Eynsford Easter Fair

08/04/2012 2 Comments

On 31st March Darent Valley Youth Music played at the Eynsford Easter Fair in aid of St Martin’s Church and the Ellenor Hospice. Despite it being half-term and the start of the Easter holidays, a good selection of over 30 players from Enterprise Band and Darent Valley Concert Band came together to play a selection of pieces largely from the American song book including (among others) a rousing rendition of The Thunderer (Philip Souza); The Preacher (Horace Silver); Mercy Mercy Mercy (Buddy Rich); King of the Road (Roger Miller); Georgy Girl (Tom Springfield); Waltz King Favourites (Strauss); Waltz Espana (Keith Bartlett); Latin Celebration (Tatgenhorst) and highlights from the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” (Jerry Bock). Although the music was intended to be incidental, the performances attracted a good deal of interest and were heartily well received …even busy traders taking time out to applaud and enjoy the music. For pictures of the event, click here.

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Easter Concert

08/04/2012 1 Comment

Image courtesy of Idea Go at http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=809On 25th March, Phoenix Jazz Band and Darent Valley Concert Band came together for their Easter Concert at St Martin’s Church. The church was packed to capacity.

Under Jezz Laing’s leadership, Phoenix Big Band began their lively programme with Born To Be Wild (Bonfire arr. Sweeney) followed by spirited performances of Summertime (Gershwin arr. Sweeney); Birdland (Zawinul arr. Laing); In the Mood (Glen Miller) and The Chicken (Jaco Pastorius). Congratulations to Adam, Callum and Matt who -at the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute- used all their musical talents to improvise throughout Birdland after their scores were accidentally mislaid.

Following a short break, Duncan Dwinell conducted Darent Valley Concert Band through probably their most ambitious programme to date including: Andalusia (Hugh M Stuart) featuring the talents of George on solo flugel horn; March -Folk Songs from Somerset (Ralph Vaughan Williams); Mars from the Planets Suite (Gustav Holst); Nimrod from Enigma Variations (Edward Elgar) starring our resident percussionist Peter on solo cello; and Danny Boy (traditional arr. Warren Barker). The whole concert was concluded with a rousing rendition of the magnificent Finale from Saint-Saens Symphony #3 (Camille Saint-Saens arr. Curnow) when we were privileged to be accompanied by Mr Alan Saunders on organ. Saint-Saëns said of his composition: “I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I will never achieve again”. The Concert Band will doubtless echo his sentiments. What a majestic and theatrical finale!

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Quiz Night

07/04/2012 Leave a comment

A huge “thank you” to all who supported the DVYM Quiz Night on 17th March. The event was attended by over 60 people comprising 10 teams from the local community. Comprising a picture round, music round, video observation round and questions covering a wide variety of topics, the quiz tested all areas of knowledge from the simple to the tricky with a lot of “I really ought to know that” questions . You can click here to see a sample round of questions.

The leading team was in closely contested right up to the final round with the winning margin being just 1 point between the top three teams! Even 4th places and 5th places were jointly held by four teams! Congratulations to “Sticky Fingers” (Sandra, Steve and friends) on scoring an impressive 85% of the total points achievable to secure a well-fought victory.

The evening raised the  grand sum of £268.21, which was donated to St Martin’s Church in thankful recognition of their generous free loan of the church and facilities for DVYM rehearsals and performances.

Please come along and support the next quiz, the date of which we’ll announce shortly. The more contestants, the better the competition, and the more lively the atmosphere. You don’t need to be a “know-it-all” to take part: there’ll be something in it for everyone. Just bring along a plentiful supply of wine, nibbles ….and a healthy dose of good-spirited competitive enthusiasm!

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Welcome

09/01/2012 Leave a comment

Welcome to the new Darent Valley Youth Music website.

Based in the picturesque village of Eynsford in Kent, Darent Valley Youth Music (DVYM) is an independent music centre for young people from the largely rural areas of North West Kent around Dartford, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge.

If you are a young musician and would like to join a friendly group of fellow musicians who are enthusiastic about music making, we’d love to meet you.

Whatever your musical ability, you are very welcome to attend one of our sessions, meet us in person, find out exactly what we do and join us in our rehearsals for a couple of trial sessions. We’re sure you’ll enjoy your visit and will want to return again and again.

Our website tells you about our bands, our performances, our achievements, general music-related stuff, and includes occasional DVYM-related discussions.

Please take a tour of our website to find out more about Darent Valley Youth Music. We hope you enjoy the content and are inspired to contact us.

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