw the band host its first ever Dinner and Dance at the New Windmill Hall, Upminster. A chance for the band and its followers to relax, and begin the celebrations of the fiftieth year. The lads looked great in their tux’s and the girls had definitely dressed to impress. The night started with a traditional three course meal, followed by some speeches by President James Marshall, Lance Corporal Aaron “Band Clown” Uglow, and Bandmaster Paul Binder.

Dance band “Souled Out” then kicked off the partying with a great variety of numbers which got everyone dancing. The night was a huge success, and enjoyed by everyone that went.

Presentation Night 2007

Article by James Ainsworth

2007. The Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps 50th Anniversary year. As tradition would have it, the first performance of the year would be the band’s presentation night. This took place on February 17 th. It was a sell out show full of anticipation and thought. How would Romford start of their 50 th year? Would they have some new music to show off? And as the CD ‘Green and Gold was released at the event, what would it sound like?

As the band walked through the audience to take their places on stage they were welcomed with rapturous applause. Early in 2006, the Bands President Mrs Madge Fisher sadly passed away. James Marshall was officially named as the new president of the Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps. James then proceeded to introduce the band and officially started the bands 50th year celebrations. They opened up with a march that was obtained at the end of 2006. The piece was called ‘By Land and Sea’. It’s from the pen of the British March king Kenneth Alford. Next up was ‘Latin Quarter’. Major Wayne Hopla, who was also in attendance for the show, wrote the arrangement for military band last year. The band then moved to the other side of the world with their next number. The country in question was Ireland and the song was called ‘You Raise Me Up’. Recently made famous by the boy band Westlife, this piece featured clarinet soloist Charlene Horne. This piece was a real mood change and went down very well with all. As soon as this finished they went straight into another new piece, and quite a famous one at that. The song was called ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ with the real feature coming from the kit drummer, Eddy “The Animal” Knight, who was taking part in this first concert with the band on the kit.

Many years ago, there was a picture taken of two band boys which was entered for a photographic competition. The identity of the band isn't known however the band parodied there memories in an amusing sketch featuring the oboe soloist Amy Rowe and the acting skills of Callum Orr.

After the laughter had subsided, it was time for yet more new music. This time it was a piece from Westside Story – ‘Somewhere’. This is a musical that is loosely based on ‘Romeo & Juliet’ and come in at the start of act 2 when the characters Tony and Maria have declared their determination to be together and they both imagine a new world where they can live together in peace and acceptance. After this it was time for the finale piece. ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ was the chosen bit. This consists of music from Star Trek, Superman and Star Wars. As per usual an encore was requested, and again, as usual the crowd was not left downhearted. The bands played ‘The Tenth Regiment’ march, more commonly know as ‘Death or Glory’.

It was then time for the main part of the evening. The presentations and to look back on the successes of 2006.

The awards were started by congratulating many groups of people. A welcome was given to our new band members that had joined during 2006, the Parents & Supporters Committee for 2006, the Executive Committee for 2006, the Instruction Team and all the young members who completed their first Lord Mayor’s Show. James Marshall was then welcomed back onto the stage to present a new award for 2007, the ‘President’s Award. This was an award that would go to somebody “Who was a integral part on the band”. It was awarded to the band’s secretary Pam Evans for all her work behind the scenes. The audience was then shown a recording of moments from the bands joint concert with the Mindon Band during 2006.

It was then time to congratulate the band members who had been promoted during 2006.

To the rank of Lance Corporal these were:

• Aaron Uglow
• Joe Harvey
• Callum Orr
• Vicky Hogg
• Jessica Ainsworth
• Lucy Purvis
• Johnathan Buttifant.

To the rank of Corporal there were:

• Lydia Stringer
• Tom Evans
• James Ainsworth
• Mark Newman

And finally to the rank of Band Sergeant:

• Kirsty Evans

Then some fun was to be had by Band Master Paul Binder, he would proceed to embarrass certain members with some look-a-like pictures. Major Wayne Hopla then awarded band members who had passed music exams during 2006.

Deputy Lieutenant of Havering, Air Commodore Brian Batt then came to the stage to award band members who had achieved 5 and 10 year’s service.

The 5-year awards went to:

• Aaron Uglow
• Lydia Stringer
• Joe Harvey
• Adam Reed
• Vicky Hogg
• Callum Orr
• Mark Newman
• Rachael Newman

And the only 10-year award went to:

• Johnathan Buttifant.

It was then announced that to celebrate the 50 th year, in October (which was the month the band was formed all those years ago) the band would travel to Gibraltar. More to follow shortly.

Our founder and director of music Richard Bouchard MBE then came to the stage to hand out the big awards. The best newcomer award went to Tenor Drum and Oboe player Amy Rowe who was still shaking from her solo earlier in the night! We then had the most improved in the wind section and in the drum section. Kayleigh Fearon and Georgia Cosma took these home respectively. Then we had the attendance award. In reverse order, these were the top 5 out of a maximum of 116:

• Jessica Ainsworth – 110
• Chloe Robinson – 111
• Robert Carey – 112
• Colette Robinson – 113

But the winner with 115 and for the 2 nd year in a row was Johnathan Buttifant.

Next up we had the Band Members Personality of the year award. This was voted for by the band and was given to Michael Gladwin. Then was the big award. The one that everyone wants to win. The Band Member of the Year. It came down to Vicky Hogg, James Ainsworth, Johnathan Buttifant, Mark Newman, Lucy Purvis and Michael Gladwin. All had had excellent years with the band, but the overall winner was…

Johnathan Buttifant.

The last awards were given to every member who took part in the 4 Gold medal success of the 2006 European Championships including a special award given to the conductor James Marshall for leading the band to success in the concert element.

Overall a great night was had by all. Many thanks to all set up the hall in the morning and to all who helped make the night a great success.

RDTC first ever CD Recording- Green & Gold

Article by Mark Newman

The band will shortly be rewarded for two long hard days of work, re-creating the sounds that the band has provided for fifty years with the production of the first ever Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps CD, Green and Gold.

Work began early on Saturday morning with the setting up of the recording equipment and percussion instruments. The band members were lucky to have the opportunity to go behind the scenes and see how the band were being recorded and what sounds were being produced. Under the instruction of President James Marshall, and Bandmaster Paul Binder, the band laid down seven tracks on day one.

The band members had created some terrific sounds, and were rewarded midway through the weekend with a Christmas Disco on Saturday night. Up early again on Sunday, the band continued to be professional and committed to the task, adding the remaining eight tracks.

A big thank you goes to the hard work put in by all the band members, Paul, James, and not forgetting the recording engineers, Gordon and Martin.

The CD will be sale from Mid- February