Other Bits and Pieces

A Musical Christmas

Christmas at John Port is always a busy time ifyou are involved with the music department at all. Every night in the last week of term something is on, or so it seems.

So here's a quick look at some of the Christmas events
I'm sure there's more; please feel free to add!

CAROL SERVICE: Monday night sees the traditional Carol Service at the Cathedral. This as I'm sure you'll remember starts with a few pieces from the band followed by the School Choir that forms especially for the carol Service.

BOOTS TRIP: The last week before Christmas also sees the annual trip to Boots, remember, a day off school for a "select" group of about 50 of the band to go and play for the workers at the Boots factory, Nottingham and we even get a meal!!

EAGLE CENTRE CONCERT:I just remember going and playing in the Eagle centre a couple of years, if anyone kind fill in a few details then let me know, oh I do remember us getting a free lunch from a certain fast food restaurant.

DOVERIDGE: This is for the older ex-members, as sadly this event no longer happens. The doveridge concert, ah that small room (hut) if it wasn't cancelled due to bad weather then this was a great more concert, less formal than a lot we did, some old members came back and played, I don't know why I'm telling you I'm sure you remember!

THE CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS: This is a fairly new Christmas concert, set up to replace the Doveridge concert, the celebration of Christmas is a concert that is more informal than normal band concerts and the money raised goes to a Christmas charity. The first half gives the choir another chance to sing and also gives the orchestra a chance to 'go Christmassy'! This year also saw the junior band join in with the festivities.
The second half normally consists of the present school band, with a few extras (All ex-members are welcome to come and join in with this event, it doesn't matter if you haven't played for ages, can't even remember what your instrument looks like it's normally a good laugh! - Look at the Diary on the information page nearer Christmas to find out when this is if you fancy coming along). The band plays the normal Christmas classics and the brass get a chance to sight read some carols which the audience request - half the people who do this are normal ex-members who haven't picked their instruments up for a bit so it's always 'exciting'! It's a great evening, the audience love it, the band and other performers enjoy it and it's a great way to finish the year.

John Port School Band Recording

I thought I would put something about the recording the band did. For those of you who don't know, fairly recently the band recorded a CD and this was released in 2000, it contains tracks from the School band, Swing band and Moment's Notice (a small Jazz ensemble). We got the chance to do this thanks to an anonymous benefactor. The recording was great fun and a good experience. On the 3rd of December 1999 we all went up to Gulliver's Kingdom to the main hall which had all been set up by Meadow Farm studio and spent the day recording, it was a very busy day trying to get everything recorded but the end result is good and it's nice to have a reminder of JPS band. I think there are still CD's available, if you're interested try contacting the music department at John Port.

Photo notes:
Swing Band = The swing band in action in the studio
Jazz trio = Members of the jazz ensemble taking a break to 'mess about', no never!
The recording crew = The recording team in action (look at all the buttons, what fun!)
The trumpet section = I new the trumpets sounded a bit dodgy!