Anglia Fellowship Band Celebrates Ten Years

On the evening of Saturday, 1 December 2007, a near-capacity crowd gathered in the hall of the Salvation Army’s Ipswich Citadel for a “Winter Festival”, arranged by John Askew, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Anglia Fellowship Band (Bandmaster Ray Todd). In addition to the Fellowship Band, the concert also featured the Ipswich Citadel Songsters and Timbrels and some special guests. The compère was the Anglia Divisional Commander, Major Alan Burns.

The concert got off to a good start as the Fellowship Band presented the march Spirit of Anglia, written especially for the group by Kenneth Ketteringham. This was followed by a good old Salvation Army congregational song, “Keep In Step”, and by two additional older works, with the Ipswich Citadel Songsters singing the vocal march Flowing River and the Fellowship Band playing the classic air varié The Old Wells.

Throughout the evening, the Fellowship Band presented a variety of music both old and new. The program included a selection from the Gowans and Larsson musical Jesus Folk, a modern light composition, Tomado de la Mano (Erik Silfverberg), and one of the greatest meditations in the Salvation Army band literature, Dean Goffin’s The Light of the World. For the principal trombone, Brian Midgely, this was the first festival performance with the Fellowship Band, and he enhanced his reputation as a soloist with a sensitive rendition of Take Up Thy Cross (Erik Leidzén).

The Ipswich Citadel Songsters, under the leadership of Jeff Layton, treated the audience to a mixture of music including Dear Lord, Under His Wings, Take My Love and I Know a Fount. The timbrelists presented two routines, each using a Christmas march (The Carollers and Christmas Praise) played by the Fellowship Band.

Several special guests added variety and novelty to the evening. Michael Blackburn (Diss) gave an amusing monologue about the Creation, which he delivered in a Norfolk accent. Patrizia Terrazini-Lloyd(Woodbridge commanding officer) and her husband, David, captivated the audience with an excellent puppet show in which Christian lyrics were applied to the well-known popular somg YMCA. From the host corps, Juliet Parker presented two vocal items. The first was a “quodlibet”, a sort of quartet in which sections of three popular carols were sung consecutively and simultaneously by Juliet and three other members of the Ispwich Songsters. Juliet also sang I’ve Got Joy as a solo.

Former Executive Officer Lt.-Colonel Ray Caddy led the devotional section of the program, bringing a message and Scripture reading. This was followed by the Fellowship Band’s presentation of The Light of the World, as mentioned above.

Band Secretary Derek Mapes thanked all those who have been involved in the excellent evening and paid tribute to former members of the Fellowship Band, many of whom were in attendance, and also to the bandsmen who have been promoted to glory over the past ten years. For the final march of the evening, the baton was handed to founder Bandmaster Bram Scott, who conducted The Flag of Freedom. Following a benediction, the evening concluded with an arrangement of the hymn tune “St. Clements”, with the congregation joining in to sing the last verse.